“The Western society, terrorism has come to saturate virtually every area of life and it is now a central element of contemporary culture”1. Well the reason why terrorism has become very popular is because it excites, attracts, and frightens us as consumers and citizen2 . However, before the 1960’s there had been only a few counter-terrorism law or public safety measures. No films or television programs, and few mentions in the news media about terrorism3. Some point to the 9/11 attacks as the reason why people are focused on terrorism but according to Ross the link between terrorism and media helps us understand this obsessing between the United States citizen and terrorism4. Chermak points out that mass media are the primary vehicle, which
Bleich points out that no one can really define or began to understand the term Islamophobia17. Bleich does his best to develop a definition of Islamophobia that can be useful but not discriminate the Muslims at the same time. Bleich proposes that Islamophobia can best be understood as indiscriminate negative attitudes or emotions directed at Islam or Muslims18. Whatever the definition may be the fact remains that Islamophobia began to emerge immediately after the 9/11 attacks. Why is that? Can one argue that the Americans caused Islamophobia and not by the Muslims before the 9/11
However, Choma, Charlesford, Dalling, and Smith 's article argue against that. They point out that the 9/11 attacks produced several mental health consequences, acute stress, and distress-related symptoms20. They think Islamophobia is really a mental issue instead of a prejudice one. That the fears of 9/11 not Muslims or Islam gave rise to Islamophobia. To them the 9/11 attacks were a form of collective tragedies. They point out that “collective tragedies are associated with adverse effects on mental and physical health as well as sociopolitical attitudes including prejudice”21.But author Stephen Schwartz argues that, “Islamophobia has gained a stable but a small audience since 9/11”22. Imhuff and Recker propose that the term Islamophobia should be replaced with
In today’s society the word “terrorism” has gone global. We see this term on television, in magazines and even from other people speaking of it. In their essay “Controlling Irrational Fears After 9/11”, published in 2002, Clark R. Chapman and Alan W. Harris argue that the reaction of the American officials, people and the media after the attacks of 9/11 was completely irrational due to the simple fact of fear. Chapman and Harris jump right into dismembering the irrational argument, often experienced with relationships and our personal analysis. They express how this argument came about from the terrorist being able to succeed in “achieving one major goal, which was spreading fear” among the American people (Chapman & Harris, para.1). The supporters of the irrational reaction argument state that because “Americans unwittingly cooperated with the terrorist in achieving the major goal”, the result was a widespread of disrupted lives of the Americans and if this reaction had been more rational then there would have been “less disruption in the lives of our citizens” (Chapman & Harris, para. 1).
The attacks that occurred on 9/11 took place on September 11th, 2001. In this devastating event, four different attacks had taken place. Each of the attacks were carried out by terrorists. The group responsible for the attack was Al-Qaeda, a militant Islamist organization that is known to be global in present day. The group itself has a network consisting of a Sunni Muslim movement that aims to make global Jihad happen. Furthermore, a stateless, multinational army that is ready to move at any given time. This terrorist group focuses on attacking non-Sunni Muslims, those who are not Muslim, and individuals who the group deems to be kafir. Ever since the late 1980s, Al-Qaeda has been wreaking havoc all around the world. The leader of the group once being Osama bin Laden. Three planes were bound for New York City while another plane headed towards Washington, D.C. which was supposed to take out the U.S. Capitol. Two of the airplanes crashed into the World Trade Center. One plane hitting the North Tower and the other hitting the South Tower. The third plane had crashed into the Pentagon taking out the western side of the building. The last and final plane was focused solely on taking out the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C. but failed due to passengers of the plane coming hijacking it from the hijackers. The passengers attempted to take out the hijackers but sadly failed, crashing it into a field in Pennsylvania. Throughout the content of this paper, we will be focusing on the role of media when it comes to 9/11; more specifically: how the media's coverage of 9/11 manipulated our feelings towards 9/11, how it affected Islamophobia in America, and the lasting effects of 9/11.
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.
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.
Muslim children face high level of discrimination at their schools as they are welcomed with negative comments about their religion by the children of other religions. Though abnormal but normally Muslim students are labeled as Terrorists and they are often verbally coerced and mocked to migrate back to their native countries. The overall conclusion can be drawn as the study that United States suffered a lot during the attacks of 9/11 but the ones who are still facing the aftermath of that incident are the Muslims around the globe and especially those present in United States. Various reasons other than 9/11 attacks behind Muslim stigmatization around globe include stereotyping against Muslims in terms of non-flexibility, uncommon culture, simple life style and aggressive behavior.
