Arab violence is framed as illegitimate while US violence is framed as legitimate

Evidence

The Arab terrorist stereotype has emerged not only through repeating this one-dimensional character in films, news reports, and government speeches but also through its particular framing. The Arab terrorist stereotype was born from a fundamental distinction: violence perpetrated by Arabs and Muslims is framed as illegitimate; violence committed by the United States is legitimate, indeed necessary to democracy, freedom, and peace. What makes a terrorist a “terrorist”—a pejorative term, in comparison to “freedom fighter”—is that the violence is illegitimate because it is targeting innocents and because it is senseless or without a moral outcome. — Evelyn Alsultany, Arabs and Muslims in the Media, 169

Categorization

• DEFINE: Explains what makes a ‘terrorist’ a terrorist versus a ‘freedom fighter’ — a framing distinction.
• XREF: connects to: American Orientalism justifies therapeutic violence against Arabs as civilizing mission — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 235; the MOC “The Violence That Builds: How Modern Order Is Forged, Not Broken, by Force”