: Wanna Be A Star? Hate Islam

In an op-ed article in the San Francisco Chronicle, Asma Hasan writes that in post 9/11 America, ‘hating’ Islam is getting ‘intellectualized’. She argues that those framing the debate in ‘clash of civilization’ terms do it mainly to gain publicity (or because they dont know better). Her ire was directed more towards writers Andrew Sullivan and Salman Rushdie whose voices, she says, carry greater weight than that of people like Pat Buchanan or Franklin Graham. Says Hasan, “It’s obvious to me that many have just picked up a copy of the Koran at their local bookstore and anointed themselves experts after scanning the index for the word ‘kill’ and ‘infidel.'”