In America, there is a hatred lurking around in almost every corner of the nation; a discrimination and social bias that preys on the lives of innocent Muslims. Some people fear for their lives when they see a Muslim board a plane that they’re going to go on. Politicians are using that fear to fuel their popularity in elections. This prejudice even started to become a form of patriotism in the eyes of a concerning number of Americans. A lot of Muslims fear for their own lives in America because they are being looked down upon and even targeted by some people. This fear and hatred against these innocent Muslims are defined as Islamophobia. I believe that this amount of Islamophobia that is happening in America
Similar to the Salem Witch Trials, these fears had no proper foundation, but after these brutal attacks, many people didn’t know what else to do, but be afraid. Comparable to “The Crucible,” the public showed great fear and they were very suspicious of the people they believed were suspects or possible perpetrators. People that expressed Islamophobia, which was an “exaggerated fear, hatred, and hostility toward Islam and Muslims” grew in numbers (Gallup). The 9/11 attacks sparked a fear and hysteria against innocent American Muslims, which was very unintelligent, due to the fact that this was not based on the malice or terror of these Muslims, but actually their connection through religion with the
Rothe, D. & Muzzatti, S.L. 2004. Enemies everywhere: Terrorism, moral panic and US civil society. Critical Criminology. 1(12): 327–350.
Americans have considered terrorism as a horror that occurs in other countries and not as a real threat to America itself. As the recent terrorist attacks on our nation shows, this opinion was gravely incorrect. There are several policies in both the private sector and our government, which contributed to our vulnerability to terrorism.
The concept of terrorism is exceedingly difficult to define. Author Gerald Seymour first said in his book Harry’s Game that, “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter”. Each individual may view terrorism in a different light. Because of this, there is currently no universal definition of terrorism. However, in recent years, it has become increasingly more important to form a definition of terrorism, especially while working in the media.
Post September 11, 2001 the life of a Muslim women living in America changed forever. Islamophobia is the prejudice against Islam or Muslims. Islamophobia is not a new concept, it has roots hundreds of years ago, however after 9/11 it became much more prevalent in America. Following 9/11 Western media used Islam and Muslim women who covered to inflict fear in American citizens. Western media framed Islam as a dangerous and hateful religion that needed to be stopped. At the same time the media became obsessed with Muslim women who veiled and wanted to save these women from their oppression. However, these articles written about the oppressed Muslim women did not feature Muslim women and their experiences veiling. They were not given a voice
Islamophobia is a newly coined term that is used to describe the growing fear of Muslims or specific groups that are considered to be associated with Islam. As a new term, the validity of Islamophobia is still a subject of huge debate even as its causes and characteristics are also controversial. This term was coined to refer to the events in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks in light of people’s attitudes towards Muslims and those associated with Islam. Actually, after the dust settled following the attacks, a new gesture of nationalism was witnessed across the United States and racism soon followed, which are usually faces to the same coin (Rose, 2013). In light of these developments on the question on whether Islamophobia is a form of racism has generated arguments and counter-arguments in support and opposition to the claim. People who consider Islamophobia as a form of racism have supported their argument through various reasons including the division and exclusion associated with the fear of Muslims. On the contrary, opponents have argued that Islamophobia is not a form of racism because of lack of a clear link between the term and racism as well as the fact that Islam is not a race but religion. An analysis of these arguments and counter-arguments reveals that Islamophobia is a form of racism, particularly cultural racism.
Islamophobia has become a new topic of interest among social sciences, political leaders and media commentators. People amongst society have developed this phobia towards Islamic religion and people. It has become a novel “form of racism in Europe and American based on discrimination ...
Terrorism is one of the most extensively discussed issues of our time and at the same time it is also one of the least understood. The term itself “terrorism” means many different things to different people, cultures, and races. As a result, trying to define or classify terrorism with one universal definition is nearly impossible. The definition of terrorism used in this research is a reflection of much of the Western and American way of defining it. The definition of terrorism is,
The contributing factors that led to the growth of Islamophobia in America post 9/11 are a mass hysteria caused by media, influential voices speaking against Islam and an increase of biased stereotypes. Some of the news’s greatest ways of contributing to the rise in Islamophobia is by giving unrealistic over-exaggerations and non-legitimate statistics in order to display an overall false narrative of the actual matter at hand. 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 for a “Jihad rising worldwide”.