Terrorist vs Religion P1
With regard to religious terrorism, Al Qaeda’s representation of the Arabian Peninsula as the spiritual home of Islam has provided the basis for its justification of the US as both an invading and infidel force.
The fourth wave of terrorism, roughly the 1990s to the present day, displays a continuation of this geographic trend but with a dramatic change in the motivation for terrorist activity. Rapoport (2001) claims that we are living in an era of religious terrorism; described as a fundamental shift and an unprecedented situation. Though focus in the US and Europe may simply identify religious terrorism with Islamic extremism, it is actually identified as a global phenomenon. Extremist Christian, Jewish, Sikh, and Buddhist groups have also been identified as advocating and committing acts of terrorism (Juergensmeyer, 2000).
A general trend in terrorism coverage is that western media are more likely to label Islamic violence as terrorism, as compared to Christian or Jewish violence (Nacos, 2002).
With a consideration of the fact that the 9/11 attacks and most of the post-9/11 terrorism acts have been committed by Islamic extremists, it is not surprising that Muslims are frequently portrayed in the media as perpetrators of terrorism. A largely ignored fact, however, is that most victims of terrorism operations are Arabs and Muslims (Perl, 2007; Stolbery, 2010).
Past research suggested that Islamic radical groups or those from the Middle East are more likely to be framed as terrorists than groups of other religions (e.g., Nagar, 2007). In an analysis of primary terrorist portrayals after 9/11 in major release film trailers, Middle Eastern or Arabic groups are the most frequently represented non-White ethnic groups, accounting for a third of the total primary portrayals (Ivory, Williams, Hatch, & Covucci, 2007). Similarly, Kalyango (2006) found that Islamic groups are the most frequently mentioned terrorist groups in the New York Times’ coverage of counter-terrorism efforts.
With regard to religious terrorism, Al Qaeda’s representation of the Arabian Peninsula as the spiritual home of Islam has provided the basis for its justification of the US as both an invading and infidel force.
The fourth wave of terrorism, roughly the 1990s to the present day, displays a continuation of this geographic trend but with a dramatic change in the motivation for terrorist activity. Rapoport (2001) claims that we are living in an era of religious terrorism; described as a fundamental shift and an unprecedented situation. Though focus in the US and Europe may simply identify religious terrorism with Islamic extremism, it is actually identified as a global phenomenon. Extremist Christian, Jewish, Sikh, and Buddhist groups have also been identified as advocating and committing acts of terrorism (Juergensmeyer, 2000).
A general trend in terrorism coverage is that western media are more likely to label Islamic violence as terrorism, as compared to Christian or Jewish violence (Nacos, 2002).
With a consideration of the fact that the 9/11 attacks and most of the post-9/11 terrorism acts have been committed by Islamic extremists, it is not surprising that Muslims are frequently portrayed in the media as perpetrators of terrorism. A largely ignored fact, however, is that most victims of terrorism operations are Arabs and Muslims (Perl, 2007; Stolbery, 2010).
Past research suggested that Islamic radical groups or those from the Middle East are more likely to be framed as terrorists than groups of other religions (e.g., Nagar, 2007). In an analysis of primary terrorist portrayals after 9/11 in major release film trailers, Middle Eastern or Arabic groups are the most frequently represented non-White ethnic groups, accounting for a third of the total primary portrayals (Ivory, Williams, Hatch, & Covucci, 2007). Similarly, Kalyango (2006) found that Islamic groups are the most frequently mentioned terrorist groups in the New York Times’ coverage of counter-terrorism efforts.