Imperial conceptions that tag homelands as al-Qaeda territory produce shared persecution

Evidence

In arguing that Bahlul’s conviction be upheld, a Pentagon lawyer, navy captain Edward S. White, relied on a precedent from an 1818 tribunal. In his thirty-seven-page military commissions brief, Captain White wrote: “Not only was the Seminole belligerency unlawful, but, much like modern-day al Qaeda, the very way in which the Seminoles waged war against U.S. targets itself violate the customs and usages of war.” — Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the…, 504 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

But as the War on Terror spun distinct myths in different countries and the world spun along with it, an understanding of Islamophobia untethered from the American experience, its distinct history, and unique configurations of race and racism has become essential. Islamophobia is now more than ever a global phenomenon, and the War on Terror has evolved into an imperial project that advances it across longitudes and latitudes. — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 43 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: US empire’s conception of the Philippines as al-Qaeda territory targeted Filipino-Americans domestically; The flexible terrorist category is repurposed against domestic movements threatening empire; The War on Terror functions as an imperial project spreading Islamophobia globally — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 43 (+13 more)

Broader Connections

• A Pentagon lawyer equated Seminole resistance with modern-day al-Qaeda in a Guantánamo brief #exemplifies (0.90) — Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the…, 504
• The flexible terrorist category is repurposed against domestic movements threatening empire #expands (0.85)
• The War on Terror functions as an imperial project spreading Islamophobia globally #expands (0.85) — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 43
• Empire produces anti-Muslim racism which in turn sustains empire #corroborates (0.85)
• A shared dehumanizing logic links War on Terror crusades across hemispheres #exemplifies (0.80)
• Manifest Destiny persists as a living imperial ideology applied against Muslim populations #expands (0.80) — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 228
• States across the power spectrum weaponize Islamophobia for national and imperial projects #expands (0.80) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 79
• The War on Terror exported Muslim-suspicion doctrine that nations adapted locally #expands (0.80) — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 67
• Clash-of-civilizations rhetoric ideologically legitimized both foreign wars and domestic attacks #corroborates (0.80) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 421
• Islamophobia operates as an empire advanced by cooperating governments with distinct anti-Muslim agendas #expands (0.80)
• Islamophobia functions as a transnational tool advancing American imperial aims #expands (0.80) — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 1826
• Islamophobia spans the political spectrum and is embedded in empire’s infrastructure #expands (0.80)
• The War on Terror fragmented into connected systems of global Muslim subordination #corroborates (0.80) — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 73
• Islamophobia networks are structurally integral to US empire #expands (0.80) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 89
• Al Qaeda threat narratives rest on unspoken racial images rather than evidence #corroborates (0.80) — Sherene Razack, Casting Out, 98