...attacks on the Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris France. Some Americans now feel that the U.S. government should start keeping surveillance on Muslim communities. The main driving force behind this growing anti-Muslim way of thinking is the fearmongering, ratings-seeking agendas of 24 hour television news companies. Cable news networks like CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, as well as many others have over the years developed a negative bias in the way that they represent the Muslim community. Discrimination of Muslims in T.V. news cycles are harmful because it can cause potential conflicts between Muslim and non-Muslim Americans, it projects the idea that Muslim is synonymous with the word terrorist, and can lead to the marginalization of an entire ethnic group. Islamophobia is a term used to describe the close-minded prejudice against Muslims and is also defined as deep hatred of Islam and Muslims. Islamophobia has existed in the United States for decades prior to September 11, 2001, and is believed to go as far back as the 1930s as the more and more Muslims began to emigrate to the U.S. In the past two decades however islamophobia is becoming a bigger and bigger problem as the world has been plagued by a seemingly endless wave of violent and horrifying terror attacks. Being that most of these despicable crimes have been perpetrated by individuals and groups who follow an extremely distorted and corrupt form of Islam, many people in the U.S. and the rest of the...
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...mainstream media, and the reasons behind those can be peculiarly blamed to an extent on the religious diversity in the United States. Religion is one of the strongest acts that affect people, it can develop bonds as well as conflicts, and because different religions are practiced throughout the world such as Islam, Christianity, Judaism and many more its not surprising that their followers will have disagreements. And even though it might seem like those feelings are diminishing people still feel a sense of insecurity when it comes to this issue even if they tend to hide it or refuse to admit it. Religious segregation is pretty much still alive in many parts of the world, even in countries that claim the right of freedom of religion. It has led many people to be treated unfairly and wrongfully judged just because they are the minority who practice a religion which is different from the public orthodoxy. In modern day, Arabs and Muslims in exact suffer from being labeled as extremists or terrorists especially in Western cultures. five out of ten Americans believe Islam is more likely than other religions to encourage violence, despite the fact that seven out ten admit they know very little about Islam. And yet Americans rank Muslims second only to atheists as group that does not share their vision of American society (Ghazal, 2008). Intolerance and discrimination against Muslims, or if you like Islamophobia, is not a new phenomenon. There are historical, cultural/religious and psychological...
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...individual believes, one thing is for certain, religion has a huge impact within our own society and throughout the world. Recent advances of this freedom have caused serious implications in the middle east. Religion in the United States is diverse and as a result of this diversity, we see that followers of certain religions will use the diversity of religion within to influence or even manipulate those who do not share the same views. Often times, this expression and influence has a negative effect on society. Throughout this essay, I will go in depth and discuss examples of the impact that religion has had throughout our own society and the world along with the greater impacts the freedom has had on our society. More specifically, I will select four religions that have created a fragmented society we have come to know. What is now being termed a terrorist attack, the attack on the United States consulate in Benghazi, Libya is an example of how the exercise of freedom of religion here in the United States has had severe implications elsewhere. An anti-Muslim film was produced by a right wing group here in the United States that sparked outrage within the middle east. Once anti-American Muslims found out about “The Innocence of Muslims,” attacks on United States consulates were planned. The attack that received the greatest amount of coverage was in Benghazi, Libya and resulted in the death of four Americans. Not only was the Libya consulate attacked, but a total of twenty countries...
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...Islamic Terrorist Groups: A Comparative Study of Terror Jason Schrand HSM 305: Survey of Homeland Security & Emergency Mgmt Instructor: Blake Cheary October 6, 2013 The phrase "Islamic Terrorist" conjures many images for different people. Many will recollect the acts of September 11, 2001 - the act of terror that led the United States first into an invasion of the Taliban-controlled nation of Afghanistan and then into the "Second Gulf War" with Iraq. While both wars made great progress toward the initial goals, namely the overthrow of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and the Hussein dictatorship in Iraq, as the years went by and the war dragged on, seemingly endlessly, the Islamic groups faced by the United States and her Allies seemed to be wearing down the civilian desire to continue to wage war. What American civilians do not seem to understand is that not only does the multitude of groups have very nearly the same goals, but they are also willing to die for their cause and will be almost impossible to defeat unless they are hunted and destroyed. A study of the Islamic terror groups must include historic examples; Islamic extremism is not a recent development, nor has the ideology of the extremist believers changed much since the Islamic Conquests began in the 7th Century. In F.M. Mickolus' work International Terrorism in the 1980's, Mickolus wrote that since 1968 alone two-thirds of the known incidents of terrorism in the world had occurred in...
