islamophobia article vs antisemitism article the first section in the islamophobia article dedicated to in depth development of the concept the concept of islamophobia has been criticized on several grounds some critics argue that it is real but is just another form of racism and does not require its own category while others argue that it is used to censor criticism that its use threatens free speech or is used to silence issues relating to muslim populations in western countries novelist salman rushdie and others signed a manifesto entitled together facing the new totalitarianism in march which denounced islamophobia as a wretched concept british academic michael burleigh argues that the term 'spares anyone the need to examine what has gone wrong within europe's muslim communities' others such as edward said consider islamophobia as it is evinced in orientalism to be a 'secret sharer' in a more general antisemitic western tradition however daniel pipes says that 'islamophobia' deceptively conflates two distinct phenomena fear of islam and fear of radical islam the concept of islamophobia as formulated by runnymede is criticized by professor fred halliday on several levels he writes that the target of hostility in the modern era is not islam and its tenets as much as it is muslims and their actions suggesting that a more accurate term would be anti muslimism poole responds by noting that many islamophobic discourses attack what they perceive to be islam's tenets while miles and brown write that islamophobia is usually based upon negative stereotypes about islam which are then translated into attacks on muslims halliday also states that strains and types of prejudice against islam and muslims vary across different nations and cultures which is not recognized in the runnymede analysis miles and brown respond by arguing that the existence of different islamophobias does not invalidate the concept of islamophobia any more than the existence of different racisms invalidates the concept of racism halliday argues that the concept of islamophobia unwittingly plays into the hands of extremists british writer and academic kenan malik believes that the charge of islamophobia confuses discrimination against muslims with criticism of islam and that it is used to silence critics and muslim reformers he writes that the extent to which muslims are more vulnerable to social exclusion and attacks than other groups is frequently and allows for a culture of victimhood where all failings are attributed to islamophobia islamophobia is not a form of racism in his view because islam is a belief system this analysis is criticized by inayat bunglawala from the muslim council of britain and abdul wahid from the islamist group hizb ut tahrir bunglawala writes that malik's argument is limited to overt acts of violence against muslims without recognizing less overt forms of prejudice or discrimination by ignoring non violent examples of islamophobia malik's commentary makes a mockery of victims of prejudice by pretending they have not been discriminated against according to bunglawala in the wake of the jyllands posten muhammad cartoons controversy a group of writers signed a statement in the french weekly satirical newspaper charlie hebdo in march warning against the use of the term islamophobia to prevent criticism of islamic totalitarianism the novelist salman rushdie was among these signatories these views are shared by dutch law professor afshin ellian critics cite the case of british journalist polly toynbee who was nominated in may for the title of most islamophobic media personality of the year at the 'annual islamophobia awards' overseen by the islamic human rights commission for claiming that islam imposes harsh regimes that deny the most basic human rights in an article called fighting islamophobia a response to critics assistant professor deepa kumar writes that the modern day demonization of arabs and muslims by us politicians and others is racist and islamophobic and employed in support of an unjust war about the public impact of this rhetoric she says that one of the consequences of the relentless attacks on islam and muslims by politicians and the media is that islamophobic sentiment is on the rise she also chides some people on the left for using the same islamophobic logic as the bush regime she concludes with the statement at times like this people of conscience need to organize and speak out against islamophobia johann hari of the independent has criticized the use of the term by organizations like islamophobia watch arguing that liberal muslims interested in reform are le