Islamophobia network figures are integrated into the US establishment, not marginal extremists.

Evidence

This chapter demonstrates that a wide range of people and groups have participated in constructing a diabolical “Islamic threat.” Together they are responsible for the most blatant and right-wing forms of anti-Muslim racism. The Islamophobia network includes a section of the neocons, Zionist organizations, Christian fundamentalists, and right-wing ex-Muslims from the Middle East and South Asia. A significant number of these new McCarthyites have connections with establishment figures or are themselves from the foreign policy establishment, the military, the CIA, the Department of Defense, or other branches of the security apparatus. They sit comfortably with one another at conferences and counterterrorism training sessions. Their arguments are made more palatable by the liberal Islamophobes who populate the academy, the mainstream media, and various think tanks. In short, the new McCarthyites aren’t aberrations in an otherwise fair and neutral system, despite their rabidly racist views, but an integral part of it. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 720

Categorization

Category: Contrarian or Surprising Claims

• XREF: Echoes the historical comparison to McCarthyism and connects to Stanley Hoffmann’s work on the national security establishment.

Related

• New McCarthyites are integrated into the foreign policy and security establishment, not aberrations (similarity 0.92)
• Islamophobia warriors are integral to the establishment, not fringe aberrations (similarity 0.90)
• Anti-Muslim activists are networked insiders of the US security establishment (similarity 0.89)
• Right-wing Islamophobes are structurally embedded rather than marginal figures (similarity 0.88)
• Anti-Muslim extremists function as within-establishment security educators, not fringe outsiders (similarity 0.86)
• Right-wing Islamophobes mirror McCarthy as system-insiders servicing empire, not fringe outsiders (similarity 0.86)
• McCarthy-style anti-Muslim warriors emerge from within the establishment, not outside it (similarity 0.86)
• Right-wing Islamophobes are inside the establishment, not fringe infiltrators (similarity 0.85)
• McCarthyism and Islamophobia were systematic products of state power, not outsized individuals (similarity 0.85)
• Islamophobic warriors are establishment insiders who legitimize overt racism, like McCarthy did (similarity 0.85)
• Islamophobia spans the political spectrum and is embedded in empire’s infrastructure (similarity 0.84)
• Islamophobes are inside the establishment, not outside it (similarity 0.84)
• The anti-Muslim right wing emerges from within US empire’s establishment, not outside it (similarity 0.84)
• Islamophobia networks are structurally integral to US empire (similarity 0.83)
• Islamophobia predates organized networks and serves structural functions across the political spectrum (similarity 0.83)