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...How are South East Asian States working to combat terrorism? What should the role of the U.S. be? It is believed that the roots of Jemaah Islamiyah, whose name means Islamic Group in Arabic, can be traced back in the late 1940s when Darul Islam emerged in the Indonesian republic to oppose the post-colonial rule of the Dutch. In the eyes of the Muslims, the rule is too secular. It is assumed that Jemaah Islamiyah is a revival of Darul Islam. In their attempt to create an Islamic fundamentalist regime in Southeast Asia, the group along with their leader S. Kartosuwirvo waged a fierce armed revolt against the central government of West Java between the years 1948 to 1962. A rebel leader in South Sulawes named Kahar Muzakkarm who has the same ideal of having an Islamic state later joined the group. The insurgency consumed much of the country’s military which resulted to its downfall. A man named Abu Bakar Bashir who joined Darul Islam in 1970 and shares the same ideal of an Islamic State was responsible for the creation of a certain boarding school in Java whose motto was "Death in the way of Allah is our highest aspiration." It attracted the poor and oppressed who were then trained in preparation for the revolution. Unluckily, Bashir was imprisoned for Islamist Activism due to this revolution attempt. To escape from his prison sentence, Bashir fle to Malaysia and became a religious teacher. He taught and preached the ideology of an Islamic state in Indonesia by waging a jihad...
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...the history of the United States, various races and ethnicities have been discriminated against. In contemporary time, religion, specifically Islam, has received a great deal of coverage due to the actions taken by extremist Muslims. Because of the actions of terrorist groups such as the Taliban and Isis, Muslims around the world, especially in the United States, are viewed in a negative light. Due to this, the rising backlash towards Muslims has raised the question if during the past fifteen years, the resulting prejudice has affected the young/old/new Muslim immigrants in terms of work, daily life, and even their own sense of belonging or identity within the United States. Recently, minorities in the United States have had...
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...the Wahhabi campaign to Islamic reformation and revivalist movements in various parts of the Muslim world. Muhammad Abd al-Wahhab was the founder and first modern Islamic fundamentalist and extremists allied to the Al-Saud clan who promoted an extreme version of Salafism which is a term used to describe fundamentalist islamic thought and the jihadist movement or ideology amond Salafi Muslims (Global, 2014). Wahhab made the central point of his reform movement the principle that absolutely every idea added to Islam after the third century of the Mulsim era was false and should be eliminated. Muslims, in order to be true Muslims, must adhere solely and strictly to the original beliefs set forth by Muhammad. The reason for this extremist stance, and the focus of Wahhab's reform efforts, was a number of popular practices which he believed represented a regression to pre-Islamic polytheism. These included praying to saints, making pilgrimages to tombs and special mosques, venerating trees, caves, and stones, and using votive and sacrificial offerings. These are all practices commonly and traditionally associated with religions, but they were unacceptable to Wahhab. Contemporary secular behaviors are even more anathema to Wahhab's successors. It is against modernity, secularism, and the Enlightenment which current Wahhabists do battle, and it is this anti-secularism, anti-modernism which helps drive their extremism, even to the point of violence. Professor...
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...and major world religions Islam Prohibits Insulting other religions Major World Religion’s Laws against Blasphemy Different Countries Laws against Blasphemy Need of Global Anti-Blasphemy Laws How Muslism Ummah can Reply? Introduction The act or offense of speaking sacrilegiously about God or sacred things. Blasphemy is the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence for a religious deity or the irreverence towards religious or holy persons or things. Blasphemy in Islam is any irreverent behavior toward holy personages, religious artifacts, customs, and beliefs that Muslims revere. It is taken as a gigantic nature of crime with the capital punishment Blasphemy Causes destabilization of world peace Blasphemy in different religions All major religions such as Islam, Christianity, Judaism and Hinduism does not allow Blasphemy at all. Along with different religions different countries have made some Blasphemy laws to control it on some aspects. All the major religions books taught us not to go against any religious god, thing, holy personality or Prophet. But we face different cases of Blasphemy, not only interreligious but even in intra-religiously. Causes of Blasphemy Freedom of Expression Anti Islamic Sentiments Lack of Faith Lack of knowledge It becomes point to be famous and rich (Salman Rushdi) Inter-religious hegemony. Religious Laws against Blasphemy ...
