Government ads depicted Muslims as thriving Americans while the state waged war on them.

Evidence

These ads collectively seek to prove that Muslims live prosperous lives, are not marginalized, and are included as part of the core of U.S. society—in leading government positions, as paramedics, students, teachers, and business owners with predominantly non-Muslim clients. These Muslim immigrants in the United States portray themselves as raising their children speaking Arabic, as involved in Islamic schools, and as able to assert their Muslim identity without obstruction. The ads draw on discourses of the United States as a land of opportunity, freedom, equality, and diversity. The message is that people of all religions get along in the United States and Islam is respected; Muslims can be themselves here without barriers. The campaign seeks to remake America into a nation that is not against Islam, despite waging war against Arabs and Muslims at home and abroad. — Evelyn Alsultany, Arabs and Muslims in the Media, 1303

Categorization

• SHARE: The rhetorical tension the author names — ads remaking America as pro-Islam ‘despite waging war’ on Muslims at home and abroad — is worth sharing with anyone working on propaganda or counterinsurgency communication.