The Threat Of Domestic Terrorism.
Following terrorist attacks perpetrated by Muslims, such as the San Bernardino Attack, in which there are high civilian casualties, there is always an inevitable discussion surrounding the threat of islamic extremism and international terrorism. Such discussions are led by mass media and politicians and many argue demonize all Muslims, lead to xenophobia and islamophobia and do little more than fear monger. Many people also criticize the seeming hypocrisy of covering such terrorist attacks so widely and insinuating that the Islamic faith is inherently violent and promotes extremism and the Quran provides the underpinnings for terrorism when domestic terrorism is also a prevalent problem in the united states
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One would believe that if our leaders aren’t using the word terrorism then it’s obvious domestic terrorism isn’t a real thing or even a real threat. Terrorism, by definition, however, is a dangerous act intended to intimidate civilian populations, influence government policy or affect government conduct (Baker, “A Nation Wonders When Bloodshed Becomes Terrorism”.) This definition stands no matter your nationality, meaning that even though foreign terrorist threats seem to be the central topic in 2016 presidential candidates campaigns that does not mean that domestic terrorism is not a problem. Domestic terrorism is a very real thing and right-wing extremism is the number one terrorist threat facing the United States. Do not be mistaken by the lack of attention on the issue, Domestic terrorism is a credible threat to the United States and has existed in this country for almost 150 years, our long history of racial intolerance and the ideological tension between our political parties has created a nation whose citizens are susceptible to radicalization. Domestic terrorism poses a larger threat than groups such as ISIS and the lack of media attention has allowed American extremism to fester and become worse as it prevails, unchecked with no …show more content…
Conservative fox news contributor Jonah Goldberg dispelled the legitimacy of the threat of domestic terrorism posed by the far right by contending, “Over the last few, the invariably unjustified rush to pin violence on the right wing- particularly the tea parties- has reached the point of parody … the reasons conservatives take offense at this idiotic knee-jerk slander is that the term ‘right wing’ is also routinely used to describe mainstream Republicans … Every muslim terrorist enjoys not just the presumption of innocence until proven guilty but the presumption that he’s a fan of Ayn Rand … some would respond that ‘right wing’ is different than ‘Muslim’ because there’s so much similarity between mainstream conservative ideology and the terror-filled creeds of the far right. … In plenty of cases of multiple killings … the perpetrators espoused views closer to the mainstream left’s than McVeigh had to the mainstream right.” ADDRESS COUNTER
On September 11, 2001, since the terrorist attacks, many American Muslims have been stereotyped negatively in the United States. Salma, a Muslim woman, says that the way Muslims have been recognized in the media has played a big role in the antagonism directed at her. “I don’t know how many times I heard my classmates accuse me of being al-Qaeda or a terrorist” (Mayton 2013). Salma, along with other Muslims, even after a decade, are still struggling with trying to find their “American” and “Islamic” identities, while facing verbal attacks for their ethnicity. Too often, the general Muslim population gets lumped in with the immoral acts of a few because of the lack of knowledge about their culture.
Following 9/11 individuals who have ties to the Middle East have been scrutinized. “Muslims have endured alarming rates of prejudice, discrimination, and hate crimes.”(Amer&Bagarsa,2013). According to Amer hate crimes against Muslim Americans have significantly increased since 9/11 to the point of being “the most prevalent hate crime taking place on American soil.” (Amer&Bagarsa,2013). “The racialization of an ‘Arab-Middle Eastern-Muslim’ Other has been constituted by a dual process of cultural racism and the racialization of national origin… This solidified the racial
For a second, the U.S. stood still. Looking up at the towers, one can only imagine the calm before the storm in the moment when thousands of pounds of steel went hurdling into its once smooth, glassy frame. People ran around screaming and rubble fell as the massive metal structure folded in on itself like an accordion. Wounded and limping from the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, America carried on, not without anger and fear against a group of innocent Americans, Muslim Americans. Nietzsche’s error of imaginary cause is present in the treatment of Muslim Americans since 9/11 through prejudice in the media, disregard of Muslim civil liberties, racial profiling, violence, disrespect, and the lack of truthful public information about Islam. In this case, the imaginary cause against Muslims is terrorism. The wound has healed in the heart of the U.S. but the aching throb of terrorism continues to distress citizens every day.
Unfortunately, terrorism is known to the United States very well because there are a lot of threats of terrorist acts against the United States. Unlike, a criminal threat a terrorist threat is considered to be very serious and has to be acted upon as soon as possible because these
Consequently, it is no surprise that the most powerful media sources are spewing out pieces of hateful rhetoric that result in the “othering” of Muslims in the U.S. With the increase of Islamophobia and American nationalism. are currently driving hate crimes and institutional discrimination, human fear and emotion are becoming twisted and utilized as weapons in of its
Terrorism represents a continuing threat to the United States. It is the most significant threat to our national security. Terrorist attacks have left many concerned about the possibility of future incidents of terrorism in the United States. Since the events of September 11, 2011, Americans and much of the world have been afraid. Americans are at war with terrorism and no longer feel comfortable.
Islam in America has historically been misunderstood, and this is due to the misconception of culture and religion as well as lack of education and incorrect portrayal in the media, which gives a skewed idea of Islam. Especially in the United States, Islam has been seen as the “terrorist religion” or a religion for the extremists and a religion in which freedom is not an option. Among the countless misconceptions, the basis of stereotypes by Americans is due to the mix up between religion and culture. Furthermore, the media only fuels fire to these misunderstandings and lack of factual information about Islam causing Americans to lash out on American Muslims without reason.