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...First, during the Gulf War – the people even forgot about the real conflict and renamed it as the “War of West Against Islam” – then they declared Holy War against the West – The West and Muslims were clashing. Second, “Kin-Country Syndrome” appeared in conflicts in the former Soviet Union where Armenian military reached success, it stimulated Turkey to become supportive of its religious, ethnic and linguistic brethren in Azerbaijan – religious consideration became more important. Third, “Kin-Country Syndrome” appeared in Soviet Union conflicts and in the conflict with Yugoslavia - the Western supported Bosnia. Conflicts between groups form the same civilizations are much less violent – Russia-Ukraine case when they were willing to fight for a territory, was ended in effective negotiations. In this paper, I would like to choose the U.S. attitudes towards the Palestinian-Israeli issues related to the “Kin-Country Country” theory created by Samuel P....
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...The Rise of Anti-Semitism Nicole Badofsky English 147 12.7.2015 Amanda Yates The Rise of Anti-Semitism I was scrolling through Facebook, as I normally do when my attention was brought to a video about Jewish men and women on college campuses. I proceeded to watch the video and became horrified at some of the stories I was hearing from students that were talking about being attacked by Palestinian protestors as well as people who were anti-Israel. The story that affected me the most was when a student was struck in the back of the head from behind by a group of Palestinian men. After the student was struck in the back of the head, he was in a coma for a little over three months and needed extensive recovery. This is just one story of the anti-Semitism we are seeing in recent years, thankfully he made a full recovery. Unfortunately, many Jews that are being targeted throughout the world have not been so lucky and have had their lives tragically taken, these are their stories. In recent years, the tension between Israel and Palestine has caused a large increase in the violence against the Jewish people in Israel, Europe, and the United States. Attacks on Israeli Jews have been extremely high in the past couple of years due to the tension between the Palestinians and the Israelis. In a recent study, on November 19th, 2015 Yesiab, who was age 32, Yaakov Don, who was age 51, Ezra Schwartz who was age 18 were tragically killed when a Palestinian man had opened fire with...
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...Presumed Guilty: American Muslim and Arabs Presumed Guilty: American Muslims and Arabs on Making Contact 2. American School Textbooks – How They Portrayed the Middle East from 1898 to 1994 American Educational History Journal, Volume 35, Number 1 and 2, 2008, edited by J. Wesley Null 3. Scott J. Simon. "Arabs in Hollywood: An Undeserved Image". Emerson College. http://pages.emerson.edu/organizations/fas/latent_image/issues/1996-04/arabs.htm. Retrieved 17 May 2012. 4. 100 Years of anti-Arab and anti-Muslim stereotyping by Mazin B. Qumsiyeh 5. Why Hollywood Owes Me Money by Laila Lalami 6. Khalil, Ashraf (4 October 2007). "But can you play a terrorist?". http://articles.latimes.com/2007/oct/04/entertainment/et-arabactors4. Retrieved 17 May 2012. 7. The Portrayal of Arabs in American Media 8. Patrick Harrington interviews, Jack Shaheen, author of Reel Bad Arabs 9. Driving to Zigzigland – Official site. Retrieved Oct 2012. 10. War on terror drives Arab actor to "Zigzigland" Reuters, 14 Dec 2006. Retrieved 2 Oct 2012. 11. "Terror Probe Changes Face of Racial Profiling Debate". FOX News. 1 October 2001. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,35521,00.html. Retrieved 17 May 2012. 12. "Official: 15 of 19 Sept. 11 hijackers were Saudi". USA Today. 6 February 2002. http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2002/02/06/saudi.htm. Retrieved 17 May 2012. 13. MacFarquhar, Neil (1 June 2006). "Terror Fears Hamper U.S. Muslims' Travel". The New York...
