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Islamophobia.

With the commencement of the second Oil War (OWII) in March 2003 American and UK hostility toward Islam, already raised to fever pitch by the events of September 11th and clearly not assuaged by the resulting destruction wrought in Afghanistan, reached an all-time high. Generalisations and half-truths about Islam and Muslims abound unquestioned in the mass media without justification or evidence, proclaimed as fact by "Middle East experts." On 21 Jan 2002, the house of commons defence commission spokesperson joked that if the Taliban fighters held in Cuba were not bound and gagged on the flight over, they would have crashed the plane. "They are suicidal" he said, tarring the soldiers with the same brush as the despicable WTC attackers. Meanwhile, the US held the Afghan prisoners (including 10 Britons) without charge, refused to classify them as POWs, argued that the Geneva convention didn't apply because Guantanamo Bay wasn't US soil, and then had the cheek to say they would be tried for war crimes.

In the eyes of the 'Western' public, Islam is synonomous with terrorism and fundamentalism, despite the fact that the nature of 'fundamentalism' is rarely discussed or defined beyond frequent confirmations of it's existance and supposed power. Middle-east originating terrorism is only sixth highest in the world, yet the Oklahoma bombing was all too readily blamed on Islam before the truth became known that the perpetrators were white neo-nazis. In the wake of September 11th, the Anthrax scare was pinned firmly on Mulsims thanks to the frequent use of homages to "Allah" in the handwritten notes, leading to Congress passing harmful and draconian anti-terrorism legislation. Only later was it discovered that the culprit worked in military biotech and was attempting to secure continued funding for his research. The ultimate irony is that this tactic has worked like a dream! Military biotech has seen a massive increase in funding after the scare.

In the New Republic August 13, 1996, Martin Peretz (self-proclaimed 'expert' on islam) writes that Arab countries have no "cultural disposition for scientific and industrial take-off... these are societies which cannot make a brick, let alone a microchip". This is simply untrue and Peretz displays only his ignorance and racism by believing this. Muslim scientists pioneered logic, astronomy, medicine as a science and invented algebra (to name but a few of their many achievements) while we were wallowing in a god-fearing dark ages - which many Christian fundamentalists in America seem to want us to return to.

Milton Viorst (In Edward Said's Covering Islam, 1997) is quoted as saying: "The traditional Islamic city shows little concern for exterior aesthetics; even now, Arabs seem not to notice their streets and cover them with litter". Again, this is a horrendous generalisation about muslims and patently a lie. Islamic architecture is praised the world over for its use of complex geometric designs, its innovative use of ceramics and enamels. Also, Viorst seems to forget what a shithole parts of many Western cities are. Look at the streets of London or New York and be appalled. Personally, i have walked around some of the orthodox Jewish areas of Jerusalem and was amazed at the sheer quantity of household debris left to rot in enormous stinking piles. Surely this also displays lack of 'exterior aesthetics' and disregard for simple hygeine, but are we to generalise those traits to the entire Jewish community? The BNP would, I won't.

Islamophobia has terminally infected Hollywood. In the recent Demi Moore vehicle G.I. Jane, her unit is sent to retrieve weapons-grade plutonium from the Libyan desert. In American hands it has been used for a noble, scientific purpose (as fuel for a satellite - no mention of how America is putting the entire world at risk by firing radioactive materials into space!), but in Arab hands, it automatically becomes a threat to freedom and peace. There is no mention of any diplomatic attempts to retrieve the material, as Arabs are assumed to be beyond rationality. A filthy, sweaty Arab wearing the now-notorious keffiyah headscarf has his head blown off with surprisingly little explanation of his particular crime or connection to the plot. He simply represents evil in the mind of the American public.

In contrast to today's attitudes, in the late 80's action-flick Rambo III, Sylvester Stallone teams up with the Mojahadeem, who are portrayed as noble freedom fighters and cunning guerilla warriors. A few years later the perception has changed totally. The Mojahadeen are now considered to be dangerous terrorists and a threat to the west. The reason? Rambo III was made at the height of the Cold War - while the Mojahadeem were fighting the Russians in Afghanistan. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, indeed. So what purpose does this media-created bogeyman 'Islam' serve?