In Module one, I learned that terrorism is a result of physical harm or deadly acts of force with the intent of a political outcome by the use of terror for coercion. There are various types of terrorism such as international terrorism and domestic terrorism. International terrorism occurs outside of the United States with a purpose to influence the policy of a government by intimidation. International and Domestic terrorism both involve violent acts dangerous to human life that violate federal and state laws. Domestic terrorism occurs within the United States with the intention of coercion or intimidation by way of mass destruction, etc. Some forms of terrorism include Improvised explosive devices (IED), kidnappings, suicide bombings and
There a small but clear differences between domestic terrorism and international terrorism, that difference is where the terrorist act is planned, supported, and carried out. In the case of domestic terrorism, the act must be planned, supported, and carried out all within the boundaries of the United States. The domestic terrorists must also be domicile to the United States and not be current foreign nationals at the time of the act. If the terrorist act is committed with help from a foreign group, planned or supported in a foreign country or committed by foreign nationals inside the boundaries of the U.S., then the attack may be international terrorism. The 9/11 attack was a clear act of international terrorism as it was planned, supported,
In the essay, the writer acknowledges the misunderstandings that come from media images by explaining the contrasts between these images and the teachings of the faith to support her claim that fear is the reason for this misconception. The conception that many people have of Muslims is that they are terrorists, anti-Semites, and fanatics. This conception exsists because television news and newspapers support that stereotype. The broadcast of such stereotypes encourages fear and accusations of the Islamic relegion's teachings. The writer explains that Islam teaches peace, tolerance, and equality. She further states that Muslims shown in the media have violated these teachings ...
A lot of people believe that Muslims, Islam, and/or the Holy Quran encourages killing, fighting, and terrorism. Events such as the 9/11 attack in the United States, the Boston Marathon Bombing, and conflicts in the Middle East causes the media to label Muslims as terrorists. When a specific group of people cause violence to another group it is categorized as ‘hate crime’, but if a Muslim does the same act, the media immediately labels it as ‘terrorism’ (Frater, 2009). As a matter of fact, regarding to the attacks of the mosques in Israel, the media did not use the acts to victimize or stereotype Judaism. Moreover, some extremist groups use Islam as a tactic to gain followers even though a lot of their practices go against the teachings of the Quran. A person would not be considered a Muslim if they spread fear or terrorize others. The Quran clearly states, “You shall not take life, which God has made sacred, except by way of justice and law.” (Quran, 6:151). Islam is against any force or violence towards another person. Often the word ‘Jihad’ is taken out of context by violent militants; it means to strive or struggle for the sake of ones’ self improvement with respect to their spirituality. Religious and political groups use Jihad to justify ...
After 9/11 has induced negative attitudes towards Muslim peoples who tend to be strongly associated with any act of terrorism. The media has played a colossal role in developing such negative association wherein it constantly portrays Muslim people in combination with violent terrorist acts. It does so in a way that they both go hand-and-hand. In other words, it has made it as though the Islamic religion is synonymous with terrorism. The media has perpetuated Muslim stereotypes over the years that followed the 9/11 incident. Because of this, society has developed, and still has developed, this prejudiced mindset about the Islamic religion and the Muslim communities around the world. People immediately assume that any violent act being depicted through the media is the direct result of Muslims. They automatically generate this idea that the act was performed by a Muslim terrorist even when they were not involved whatsoever. Regardless of whether it was true or not, Islamic religion and its Muslim adherents are at the top of societies’ agenda just waiting for the evidence to be generated so that they can then safely blame them for such world affairs. Again, this has led to the attack on the Islamic religion itself wherein people have come to postulate Islam as an act of oppression, violence and hatred towards non-Muslims. Anti-Muslim sentiments and campaigns have resulted from such misinformation the media has been generating and feeding its viewers.
Terrorism can take many different forms. Tragedies like 9/11 and domestic terrorism can both be prevented with increased homeland security. To prevent attacks like 9/11 from happening in the future, addressing issues with domestic terrorism, and the growth of homeland security, the U.S. still needs to be concerned with terrorism. Disasters like 9/11 still need to be prevented in the United States. The U.S. needs to be more involved with terrorism in general to keep domestic attacks from happening. Homeland security needs to be studied and improved in order to prevent terrorism. In conclusion, is it imperative that the United States continue its fight against terrorism.
“Even without incidents of violence, mass media stroke fears of terrorism by reporting hugely inflated estimates of alleged threats” (Kurzman 15). This also relates to the United States and how they used film and media to put fear into the community during World War II. CNN’s senior media correspondent Brian Stelter covered this topic on a debate segment of -Red News Blue News titled “Does the Media Promote Islamophobia”. Stelter begins the segment by touching on how Islam is manifested in the media to cause exaggerated fear and hostility toward Muslims, perpetuated by negative stereotypes. He gives different examples of this. For instance, Tom Shillue (stand-up comedian) stating on Fox’s The Five that if there is a moderate Muslim voice “out there” now is the time to speak up and Sean Hannity calling a “Jihad rising worldwide”. This not only shows how one with no credentials can input their outlandish views on a national platform, but also displays an exaggeration of the problem being discussed. Later in the segment, guest co-host Brigitte Gabriel is introduced to soon give a false statistic that 25% of all Muslims are radicalized, once more proving the buffoonery being fed by present day
In this world there are many different topics of controversy. With every controversial topic comes different views and arguments explaining why people believe what they do. There are problems that can be just within one country or throughout the entire world. Terrorism affects everyone in the world, specifically us as Americans, which is why it is one of the biggest controversial topics. Of course with a topic as big as terrorism, there are emic and etic perspectives involved. With past history, there are specific countries and religions that we think of when we hear the word terrorism, specifically Afghanistan, located in the Middle East and the Muslim religion in that general area. Being part of the American