Today in Islamophobia

Today in Islamophobia: In the United States, according to a new study by Pew Research, more than four in ten Americans say that Muslims are having a “negative impact on the U.S.”, meanwhile in Texas, the state’s board of education has approved a new social studies curriculum which mandates that teachers instruct on how “radical Islam” motivated 9/11 and how Islam’s founder was a “brutal warrior” who spread the faith through violence, and lastly, columnist Will Bunch examines the legacy of post 9/11 Islamophobia and how despite 25 years having past, anti-Muslim rhetoric and political Islamophobia is more present than ever. Our recommended read of the day is by Jackie Bensen for NBC Washington on how American Muslims across the country have found ways to move forward in the shadow of 9/11. This and more below:

United States

Muslim community reflects on the aftermath of 9/11 | Recommended Read

An entire generation has grown up under the shadow of the 9/11 attacks, and many American Muslims have faced hostility, and even doubts about their Americanness. Nihad Awad, cofounder of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) can be seen on the right side of a photo standing next to President George W. Bush when he visited the Islamic Center of Washington in Northwest D.C. That visit occurred just six days after the 9/11 attacks. In his speech, the president condemned Islamophobia, saying American Muslims loved this country as much as he did. “America counts millions of Muslims amongst our citizens, and Muslims make an incredibly valuable contribution to our country, and they need to be treated with respect. And our anger and emotion, our fellow Americans must treat each other with respect,” Bush said on Sept. 17, 2001. A 2021 Associated Press poll found that more than half of those polled have unfavorable views toward Islam — an assessment, Awad said, that has likely not improved in recent years under a president who speaks of Muslims in a very different manner than Bush did in his 2001 speech. “Today we are living under an administration that has been thriving on division and pitting Americans against each other,” Awad said. But he noted through the hostility and suspicion, Muslims in the U.S. have found ways forward and ways to fight back against bias. read the complete article

Islamophobia: A 9/11 legacy that refuses to die | Will Bunch Newsletter

Friday is the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks that killed 2,977 Americans and its paranoid aftermath — enough years for that grim day to harden as history and to look back on things from that era, like orange-coded terror alerts, as increasingly hazy memories. But there is one thing that spiked immediately after the attack and never really went away. In fact, anti-Islamic hate is a bigger force in our politics than it ever was. Republicans desperate to cling to power in an election when all the cards — including another “dumb war” in the Middle East and sky-high gas prices —are stacked against them are frantically waving the bloody shirt of 9/11 and the Islamophobia it inspired. I argued in September 2021 that the “conspiratorial mindset we embraced in the wake of 9/11 — would be turned against nations that had nothing to do with the attacks, against immigrants in general, against legitimate protest, and finally, inevitably, against one another.” I could write that exact same column today...so I won’t. The role that the attack played in pointing America toward fascism hasn’t changed, but it is striking after five more years that while many overt symptoms of a 9/11 hangover have subsided over the years, the virus of Islamophobia has only grown more persistent. read the complete article

More than 4 in 10 Americans say Muslims are having a negative impact on the U.S.

According to Pew Research, more than 4 in 10 Americans say Muslims are having a negative impact on the U.S. The study looks at data collected over the last 25 years, since the September 11th terrorist attacks. Pew Research finds that views on Islam are now more negative and more partisan than shortly after 9/11. In 2026, just over half of those surveyed said Islam is more likely than other religions to encourage violence. In 2002, that number was just 25%. More than three-quarters of Republicans this year say the religion promotes violence, whereas fewer than one-third believed that was the case shortly after 9/11. Pew also found that about 6 in 10 American Muslims say there's a lot of discrimination against their communities, while just over a third say someone has expressed support for them in the past year because of their religion. read the complete article

Texas State Board of Education approves controversial curriculum that Muslims call discriminatory

Texas’ 15-member State Board of Education on Friday approved a controversial updated social studies curriculum that Muslims say discriminates against them and that some advocates plan to work to overturn. The new standards require students to learn how “radical Islam” was the motivation behind the 9/11 attacks, and lessons present Islam’s founder, Prophet Muhammad, as a combative and “brutal” warrior who spread the faith through violence and slavery. A last-minute amendment to remove the word “brutal” in describing “military campaigns against Jewish and Christian tribes” failed. Board member Brandon Hall said doing so “would be a grave mistake,” adding that he felt it a “moral imperative” to describe Muhammad’s actions that way. Other lessons emphasize Christianity’s influence on Western society. read the complete article

Trump, ICE and the impact of 9/11

This week will mark 25 years since the September 11th terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon. Those attacks, by al-Qaeda, killed nearly 3000 people. What followed that tragedy was the 'War on Terror', characterized by a series of foreign wars and domestic security measures. The invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq led to hundreds of thousands of deaths, detention and torture at Guantanamo Bay and countless other prisons, and a mass surveillance system designed to go after any perceived threat on American soil. Spencer Ackerman is a national security reporter who has spent pretty much his entire career covering the aftermath of 9/11 and five years ago he released his book, 'Reign of Terror: How the 9/11 era Destabilized America and Produced Trump'. He joins us to talk about how this continues to shape U.S. politics today. read the complete article

25 Years Ago

The horrors we experienced on September 11, 2001, as a result of the terrorist attacks on New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania, are impossible to erase. Nineteen terrorists committed heinous crimes, taking the lives of almost 3,000 innocent Americans. The events of that day left such an indelible mark on those of us who lived through them that just hearing the words “9/11” brings back a flood of nightmarish, emotionally draining memories. Throughout the day and the days that followed, we mixed responding to frantic calls from our community with watching the continuing horror that was unfolding in New York City. I was asked by the US Commission on Civil Rights to present a report on the extent of hate crimes being committed against Arabs and Muslims, and those thought to be Arab or Muslim. We cataloged hundreds from across the country, noting that a number of the death threats and messages of hate were directed at us. Some were personal: “Jim, you towel head. Death to every Arab. We’ll slit your throat and kill your children.” It was profoundly unsettling. Like other Americans, we were pained by the horror that had been inflicted on our country and people. Like other Americans, we needed to mourn. But we were pulled away from our grieving and forced to look over our shoulders to those who struck out against us with hate. They were telling us in effect: “You are not part of us.”  It only served to compound the pain. read the complete article

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