Tag Archives: terrorism
Why are so many innocent Muslims labeled as terrorists?
Why, when most people think of terrorists, do they assume Ahmed, Mohammed, and Nader and not Aaron, Michael, or Nathan? Not every terrorist is of Arab descent or even a Muslim, but to many people in America, if you have a foreign sounding name that could be Middle Eastern, you are automatically thought of as being a “potential terrorist.” Too many Americans continue to perceive Arabs and/or Muslims as terrorists, therefore causing severe injustice to the entire group.
U.S. counterterrorism policy: Misguided and ill-Informed
U.S. counterterrorism policy is a sore that the Obama administration has allowed to continue to fester. While claiming to be a beacon of freedom and justice, the US continues to hypocritically disregard our constitutional underpinnings and international human rights law.
Legislation has codified the indefinite detention of suspects including those that are U.S. citizens. Furthermore, many innocent people have been severely tortured and detained indefinitely despite the fact that the U.S. government does not have enough evidence to charge and legitimately try them. They are sent to rot indefinitely in Guantanamo Bay. Shaker Aamer is one such detainee.
Mali: Africa’s ground zero in the global “War on Terror”
Since January, American news outlets have been flooded with stories about France’s two month campaign to oust a group of Islamic terrorists that had recently gained total control over the northern region of Mali. Reports of ghastly violations of human rights coming from these areas under rebel control, along with France’s claim to be fighting Al-Qaeda-linked extremists, may lead many of us to conclude that this is a rather black and white conflict. But a closer look into the ongoing conflict in Mali reveals a much more complex situation, which muddies the black and white rhetoric.
Fear and loathing in Homeland
I started watching Homeland, knowing that the high-energy political thriller had won critical acclaim and several Emmys last month. I got hooked right away – pulled in by the fast-paced story, compelling performances, and the unrelenting tension between the “good guys” and the “bad guys” – as they are so aptly called in the show. As a viewer, I could never put my finger on what was coming next, or how the story would shift.
However, as an American Muslim and keen observer of international politics, I could not ignore the troubling and reoccurring factual errors about Islam, Muslims, and the Middle East. These manifest in the dialogue and plot, making it difficult to discuss the show without addressing its problematic narrative which required suspension of disbelief about the Muslim community.
Pre-emptive counterterrorism: A shot in the dark
Recent counterterrorism efforts conducted by the FBI leave many wondering about the state of our nation’s security. Within the past year, FBI officials have produced a new method for stopping terrorist attacks: picking out the “terrorists” themselves.
A real Arab and Muslim-American hero?
By Rabya Khan
In brightest day, in blackest night,
No evil shall escape my sight
Let those who worship evil’s might,
Beware my power, Green Lantern’s light!!!
- Green Lantern Oath
The inequality of hate
Recently, Fox News ran a piece with the headline “Did mental illness fuel Wisconsin massacre-or was it terrorism?” Read the headline again. You might find the unspoken implication: the conscious decision to commit terrorism, to kill and maim innocent people, has to be the act of a sane man. Not meaning to kill people but doing it anyway makes one insane. A strange conclusion, isn’t it?
The reoccurring issue: News media failing to tell it like it is
By Naeem Vahora
It’s becoming the summer of shooting sprees and hate crimes. In the past month alone, we have seen senseless violence and hatred carried out in a packed movie theatre, Sikh temple, and now a mosque – and while those communities are recovering from unspeakable tragedies, legal authorities are still struggling to label these attacks for what they truly are: acts of terrorism.
The media’s (false) dilemma: Word choice
By Sarah Goomar
Tom Krattenmaker, a member of USA Today’s Board of Contributers and a writer on religion and the public sphere recently wrote an opinion piece titled “Use ‘terrorist’ label carefully and consistently”. Krattenmaker begins his piece by highlighting an important disparity between two recent events that received a fair amount of media attention: in the first, he details Nidal Hasan’s shooting spree at Fort Hood, where 13 were killed and 30 wounded. In the second, he recalls the death of six people including a U.S. District Judge and the injury of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, among others, at the hands of Jared Loughner.
Unfinished stories destroy the Muslim image
The article, “Hostility Between Muslims and German Nationalists Rattles a Former Capital,” by Melissa Eddy gave a one sided view on the rally in Bonn, Germany between Muslims and German Nationalists. Eddy explained that on May 5, 2012 a right-wing group, Pro-NRW, showed praying Muslims insulting caricatures of their prophet Muhammad, which led to a violent uprising. The article portrayed Muslims as dangerous and at fault for the disturbance of peace. It also described and justified the fear and contempt the residents feel against Muslims. However, it did not explain why the praying Muslims acted so defensively or that Pro-NRW has a history of expressing Islamaphobic ideas.
