Zahara Billoo, American Muslim activist: ‘ . . . I am not going to sugarcoat it, they [ADL, federations, Zionist synagogues, Hillel] are your enemies . . . ’
Words matter.
When it comes to preventing hate speech and fighting anti-Semitism, “words matter” is a refrain we hear time and again.
Genocide doesn’t start with concentration camps. It starts with words. First uttered in the streets or, today, on social media. Then spoken in social circles. Then delivered in speeches. Finally the words find themselves incorporated into laws that seek to restrict. Then, then, then . . .
It starts with words.
These words, for example: “We need to pay attention to the Anti-Defamation League. We need to pay attention to the Jewish Federation. We need to pay attention to the Zionist synagogues. We need to pay attention to the Hillel chapters on our campuses, because just because they are your friends today, doesn’t mean that they have your back when it comes to human rights. So oppose the vehement fascist, but oppose the polite Zionist too. They are not your friends . . . I am not going to sugarcoat that, they are your enemies. There are organizations and infrastructures out there who are working to harm you. Make no mistake of it. They would sell you down the line if they could, and they very often do behind your back.”
These words were delivered by Zahra Billoo, executive director of the San Francisco Bay Area branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), at a panel session in December at an American Muslims for Palestine convention.
Just a little over a month later, a British Muslim man flies to the US, seeks out a synagogue and takes the rabbi and congregants there hostage, demanding the release of imprisoned terrorist Aafia Saddiqi, who has become a cause celebre for CAIR — the organization Billoo works for.
As of this writing, there is still much to investigate about the hostage taker, Malik Faisal Akram. Had he heard Billoo’s speech warning of “polite Zionists?” Was he aware of the public debate that had ensued? Was he heeding her call? That is not yet known, but what is known is that words matter. Billoo openly states that essentially all Jewish institutions are targets, and not one month later a Jewish institution is targeted to advance a cause that Billoo’s organization advocates.
These words also matter. Matthew Desarno, the special agent in charge of FBI Dallas, in the press conference after the hostages were released, said that the hostage taker “was singularly focused on one issue, and it was not specifically related to the Jewish community.”
Really?
If a gunman specifically targets a synagogue to advocate for a prisoner who is on record for her anti-Semitism, if the gunman forces the rabbi at gunpoint to call another rabbi in New York to advocate for the prisoner, that gunman is singularly targeting the Jewish community.
We will give Desarno the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps he misspoke. According to a reporter on the scene, Desarno immediately tried to clarify. Perhaps he meant that the American Jewish community as a whole wasn’t being targeted by this gunman, that the threat wasn’t nationwide — as if George Floyd’s death had nothing to do with the Afro-American community nationwide. Desarno: Watch your words.
Other words that mattered last Saturday night, as the global Jewish community shook in fear as the hostage situation stretched into its 11th hour: “You’re about to hear some ugly & vicious Islamophobia & anti-Muslim bigotry this weekend from elected officials, commentators and even mainstream media. Hope I’m wrong. People will use it to divide Jewish and Muslim communities for their political agenda. Don’t fall for it.”
This was tweeted by journalist Wajahat Ali — before the hostages were released, when they were still held at gunpoint. The sole focus of your words, Mr. Ali, should have been the Jewish people being held hostage, the fear of global Jewry. But no. Mr. Ali’s words invoked potential Islamophobia.
Indeed it was shocking to see how much concern was being expressed on social media about potential Islamophobia when Jews, in that very moment, were held at gunpoint.
Why are Jews expected to sideline their pain for someone else’s imagined pain? Why are Jews expected to justify or apologize for their fear?
Obviously, anti-Muslim hatred is not the appropriate response to the actions of a single person. But why predict it? Where is the prioritization when Jewish lives are at stake?
Perhaps most important, by implying that Islamophobia would be the instant Jewish reaction, were these commentators seeking to exclude Islam from any conversation or discussion about this hostage taker? If religion motivated Malik Faisal Akram in any way at all — and all indications are that it did — this is a legitimate and necessary part of any investigation. The the desire to exclude it is dangerous.
Words matter. Such as those from Rabia Choudry, a Pakistani-American attorney, who tweeted, with no equivocation whatever: “Our Jewish brothers and sisters should never be scared to worship, and yet over and over, week after week, synagogues are defaced, vandalized, and under threat. I am enraged for the Jewish community and stand with you.”
The absence of words also matters. As the hostage situation was underway, there was very little to be heard from the types who would have been all over this had the attack been perpetrated either by a white supremacist or against a different ethnic group.
Many Jews were left wondering how their so-called “allies” care about Jewish lives. Indeed, until the hostages were rescued, the story wasn’t even appearing on the front page of major news outlets, including The New York Times. The Denver Post relegated a small story to the back of the paper.
There are also the words to be cautious of, such as these, from CAIR, released Saturday: “We strongly condemn the hostage-taking at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas. This latest antisemitic attack at a house of worship is an unacceptable act of evil. We stand in solidarity with the Jewish community, and we pray that law enforcement authorities are able to swiftly and safely free the hostages. No cause can justify or excuse this crime.”
Meaningless — as long as CAIR continues to stand behind its leader who told Muslims to “pay attention to Zionist synagogues” and to realize that mainstream American Jewish organizations “are working to harm you. Make no mistake of it. They would sell you down the line . . . often do behind your back.” CAIR needs to look inside before its condemnation of anti-Semitism outside has the ring of credibility.
President Biden’s words immediately after the hostages were released: “Let me be clear to anyone who intends to spread hate — we will stand against anti-Semitism and against the rise of extremism in this country.”
Mr. President, please act on these words. Start by standing against the anti-Semitism expressed by Zahra Billoo and condoned by CAIR.
To turn Billoo’s own words around, “let’s not sugarcoat it.” As long as a community leader — any community leader — continues to paint American Jews as the enemy, American Jews will remain unsafe, and anti-Semitism will continue to rise.
Copyright © 2022 by the Intermountain Jewish News
