The rise of global Islamophobia in the War on Terror (Postcolonial International Studies) by Naved Bakali & Farid Hafez

Author:Naved Bakali & Farid Hafez [Bakali, Naved & Hafez, Farid]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781526161741
Publisher: Manchester University Press
Published: 2022-09-05T18:30:00+00:00

Extremism as manifestations of Islamophobia

It is important to consider issues of social structure and identity politics when attempting to understand the nature of radicalisation and extremism among those who engage in far-right extremism as well those drawn to Islamist extremism. In the current political climate, the projection is that violent radical Islamism is a reality of Muslim communities, in which lie all the problems and all the solutions. That far-right and Islamist extremists are similarly problematic with distinctively related issues, as the path towards radicalisation is local and urban in nature and outcome, is largely true. A need exists to recognise that these kinds of extremisms are two sides of the same coin, where limiting one will invariably reduce the other. Both perspectives feed off the rhetoric of the ‘Other’, compounded by elite discourse that looks to maintain a divide and rule approach to dealing with differences in society, combined with the issue of the diminished status of white working-class communities in general terms. A greater understanding of the linkages, interactions, and symbiosis between these two oppositional but related extremisms is crucial. This is especially the case in the current epoch, where a post-truth, post-normal world has gained ascendancy, with experts derided and the status quo prevailing.

In 2017, there were five UK terrorist attacks, with thirty-five people dead and many others injured. The security services thwarted nine further potential attacks, including one targeting Downing Street and the prime minister. At the same time, Islamophobia is becoming virulent and more aggressive than ever. While investment goes into counter-terrorism and countering violent extremism projects, these attacks keep happening. This is the hyper-normalisation of Islamophobia and radicalisation, yet we are no closer to solving either of them. With critics of all hues silenced, the average citizen is confused. This is also an age of rampant disinformation, and there seems to be no escape from it. The current wave of anti-Islam ‘fake news’ or disinformation began after the events of 9/11, although it is clear that Orientalism and Islamophobia have a much longer history in the West. The ‘weapons of mass destruction’ led to the illegal invasion of Iraq, when much of the world argued, with millions demonstrating in cities all of the world, that Saddam Hussain was no threat to the West and going into Iraq was a folly that would cost countless lives and destabilise the region. After numerous pressures derailed the Arab Spring in Egypt, the attacks on Libya and Syria led to the disruption of the entire Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and the emergence of the Islamic State, whose origins lie in Western attempts to arm Sunni rebels in opposition to President Bashar al-Assad. The era of UK fakery heightened during the Brexit campaign. Based on huge distortions of fact, it divided a nation into two, leaving a country stranded.

So-called ethnic ‘ghettos’, where specific Muslim groups are sometimes found living, rarely out of choice, are not a reflection of communities necessarily choosing to live among themselves. Instead,

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