Liberal defenses of Muslims feed rather than block right-wing conspiracy theories

Evidence

In the context of a Far Right attack using language that harks back to the Crusades, the best arguments from the political class were weak defenses of religious freedom. Instead of taking a principled anti-racist position that states that Muslims are no more to blame for the events of 9/11 than Christians are for the violence of Christian fundamentalists, the liberal establishment chose to question the location of the proposed Islamic center. While less blatant than the rabid Islamophobes who were accusing Muslims of “triumphalism,” such an argument tacitly endorsed collective blame on all Muslims for the attacks on the Twin Towers. Obama further chose to counter the Far Right, raising the specter of suicide bombing, thereby justifying his own security measures. Such “indirect securitization,” however, also essentializes and homogenizes Muslims. Liberal racism of this sort then feeds right-wing conspiracy theories. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 733

Categorization

• XREF: Confirms the mechanism the reader wants: how liberal positions (indirect securitization, weak religious-freedom defenses) created the ground later Trump-era conspiracy theories flowered on. — connects to: Liberal anti-racist rhetoric licenses and amplifies far-right conspiracy theories. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 721; Liberal security hysteria functionally powered the right-wing mosque campaign’s success — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 659; Liberal retreat in the Cordoba House fight doubled the right-wing anti-Muslim base (+10 more)

Broader Connections

• Liberal framing of the good-bad Muslim divide enables right-wing conspiracy theories #expands (0.95)
• Liberal Islamophobia legitimizes and amplifies right-wing anti-Muslim conspiracy theories #expands (0.92)
• Liberal security politics amplified right-wing Islamophobia’s reach and power #expands (0.88)
• Liberal defenses of Muslims framed Islamophobia as intolerance, not empire-linked racism #complicates (0.85)
• Liberal containment of Islamophobia serves counterinsurgency strategy, not tolerance #corroborates (0.80) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 574