Terrorism and extremism are treated as exclusive to Islam

Evidence

After hours of questioning, the agent finally said to them, “I guess you’re not terrorists.” This comment shows that Muslim bodies are equated with their potentiality to commit terror until proven otherwise. — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 282 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

As the AVOT statement makes clear, it is not simply the violent section of the Islamist movement that they wish to “research,” but “Islam and Islamism” as a whole. It shouldn’t be surprising, then, that simply being a Muslim makes you worthy of suspicion, according to this logic. Drawing a page from the McCarthyist playbook, Gaffney was one of many who claimed that Obama might be a “secret Muslim.” The implication, of course, is that being a Muslim is sufficient cause for not trusting him. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 540 (#expands, via linked claim)

The logic underlying these cases is that Muslims are naturally “predisposed” to commit violent acts and should therefore be put away. Downs explains that “to prove predisposition, the government claims that routine, normal behavior of the defendants––dress, religious observances, Islamic financial transactions, literature, etc.––indicates a ‘predisposition’ to commit terrorism, based on the false stereotype that all Muslims are predisposed to commit terrorism. If they are sufficiently ‘Muslim,’ they are sufficiently ‘predisposed.’” — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 463 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim
• XREF: connects to: Anti-Muslim rhetoric still targets Islam as a religion, not just its adherents. — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 89; Clash of civilizations framing located terrorism’s cause within Islam itself — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 266; Muslims are positioned as an external threat against America’s internal enemies. (+22 more)

Related

• Suspicion of Muslims is based on association rather than evidence (similarity 0.89)
• Muslim bodies are treated as potential terrorists until proven otherwise (similarity 0.89)
• Anti-Muslim suspicion targets all Muslims, not just violent extremists (similarity 0.88)
• Courts treated ordinary Muslim religiosity as evidence of terrorist predisposition (similarity 0.87)
• Radicalization is theorized as an exclusively Muslim phenomenon (similarity 0.87)
• US policy frames the world’s 2 billion Muslims as presumptive terrorists. (similarity 0.86)
• Even exemplary good Muslims are simultaneously surveilled as suspects (similarity 0.86)
• Routine Muslim religious practice is legally treated as evidence of terrorist predisposition (similarity 0.85)
• The network explicitly targets Islam and Islamism as a whole, not just violent extremists (similarity 0.85)
• Radicalization theory targets Muslims who have committed no crime (similarity 0.84)
• Muslims are presumed predisposed to terrorism, making entrapment defenses fail. (similarity 0.84)
• Radicalization discourse was built to serve counterterrorism policy, not science. (similarity 0.83)
• Courts legitimize treating an entire religious community as suspicious (similarity 0.83)
• Interrogators presume Muslims hold authentic insider knowledge of terrorism (similarity 0.83)
• Only Muslim violence is read as caused by the perpetrators’ religion (similarity 0.82)

Broader Connections

• Muslim bodies are treated as potential terrorists until proven otherwise #corroborates (0.75) — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 282
• Anti-Muslim suspicion targets all Muslims, not just violent extremists #expands (0.70) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 540
• Routine Muslim religious practice is legally treated as evidence of terrorist predisposition #exemplifies (0.65) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 463
• State-sponsored Islamophobia enforces the presumption linking Muslims to terrorism. #exemplifies (0.60)
• Radicalization theory treats Islam as inherently violent like eugenics treated races #corroborates (0.60)
• The War on Terror metastasized into a global network of state crusades against Muslims #expands (0.55)
• Islam shifted to the center of anti-terrorism discourse by 1984 #expands (0.50) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 397