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...Presumed Guilty: American Muslim and Arabs Presumed Guilty: American Muslims and Arabs on Making Contact 2. American School Textbooks – How They Portrayed the Middle East from 1898 to 1994 American Educational History Journal, Volume 35, Number 1 and 2, 2008, edited by J. Wesley Null 3. Scott J. Simon. "Arabs in Hollywood: An Undeserved Image". Emerson College. http://pages.emerson.edu/organizations/fas/latent_image/issues/1996-04/arabs.htm. Retrieved 17 May 2012. 4. 100 Years of anti-Arab and anti-Muslim stereotyping by Mazin B. Qumsiyeh 5. Why Hollywood Owes Me Money by Laila Lalami 6. Khalil, Ashraf (4 October 2007). "But can you play a terrorist?". http://articles.latimes.com/2007/oct/04/entertainment/et-arabactors4. Retrieved 17 May 2012. 7. The Portrayal of Arabs in American Media 8. Patrick Harrington interviews, Jack Shaheen, author of Reel Bad Arabs 9. Driving to Zigzigland – Official site. Retrieved Oct 2012. 10. War on terror drives Arab actor to "Zigzigland" Reuters, 14 Dec 2006. Retrieved 2 Oct 2012. 11. "Terror Probe Changes Face of Racial Profiling Debate". FOX News. 1 October 2001. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,35521,00.html. Retrieved 17 May 2012. 12. "Official: 15 of 19 Sept. 11 hijackers were Saudi". USA Today. 6 February 2002. http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2002/02/06/saudi.htm. Retrieved 17 May 2012. 13. MacFarquhar, Neil (1 June 2006). "Terror Fears Hamper U.S. Muslims' Travel". The New York...
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...Arrival of Islam Islam arrived in the area of modern Pakistan in 711 CE, when the Umayyad dynasty sent a Muslim Arab army led by Muhammad bin Qasim against the ruler of Sindh, Raja Dahir. Muhammad Bin Qasim's army was defeated in his first three attempts. The Muslim army conquered the northwestern part of Indus Valley from Kashmir to the Arabian Sea. The arrival of the Arab Muslims to the provinces of Sindh and Punjab, along with subsequent Muslim dynasties, set the stage for the religious boundaries of South Asia that would lead to the development of the modern state of Pakistan as well as forming the foundation for Islamic rule which quickly spread across much of South Asia. Following the rule of various Islamic empires, including the Ghaznavid Empire, the Ghorid kingdom, and the Delhi Sultanate, the Mughals controlled the region from 1526 until 1739. Muslim technocrats, bureaucrats, soldiers, traders, scientists, architects, teachers, theologians and Sufis flocked from the rest of the Muslim world to Islamic Sultanate and Mughal Empire in South Asia and in the land that became Pakistan. Islam and the Pakistan movement The Muslim poet-philosopher Sir Allama Muhammad Iqbal first proposed the idea of a Muslim state in northwestern South Asia in his address to the Muslim League at Allahabad in 1930. His proposal referred to the four provinces of Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, and the NorthWest Frontier -- essentially what would became Pakistan. Iqbal's idea gave concrete form to...
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...through which people receive information on terrorism or any other conflict, which then enlighten us about the unfolding events. Since the western media undisputedly is the most powerful, it has the means to present government actions in a supportive way, expose atrocities on either side and raise issues to the public which assist their governmental agenda. Here the question that comes to mind is whether the western media portrays terrorism, Muslims and Arabs in an accurate aspect. The western media uses certain techniques to depict terrorists in their own view which have had disastrous effects on Arabs as well as Americans all over the world. It is very unfortunate that despite all the recent terrorist attacks, weather they were significant or minor, the media still has not come up with a definitive definition of “terrorism” and “who is a terrorist”. The main issue with western media reporting on terrorism is their flaw of having discrepancies in their news. In a recent article “Ethical balance of reporting on Terrorism”, the author states that the western media has had no difficulty labeling the Al-Qaeda terror network as “terrorists” however they cease to acknowledge the same label for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, also known as the PKK (Kanli 22). The PKK started in 1984 and is a separatist organization which...
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...attributions, attractions, group behaviors, conformity, and obedience. It also includes schemas, biases, stereotypes, and attitudes toward others. (Sullivan, 2009) The 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States had a big impact on some Americans’ attitudes toward Muslims living in the United States. The terrorists involved in the attack were all Muslim Arabs. The United States has an estimated 6 million Muslims. ("America's muslims," 2006) When the attacks happened, U.S. Muslims were shocked just like all other Americans. After the attacks, many of the U.S. Muslims had to deal with the hateful attitudes toward them coming from other Americans. Many Americans’ bad attitudes toward Muslims intensified into rage and anger after the 2001 terrorist attacks. Any Muslim Arab fit the description of a terrorist in the eyes of many Americans. This led to biases and stereotypes of U.S. Muslims being associated with terrorist activity. According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, American Muslims have experienced increased job discrimination since 2001. They have also found that Americans with Muslim names have a harder time finding a job. (Epstein, 2011) Anti-terrorism measures such as surveillance of Muslim organizations have left the Muslim community uneasy and victims of discrimination. Many U.S. Muslims tried to prove their loyalty to the United States by condemning terrorism through issued statements and religious pronouncements. But while some U.S. Muslims felt discriminated...
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