The Center for American Progress’s new report, “Fear, Inc.: The Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America” is receiving a positive welcome from neutral observers as journalists and pundits pore over the 139-page exposé on the U.S. Islamophobia network.

The report’s authors have appeared on CNN.com, Al Jazeera English, Current TV, Guardian.co.uk and numerous radio interviews. Print media outlet such as The Jewish Daily Forward, The Atlantic, Salon.com, The Washington Post and The Nation have all run articles discussing the report’s findings.

Unfortunately, that accuracy and thorougness has proven a challenge for many of the Islamophobes mentioned in the report. With no serious factual errors with which to attack the authors, they’ve fallen back on attacking straw men and offering vitriolic, if at times colorful, ad hominem attacks.

Here’s the top ten list of right-wing responses to “Fear, Inc.” Read more

A U.N. report about the Israeli naval commando raid on a Turkish boat in the 2010 Gaza Freedom Flotilla said the manner in which Israelis boarded the boat was “excessive and unreasonable,” according to a leaked copy posted online by the New York Times. The report, which was to be released Friday, was authored by former New Zealand Prime Minister Sir Geoffrey Palmer and an assembled panel that included Israelis and Turks to examine the incident where eight Turks and one American were killed by Israeli forces.

While the report affirmed the legitimacy of Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip for security reasons, the authors called the loss of life resulting from Israel’s raid “unacceptable.” The report called on Israel to express “regret” — something Israeli officials have already rejected — and pay compensation to the families of victims.

The panel also placed some blame on the flotilla organizers. The report admonished flotilla participants for acting “recklessly” in their attempt to break the blockade of Gaza and questioned the motives of a Turkish Islamic NGO that spearheaded the effort, though it acknowledged that the “majority of the flotilla participants had no violent intentions.”

One of the victims of the raid, Furkan Doğan, was an American citizen of Turkish descent who lived in Turkey. The report described the circumstances of his death and its immediate aftermath:

Furkan Doğan received five gunshot wounds in the back of his head, nose, left leg, left ankle and in the back, all from close range. A citizen of the United States, Mr. Doğan was a 19-year-old high school student with ambitions of becoming a medical doctor. Mr. Doğan’s motionless, wounded body was kicked and shot upon, execution-style by two Israeli soldiers.

In a different section, the report goes on:

At least one of those killed, Furkan Doğan, was shot at extremely close range. Mr. Doğan sustained wounds to the face, back of the skull, back and left leg. That suggests he may already have been lying wounded when the fatal shot was delivered, as suggested by witness accounts to that effect.

No evidence has been provided to establish that any of the deceased were armed with lethal weapons.

The panel found those facts to be “of particular concern,” and expressed consternation that Israel did not provide any information about the specific killings beyond decrying the “chaotic” atmosphere. The report did acknowledge that once the Israeli commandos boarded the Turkish boat, the Mavi Marmara, they were compelled to use force because of resistance from flotilla participants.

The raid on the boat soured relations between Turkey and Israel, formerly strong Middle East allies. Both have close security relationships with the U.S. With Israel’s refusal to accept recommendations of the report, a thaw in relations in the near term seems unlikely.

One of the featured “experts” in the new CAP “Fear, Inc.” report on Islamophobia, Frank Gaffney, appeared on a religious right program and called for renewed McCarthyism against not just American-Muslims but also those who support them or don’t do enough to stymie what Gaffney considers their pernicious influence.

Gaffney, who runs a well-funded Islamophobic operation, celebrated the House Un-American Activities Committee — the Cold War-era investigative committee that epitomized the overblown “red scare” of a Communist takeover of the U.S. — before calling for a new similar committee. The new “House Anti-American Activities Committee would look into American-Muslims, who Gaffney thinks are criminally “seditious” for observing their faith, and their witting and unwitting allies:

Back in the Cold War as we talked about in our first program we wrestled with another totalitarian ideology that was determined to destroy us back when the McCarren Act was enacted, we had what was then called the House Un-American Activities Committee to explore what was going on, who was doing it, who was helping them do it, what the implications would be if it weren’t stopped. I think we need at the very least a new House Anti-American Activities Committee.

Watch the video:

The new “green scare” committee came up as Gaffney and the host, Christian right figure Rick Joyner, discussed prosecuting Americans for simply not reporting “treasonous” acts — known as “misprision of treason” — by American Muslims. Gaffney has previously accused Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) of this crime, which carries a seven-year sentence, for appointing a Muslim to a judgeship in New Jersey. Gaffney considers adherence to Muslim religious law to be “seditious“:

A mosque that is used to promote a seditious program, which is what Sharia is…that is not a protected religious practice, that is in fact sedition.

While many regard the “red scare” and the McCarthyism associated with it as a less than savory period in American history, Gaffney seems to whole-heartedly approve of the program and calls for its revival — but targeted at religious beliefs instead of a political views. Some might argue that taking away the freedom of speech and religion are themselves “un-American” acts. (HT: Right Wing Watch)

The manifesto of right-wing terrorist Anders Breivik, who attacked targets in Norway in July killing nearly 100 people, contained numerous citations to Islamophobic bloggers and other so-called experts on Islamic terrorism here in the United States. The references included “counterjihad” bloggers Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer, who received a combined 174 citations from Breivik (Geller and Spencer also feature prominently in CAP’s latest report on the Islamophobia network in the U.S., “Fear, Inc.“).

ThinkProgress’ Eli Clifton subsequently noted that former Bush administration official and prominent war hawk John Bolton — who is currently considering a run for president — has a “Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer problem.” Indeed, Bolton has deep connections to Geller. He even wrote the foreward to Geller and Spencer’s 2010 book, The Post-American Presidency: The Obama Administration’s War on America. The book contains language eerily similar to Breivik’s manifesto.

Bolton kept quiet about his links to Geller and Spencer after Breivik’s attack. But now, it appears he’s fully embracing them. Geller announced today that Bolton will be speaking at her “9/11 Freedom Rally: Stand Against Ground Zero Mosque”:

Honor our war dead on September 11th at West Broadway and Park Place at our 911 Freedom Rally. Stand for freedom. Join us, Robert Spencer and me at West Broadway and Park Place and protest this cultural obscenity at our 911 Freedom Rally. Remember last year?

Speakers include U. S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton…

ThinkProgress asked Bolton staffer Christine Samuelian if the former U.N. ambassador is concerned about continuing to associate with Geller and Spencer given their influence on Breivik. Samuelian confirmed that Bolton is not attending the upcoming anti-mosque event in person and will instead send a recorded video, but she has yet to respond as to whether Bolton has any concerns about Geller and Spencer. (HT: Justin Elliott)