© RIA Novosti
Russian President Vladimir Putin at the opening of Moscow’s Cathedral Mosque.
"I think Islam hates us."
With this perturbing quote, US Presidential candidate Donald Trump underscored an increasingly salient issue in the United States: Islamophobia. After the recent Paris attacks, many American Muslims expressed the view that discrimination against Muslims is worse than after 9/11. Recent polls show that
three in five Americans have an unfavorable view of Islam. This growing tide is wholly contradictory to a bedrock of America's history and the constitution's religious freedom. How can America create more routes for tolerance?
Surprisingly, one route to combatting Islamophobia may come from a country that is often referred to as America's greatest foe: Russia. Americans now view Russia more negatively since the end of the Cold War. The Russian President,
Vladimir Putin, is seen favorably by less than one in five Americans. Yet despite Russia being overwhelmingly Russian Orthodox, a conservative branch of Christianity that, for instance, is ardently anti-gay,
Russia is more tolerant of Muslims than the United States. Polling indicates that there is a higher acceptance of Islam than in the United States, and while some politicians may run on xenophobic platforms,
these politicians are strictly not Islamophobic. In recent years, Moscow has even vetoed a planned Islamophobic rally, citing unity and the public's will. This isn't to paint an unduly rosy picture of Islamophobia in Russia:
more than 40% of Russians have an unfavorable opinion of Islam and many outside observers are concerned about the growing number of Russians joining the Islamic State.
Comment: To U.S./Turkish/Israeli imperial interests, Mosul is just a geostrategic point on a map. The lives and institutions that inhabit the region have no value in and of themselves except as an area to "cleanse" and clear towards a plan of control and domination.
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