Terrorism: Islamophobia In The United States

    On September 11, 2001, Islamic extremists stole four airplanes and carried out suicide attacks against the United States. Two of the airplanes were flown into the twin towers in New York City, the third airplane hit the Pentagon outside Washington, D.C., and the fourth airplane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. Known as 9/11, the attacks resulted in extensive death and destruction, triggering the United States to create major changes in their security and terrorism protocols. While everyone agrees that what happened on 9/11 was terrible, many believe that the changes in America’s security protocols are not for the best. How 9/11 affected America’s security protocols was for the worse, it caused: privacy invasion for foreign and American civilians in airports, immigration laws increased out of fear, and discrimination and racism towards Arab civilians.

Since the incident of 9/11 occurred, many people have debated over the Muslim faith and its practices. Muslim extremist groups such as Al-Qaeda and ISIS have affected the name of Islam causing majority of Muslims to be blamed. Recently, a tragic event that occurred in Paris killing over a hundred people left the people of France shaken with fear and anger. These events have lead to an increasing amount of hate and tension towards Muslims all over the world from protests at mosques, where Muslims go to pray, and anti-Muslim rally’s. Islamophobia is a massive issue that has steered European counties like France to enforce laws that ban religious garments that Muslims wear such as the niqab and burqa. Some people perceive these garments to be

Following the terror attacks in The Unites States in 2001, there has been an increase in Islamophobia in the Western World. Following 9/11, respondents indicate that levels of implicit or indirect discrimination in The United States rose by 82,6% and experiences of over discrimination by 76,3% (http://jiv.sagepub.com/content/21/3/317.short). A combination of how Arabs and Muslims are portrayed in the media, with the increase of organized terrorist groups and refugees since the Arabic Spring, makes this a big political challenge today. This bibliography is written to get an overview of why Islamophobia has increased and the challenges that comes with the rise of Islamophobia.

According to Jason Villemez of the PBS News Hour, there were immediate changes to airport security following 9/11. Within 2 months of the attacks, the Aviation and Transportation Security Act was passed. This law requires that every single bag is screened at airports andrequires that certain procedures are followed at every airport (Swickard). Before 9/11, scissors, baseball bats, darts, and 4-inch-long blades were allowed, but these are now illegal under the ATSA (O’Connor). The Aviation and Transportation Security Act also created the Transportation Security Administration known as the TSA (Tognotti). Each airport had to supply their own security before 9/11, but with the creation of the TSA, the government supplied security for airports (Villemez). Gabi Logan of USA Today found that the increase in security including baggage checks caused a six percent decrease in the number of passengers. Passengers chose not to travel at all or found a different way to get to their destination. While security in airports was significantly increased, 9/11 also affected millions of Americans involved in the war on terror”.

America was not a complete mess with orphaned children and cows roaming around like in The Crucible however, there were still transformations from before to after the mass hysteria of 9/11. A short term effect caused by mass hysteria were hate crimes towards people of the Islamic faith. According to the FBI, anti-Islamic hate crimes spiked by 1,600 percent with 481 incidents during 2001. Another major change was the increase in airport security. A month after 9/11 the Transport Security Administration, also known as the TSA, was founded. The TSA made the following rules to create traveling by plane more safe: more specific ID is required, shoes must be removed at checkpoint, all baggage must be screened, no liquids above 3.4 ounces are allowed past the checkpoint, and enhanced pat downs. Immigration is another long term change that occurred after 9/11. In fear of other terrorist attacks the funding for immigration was increased, many criminals were removed, and regular police officers were turned into immigration officers. Although many of the precautions taken were reasonable, some were

The Federal Department of Transportation discovered that in the days, weeks and months after the 9/11 terrorist attacks that the airlines had naturally begun scrutinizing passengers who appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent. All of the attackers of 9/11 were Saudi Arabian and Muslim men. Racial profiling also played a significant role in the case of American Airlines from Paris. Passengers on board of the plane, unburdened by the rules and regulations of the Federal Department of Transportation, knew that the Muslim man nervously rocking in his seat was up to no good. Without hesitation, several passengers knocked him to the floor and tackled Richard Reid seconds before he detonated a bomb located in his shoe, potentially killing all of the passengers on board. Judging someone based off their ethnicity is just something people will do no matter what and as a result of racial profiling, terrorism could be stopped.

