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Finish the sentence in this multiple-choice question: The demonization of Muslims in America is —

A • A threat not only to American Muslims, but to people of other faiths.

B • An act of political opportunism.

C • A byproduct of biased media depictions of Islam.

D • Similar to what happened in the past to Jews, Catholics and other minorities.

E • A multi-million dollar industry.

For speakers at a panel Saturday at the Parliament of the World's Religions, the answer is "All of the above."

"Hate is rising all around in the country," said Imam Abdul Malik Mujahid, board chairman of the Parliament of the World's Religions, which is gathering this weekend at the Salt Palace Convention Center in downtown Salt Lake City.

Mujahid moderated the panel, "The Islamophobia Industry: The Okay Racism of Our Times." Featured were experts who have studied Islamophobia, and two Muslim professional women who have been on the receiving end of anti-Islam prejudice.

Suzanne Barakat, a doctor based in San Francisco, said she felt that prejudice before boarding her flight to Salt Lake City.

"Religiously, every time, I am randomly selected for screening," she said, describing how her head covering marks her for extra TSA scrutiny. She said the only person who chose to interact with her, rather than just stare, was the 3-year-old granddaughter of the volunteer who picked her up at Salt Lake City International Airport.

Barakat was born and raised in North Carolina, and as a devout Muslim of Syrian descent has grown up with discrimination. "For many [people], I was the only Muslim they had ever met," she said, adding that she worked to smile and be friendly with all.

Last February, she received word that her brother, Deah, had been killed back home in Chapel Hill — along with Deah's wife, Yusor Abu-Salha, and her sister, Razan Abu-Salha. The alleged killer, Craig Stephen Hicks, has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder and faces the death penalty in an upcoming trial.

"At this point, all my smiling and all my friendliness didn't matter, and I needed to speak up," Barakat said.

She gave interviews to national news outlets, including CNN and MSNBC, all of whom she said sought to blame the deaths on a reported dispute over parking spaces.

"I was livid, because even after all the evidence had come in and it clearly wasn't a parking dispute, at the end I was a 30-second little [sound] bite," Barakat said. "My brother was just murdered, and I'm trying to grieve, and I'm here to try and raise awareness, and you're asking me about a parking dispute."

For Debbie Almontaser, coordinator of external programs for Brooklyn Public Schools, her encounter with Islamophobia began when she was principal of the Khalil Gibran International Academy, a dual-immersion Arabic-English school she founded in Brooklyn.

A controversy began when a group associated with the school created a T-shirt that read "Intifada NYC." The right-leaning New York Post wrote about the shirt, ignoring Almontaser's explanation that the word, in Arabic, has non-violent connotations. Ultimately Almontaser, who is of Yemeni descent, was forced to resign "because Mayor [Michael] Bloomberg caved and pandered to the right-wing propaganda," she said.

Islamophobia causes lasting psychological damage, Almontaser said, citing rising levels of depression among American Muslims. It also affects non-Muslims, and Almontaser cited attacks on Sikhs by people who mistook them for Muslims.

According to Nathan Lean, director of research for Georgetown University's Islamophobia project The Bridge Initiative, ginning up fears of Muslims is a lucrative "cottage industry."

"There's an awful lot of money that is behind promoting negative views of Islam in our society," Lean said.

He points to several core organizations and activists who are "pulling the strings" on most anti-Islam campaigns, whether it's state legislatures passing bills opposing Sharia law, or the battle against New York's Park 51 development ("the so-called 'Ground Zero Mosque,' that was not a mosque and was not at Ground Zero," Lean said) or the rise of "draw Mohammad" cartoon contests in small towns.

Lean cited a study by the Council for American-Islamic Relations, which found that in a three-year period, from 2008 to 2011, $119 million in donations went to these core groups that "dress their prejudice in the robes of nonprofit organizations."

Author and scholar Jack G. Shaheen said vilifying American Muslims in the media really took off after 9/11.

"Even though [American Muslims] had nothing to do with 9/11, they were being targeted," said Shaheen, a Christian born to Lebanese parents. Depictions in the media — most notably on Fox's popular drama "24" — added to the public perception that "every time you walked by a mosque, you thought there was a terrorist there," Shaheen said.

Shaheen faulted two groups that should be doing more to fight against anti-Islam bias: The news media and political leaders.

Shaheen reeled off a series of anti-Islam comments from GOP presidential candidates, but he also criticized President Barack Obama for failing to speak out. "[Obama] has not said, 'What if I were a Muslim? What difference would it make?'," Shaheen said.

Meanwhile, "there has been a failure on the part of the press to expose this bigotry," Shaheen said.

Lean blamed not just Fox News and right-wing talk hosts, but also liberals — he cited comedian Bill Maher and evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins — who spout anti-Islam rhetoric.

All agreed that the cure for Islamophobia is to speak out.

"We've heard about the industry of hate," Almontaser said. "We need to create the industry of love."