Islam in the Eyes of the West: Images and Realities in an Age of Terror

474 Pages·2002·2.6 MB·English

by  Tareq Y. Ismael

Islam in the Eyes of the West
From the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, in New York to the Madrid and
London bombings of 2004 and 2005, the presence of Muslim communities in the
West has generated security issues and major political concern. Governments,
the media, and the general public have raised questions regarding potential links
between Western Muslims, radical Islam and terrorism. This speculation has
given rise to popular myths concerning the Islamic world and led to a host of
illiberal measures such as illegal warranting, denial of habeas corpus, “black
prisons”, and extreme torture throughout the democratic world.Islam in the Eyes
of the West challenges the authenticity of these myths and examines the ways in
which they have been used to provide an ideological cover for the “war on
terror” and the subsequent Iraq War. It argues that they are not only unfounded
and hollow, but have also served a dangerous purpose, namely war-mongering
and the empowerment of the national-security state. It further considers the
origin and transmission of these myths, focusing on media, government policy,
and popular discourse.
Tareq Y. Ismael is Professor of Political Science at the University of Calgary,
Canada. He is the Editor of the International Journal of Contemporary Iraqi
Studies; his most recent publications include The Rise and Fall of the Communist
Party in Iraq and Cultural Cleansing in Iraq: Why Museums were Looted,
Libraries Burned and Academics Murdered.
Andrew Rippin is Professor of Islamic History at the University of Victoria,
British Columbia, Canada. Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in
2006, his publications include Muslims: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices,
and The Islamic World (both published by Routledge).
Durham Modern Middle East and Islamic World
Series
Series Editor: Anoushiravan Ehteshami,
University of Durham
1. Economic Development in Saudi Arabia
Rodney Wilson, with Abdullah Al-Salamah, Monica Malik and Ahmed Al-Rajhi
2. Islam Encountering Globalisation
Edited by Ali Mohammadi
3. China’s Relations with Arabia and the Gulf, 1949–1999
Mohamed Bin Huwaidin
4. Good Governance in the Middle East Oil Monarchies
Edited by Tom Pierre Najem and Martin Hetherington
5. The Middle East’s Relations with Asia and Russia
Edited by Hannah Carter and Anoushiravan Ehteshami
6. Israeli Politics and the Middle East Peace Process, 1988–2002
Hassan A. Barari
7. The Communist Movement in the Arab World
Tareq Y. Ismael
8. Oman – The Islamic Democratic Tradition
Hussein Ghubash
9. The Secret Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations in Oslo
Their success and why the process ultimately failed
Sven Behrendt
10. Globalization and Geopolitics in the Middle East
Old games, new rules
Anoushiravan Ehteshami
11. Iran-Europe Relations
Challenges and opportunities
Seyyed Hossein Mousavian
12. Islands and International Politics in the Persian Gulf
The Abu Musa and Tunbs in strategic perspective
Kourosh Ahmadi
13. Monetary Union in the Gulf
Prospects for a single currency in the Arabian Peninsula
Emilie Rutledge
14. Contested Sudan The political economy of war and reconstruction
Ibrahim Elnur
15. Palestinian Politics and Middle East Peace Process
Consensus and competition in the Palestinian negotiation team
Ghassan Khatib
16. Islam in the Eyes of the West
Images and realities in an age of terror
Edited by Tareq Y. Ismael and Andrew Rippin
Islam in the Eyes of the West
Images and realities in an age of terror
Edited by Tareq Y. Ismael and Andrew Rippin
LONDON AND NEW YORK
First published 2010
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group,
an informa business
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2010.
To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.
© 2010 Tareq Y. Ismael and Andrew Rippin for selection and
editorial matter; individual contributors their contribution
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or
other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying
and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Islam in the eyes of the West: images and realities in an age of
terror / edited by Tareq Y. Ismael and Andrew Rippin.
p. cm. – (Durham modern Middle East and Islamic world series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Islam–Relations. 2. Islam–Public opinion. 3. East and West.
4. Terrorism–Religious aspects–Islam. 5. War on Terrorism, 2001–
6. Jihad. I. Ismael, Tareq Y. II. Rippin, Andrew, 1950–
BP170.I845 2010
297.09'0511–dc22 2009040882
ISBN 0-203-85438-1 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 13: 978-0-415-56414-4 (hbk)
ISBN 10: 0-415-56414-X (hbk)
ISBN 13: 978-0-203-85438-9 (ebk)
ISBN 10: 0-203-85438-1 (ebk)
Contents

Notes on contributors vii
Preface ix

Introduction: The “West” and the Islamic world: patterns of confrontation
and paths to reconciliation
TAREQ Y. ISMAEL AND ANDREW RIPPIN 1
1 The origin of difference: Edward Said, Michel Foucault and the modern
image of Islam
DIETRICH JUNG 15
2 Demonizing the enemy in the War on Terror
SHADIA DRURY 32
3 Islam and Muslims as seen by the Christian Zionists
NORTON MEZVINSKY 41
4 Vigilante masculinity and the ‘War on Terror’
SUNERA THOBANI 54
5 Islam in the US: the contemporary scene
FUAD SHABAN 76
6 ‘Jihadiology’ and the problem of reaching a contemporary
understanding of Jihad
ABDEL SALAM SIDAHMED 101
7 Islam, Muslims, neighbors in Asia? The transformation of Japan’s
perceptions of Islam as shown in its media
KEIKO SAKAI 125
8 U.S. politics, media and Muslims in the post-9/11 era
JANICE J. TERRY 148
9 Self and Other in a time of terror: Myth, media and Muslims
KARIM H. KARIM 160
10 Understanding the Muslim world: we can do better
RAYMOND W. BAKER AND ALEXANDER HENRY 177
11 Applying “the McCarthy Test” to Canadian and American security
legislation: a 10-year retrospective on the impact of September 11, 2001 on
privacy rights
PATRICK SMITH 202
12 Huntington’s “clash of civilizations”: rumours and clarification
GLENN E. PERRY 226
13 Getting it wrong yet again: America and the Islamic mainstream
RAYMOND W. BAKER 251

Index 269