The 1972 Munich massacre launched US legal profiling of all Arabs

Evidence

The overarching context was the Arab-Israeli conflict, the growth of the PLO, and the use of armed struggle in the pursuit of national liberation. As we saw in previous chapters, the association of the enemies of Israel with “terrorism” began around this time. One of the first legal manifestations of this logic in the United States occurred after an infamous incident at the 1972 Munich Olympics in which a group of Palestinians took Israeli athletes hostage and murdered them. In response, the Nixon administration launched “Operation Boulder,” giving law enforcement agencies “carte blanche authorization to investigate individuals of Arabic-speaking origin, whether citizen or not, allegedly to determine their possible and/or potential relationship with ‘terrorist’ activities related to the Arab-Israeli conflict.” Thus, a violent act committed in Munich by a handful of Palestinians became the basis on which all Arabs were designated as suspicious and therefore worthy of investigation. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 442

Categorization

• XREF: Directly serves the guiding question tying domestic fear to policy — the Munich act is the causal spark for Operation Boulder, the founding legal move. — connects to: US counterterrorism targeted Arabs while ignoring actual Jewish terrorist groups — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 443; Legalized anti-Arab persecution began institutionally in the early 1970s — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 442; Airport profiling targets all Muslims, not just Arabs or specific nationalities (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Legalized anti-Arab persecution began institutionally in the early 1970s #corroborates (0.60) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 442
• Airport profiling targets all Muslims, not just Arabs or specific nationalities #qualifies (0.50)