Neocons weaponize native informers to silence criticism of US policy

Evidence

As its website proudly declares, AVOT has a “steadfast commitment to attacking those who would blame America first.” This is an open declaration of war on Muslims and the left. Its targets are people in Muslim-majority countries, particularly Arabs, and the left in the West, particularly the American left. Neocons have vigorously argued that the United States has been a force for good in the Middle East and that people in that region therefore have only themselves to blame for the state of their countries. This argument is peddled not just by the likes of Pipes and Lewis but also by mainstream figures like Fareed Zakaria and Thomas Friedman. Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a close associate of the neocons, gives legitimacy to this argument through her status as a “native informer.” — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 541

Categorization

• XREF: The ‘native informer’ mechanism aligns squarely with Rana/Selod/Grosfoguel’s critique of false Muslim voices co-opted by empire. — connects to: Scholarly discourse can itself silence and wound marginalized participants; Neocons recruit non-Western voices to delegitimize Muslim critiques of US policy; Neocons recruit Muslim ‘native informers’ to delegitimize Muslim criticism of US policy — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 676
• SEED: An essay angle: how ‘native informer’ status converts personal trauma into imperial legitimacy — Ali’s and Manji’s co-option as a case study.

Broader Connections

• Scholarly discourse can itself silence and wound marginalized participants #corroborates (0.55)