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May 14, 2004

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Islamophobia: A Growing Global Disease

Elvan Zelda Elcin

The media—and especially the US media—is notorious for displaying Muslims burning American flags, waving rifles, shouting in chaotic streets and for depicting children joyously waving Osama bin Laden posters. Newspaper headlines have consistently labelled Muslims as “fanatics” and made it appear that their days are spent engaging in only one activity: “jihad.” For some time now, the Muslim community has argued that the media's portrayal and representation of Islam is one of the most prevalent, dangerous, and socially significant sources of Islamophobia throughout the world. While certainly not the only source of this “phobia,” the important role the media plays in shaping attitudes toward Muslims merits a closer look at the images it projects.

Probably the most misguided claim waged at Islam is that it is one-dimensional. The Islamic community is portrayed as a single, monolithic unit lacking any internal differentiation, dissent or opinion. The media has created this image by ignoring the diversity and debate that exists within the American and global Islamic communities. Consequently, the media tends to attribute to all Muslims the entire constellation of extremist and negative characteristics that constitute Islamophobia.

Ahmed Rashid has eloquently relayed this message in his book Jihad: The Rise of Militant Islam in Central Asia, by stating that “Westerners are not the only people who misconstrue the idea of jihad. […] the new fundamentalist and militant Islamic movements have distorted its greater meaning of an inner struggle to be a good and devout Muslim […]”

Hanadi, a member of Brooklyn’s Muslim community, has not only observed the media’s role in shaping this phobia, but has experienced Islamophobia first-hand. “I have regularly observed the various verbal attacks and violent acts being committed against ‘Muslim-looking’ people,” she said. She went on to explain how two Middle Eastern men were attacked in Bay Ridge and a woman was chased by a rowdy group simply because she was wearing the hijab. “This sentiment towards Islam was always present, but these events became excessive after 9/11; this is when the media became unreasonably outspoken about anything relating to Islam.”

She also shared her own experience: “Amidst a horde of vehicles about to enter the Verazanno Bridge, my car was conveniently pulled over by a paranoid police officer, since he heard some Arabic music—a cue that I’m a terrorist.” He demanded to see her license, registration and insurance, and also to know her ethnic identity.
Hanadi pointed to acts of terrorism in the US that were not committed by Muslims, but where the media assumed that Muslims had committed them before any evidence was put forth. The bombing in Oklahoma City prompted the media to report that “another ‘Mohamed’” had masterminded the tragedy. A few months ago, four drunken college students made false claims that provoked immediate reports of “Muslim terrorists triggering a bomb on the bridge.” The media conveniently failed to notice that they were drunk, unnecessarily obstructing traffic, and were not Muslim.
Instead of taking care to report the details of tragic events, the US media readily jumps on the blame-Muslims-first bandwagon. By reporting events in this manner, journalists fuel their audience’s minds with falsehoods, which are then translated into behaviours in the context of everyday life.

For instance, issues of Islamophobia also come up in the classroom when I am teaching. The holy month of Ramadan, in which Muslims fast for a period of thirty days, created extreme controversy among my students. I was not only looked upon with disgust or stared at, but was called a “terrorist.” I responded by asking my classmates whether I should remove the bomb I had in my backpack. Total silence ensued.

It is not surprising that the public remains largely unaware of what is happening to their worldview when they read words like “Islamic” or “Muslim” coupled with terms like “extremist,” “fundamentalist,” or “terrorist.” Since it makes for a more effective story, the media tends to project the loudest voices that fit into their own agenda. This, of course, has the effect of projecting a cynical worldview in which all Muslims are the same.

This is wrong! It is imperative for the media to represent Islam as accurately as possible. If they do not, they will dehumanize and fictionalize the religion. Moreover, the media fosters Islamophobia by interpreting Islam as backwards and one-dimensional, incompatible with the West, the barbaric enemy of modernity, and a manipulative ideology used to oppress and control those who practice Islam. This causes the media to incessantly submerge itself in its own derogatory views.
In the end, Islamophobia is dangerous because it does not respect the individual. It is an indiscriminate prejudice that violates every Muslim regardless of their social, ethnic, or cultural orientation. It is even more dangerous in that it affects the motives, attitudes, and behaviour of millions of people by shaping their understanding of Islam.

Elvan Zelda Elcin is a student in the PhD program in Political Science.