September 11th holds many hard and upset feelings around the world today. The harsh actions of Muslim extremists unfortunately completely changed the way Muslims are treated, especially in the United States. These events, exacerbated islamophobia. Unfortunately, “the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, connect Muslims and Islam to terrorism within the geographical borders of the United States.” (Byng) Although it has been over a decade since the attack, many still feel racist and discriminatory attitudes towards Muslims. Muslims are the targeted minority in the United States, “the 9/11 terrorist attacks shifted the social and political context for Muslims in the United States. Terrorism within the geographical borders of the United States carried out by Muslims places an identity at the center of national and global politics.” (Byng) The blame of the horrible terrorist attacks, rather than be placed on terrorists or religious extremist, has been placed on Islam in America. After September 11th, hate crimes towards Muslims skyrocketed, “the most dramatic change noted by the report was a more than 1,600 percent increase in reported hate crimes against Muslims -- a jump from 28 hate incidents in 2000 to 481 last year.”

According to research obtained by Cornell University scientists, 92% of Americans watch TV, 87% read newspapers, and 81% specifically watch local or national televised news stations…

The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2011 prompted the world to reevaluate and drastically modify airport and airline security. “Four targets had been chosen, all iconic American buildings that would send a clear message of the depth of their hatred for the United States. All four planes crashed, killing all on board—terrorists, crew members, and passengers, along with hundreds who were killed inside the structures, on the ground, and the men and women who ran into collapsing buildings in an effort to try and save others” (Smutz 1). As Jason Villemez said “the decade after the 9/11 attacks reshaped many facets of life in America” (Villemez 1). Before the attacks, people did not think that large scale hostility towards innocent people in

Terrorism is defined as the use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims. Discrimination is defined as the unjust treatment of different categories of people or things, especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex. In the United States government system, terrorism and discrimination are two words that meet hand in hand. This technique used by our government is not only morally wrong but also unconstitutional. Terrorist are not defined to one race or nationality, they are seen in every race, color, and culture. Which makes terrorism a vital problem that needs to be dealt with correctly for this country’s National safety.

Islamophobia is the fear of Muslims, or the religion of Islam, according to BBC (2017). Some people blame all Muslims for terrorist attacks, that are caused by terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda, Isis, and Boko Haram. These organizations allegedly follow Islam, I say they allegedly follow Islam, because if they had indeed studied Islam, they would understand that Islam is a religion of peace, not terrorism. The word “Islam” means submission to God’s will and obedience to God’s law. It derives from an old Arabic word meaning “peace”. (What is Islamophobia? – CBBC News Round. (2017, June 19).

“Islamophobia is prejudice towards discrimination against Muslims due to their religion, or perceived religion, national, or ethnic identity associated with Islam because Muslims have different beliefs and values”. (Islamophobia wikipedia 1) Like anti-semitism, racism, and homophobia. Islamophobia describes mentality and actions that domain an entire class of people. Jews, African-Americans, and other populations throughout history have faced prejudice and discrimination. Islamophobia is simply another reincarnation of this bigotry. According to the Merriam Webster dictionary,a phobia is an exaggerated, usually inexplicable and illogical fear of a particular object, class of objects, or situation. It may be difficult to determine or communicate the source of this fear, but it exists. From this definition we can see how is so unfair to connect the word phobia to Islam specially because the word Islam in arabic means peace and safety. All that means that a lot of people don’t know nothings about Islam and the unknown can easily provoke fear.

I am here to talk to you about the amount of racism, Islamophobia and terrorism there is in the world. How many lives were damaged by the gruesome and merciless slaughtering of 146 innocent children? Who got the blame –Muslims! How many innocent children and women have been slayed at the hands of Israel? No—one says anything. No! One! This whole wide world should be free of these crimes.

Islam is the religion that is followed through Muslims about the teachings through Muhammad by the prophet Allah. Today Islam is considered as one of the most prominent religions followed throughout the world. Though Islam is thought of has one of the most popular religion across the world, many still lack the understanding of what Islam is. Following 9/11, the perception of Muslims changed thus proposing the idea of Islamophobia. Defined by the Oxford English Dictionary Islamophobia is the unfair prejudice or discrimination towards Muslims due to race, religion, or ethnic identity. The idea changed the way that all Muslims were perceived throughout America and the world. Muslims today face discrimination throughout the society. Following 9/11 the Muslim people are being treated unfairly because of their religion by the exclusion of the Muslim culture in American society, Muslims are being targeted and harmed in public, and Muslims are perceived as a terrorist or threat to national security.

Hurricane Katrina pounded the Gulf Coast with tremendous force at daybreak, August 29, 2005, severely punishing regions that included the city of New Orleans and its neighboring state Mississippi. Resulting in a total of just over 1700 people killed, and hundreds of thousands missing. When we think of Hurricane Katrina stories, we think of stories that were published by the media such as, “Packing 145-mile-an-hour winds as it made landfall, the category 3 storm left more than a million people in three states without power and submerged highways even hundreds of miles from its center. The hurricane's storm surge a 29-foot wall of water pushed ashore when the hurricane struck the Gulf Coast was the highest ever measured in the United States.