The US media like to convince the public that Islamic countries are not capable of rational thought - as this provides an excuse to blow the crap out of them and consolidate US power in the middle-east. During the Hostage Crisis, members of the Carter administration sent telegrams that in effect said that the Official Iranian hostage negotiators were being "irrational" - despite the fact that they knew how their own people would react better than any outsider ever could. It is estimated that Islamic Fundamentalists make up less than 5% of the muslim world, yet the media in America (and by default Europe) put forward a view of muslims as crazy, machine-gun weilding Arab nutters with a enormous desire to kill westerners. Hezbollah (who the media in America call terrorists) are a resistance movement fighting the illegal occupation of their country (Lebanon) by Israel. International law says that a population has the right to fight an occupying force! The French and Norwegian resistance movements during WWII are today seen as heroes, yet Hezbollah are only seen as the bad guys.

In the Gulf War it could be argued that Saddam Hussain (a totalitarian moron, admittedly) was protecting Iraq's oil interests by occupying Kuwait. Kuwait, it has been suggested, was stealing shared oil, by extracting it at a greater rate than Iraq could. The government of America charged in to protect the citizens of kuwait from the 'crazy arab dictator'. Millions of Iraqi citizens died and are still suffering from US/UN imposed sanctions and now face a second invasion and the ensuing chaos. During Desert Storm, uranium-tipped bullets were used in their millions (possibly to justify continuation of weapons contracts). These radioactive materials are strewn over the whole of iraq and it is reported by amnesty international that children are being born with serious birth defects. Was Saddam REALLY the bad guy? The thrust of this essay is the belief that the media in America perpetuate the 'spectre' of a malevolent islam in order to cover up the fact that the American government has perpetrated some horrendous crimes against the Islamic world. Since the end of the cold war, the media have needed the threat of an evil outside force to draw attention away from in-depth analysis by the american public of 'Western' crimes committed in 'Western' interests. For a list of these crimes, check out the Books section, or see this List of US-supported dictators

There is much talk of the "Jewish Lobby" in the states, but as Professor Jaqueline Ross has argued, the problem is not the "Jewish Lobby" but the "Judeo-Christian lobby". Powerful evangelists and bible-belt congressmen see it as their duty to defend Israel through a literal and fundametalist (!) reading of the Bible. The Bible says that the Jews are God's chosen people and that an attack on the people of Israel is an attack on God. As we all know, the Bible is the word of God and cannot (MUST not) be wrong. Therefore the Christian fundamentalist bible-belt holds a large part of the responsibility for perpetuating the oppression of the Palestinian people and the continuing conflicts in the middle-east.

Of course, America is not alone in blameworthiness. 'Great' Britain still languishes in post-colonial belief that the Arab and Asian states and peoples are somehow 'beneath' them (See Said's Orientalism). The real battle that America is yet to fight is to avoid falling into a state of splendid isolation such as that which categorised Britain for many years. After September 11th, attitudes in the US have hardened and become more hawkish and more right-wing. The protectionist policies implemented by the Bush administration (such as the 'Homeland' initiatives) have seen the US turn inward instead of reaching out. Sympathy for the US has been stretched to breaking point as demonstrated by Colin Powell's address to the Johannesberg summit in September 2002. Due to the US's refusal to clean up their act and participate in multilateral talks aimed at saving the planet for future generations, Powell was interrupted, jeered and booed throughout his (painfully long) speech. Most of the protesters were US citizens.

Ironically, as it grows in strength, America is becoming increasingly isolated and mistrusted internationally. It cannot act multilaterally, has problems understanding why the rest of the world hates being forced to live an alien dream and, within the US, domestic and foreign policy is simply not discussed. It is time for the American people to take a good look at the effects (good and bad) of their own media and governmental policy on international perception of their country.

Updated 4/4/03

See this list of US supported dictators...