The terrorist-label discourse justifies US support for Egyptian dictatorship

Evidence

In Egypt, this discourse, produced and promoted by US Democrats and Republicans alike, serves as a cover for continuing the punishment, containment, and isolation of anyone who stands in the way of US empire. Thus, every US administration since 1979 (when Egypt and Israel signed the Camp David Accords) has provided Egypt with military, political, and economic support to repress Egyptian people while sustaining Egypt’s status as a partner in advancing US agendas, including Israeli settler colonialism in the region. The United States frames its relationship with Egyptian dictators as an alliance in the “war on terrorism,” a stance that helps rationalize policies such as extraordinary rendition, which outsource the torture as well as the execution of Muslims to places with more lenient torture laws than the United States. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 42

Categorization

• XREF: Directly continues and sharpens Rana’s and Razack’s theses that the ‘terrorist’ label is imperial policy — this passage gives it a specific infrastructure (watchlists, rendition, post-9/11 alliance policy). — connects to: The US frames alliances with Egyptian dictators as terrorism-war pacts to justify outsourcing torture — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 42; US policy backed dictators and counterrevolution against the Arab Spring — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 580; Terrorism labeling follows political allegiance, not acts of violence — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 413 (+1 more)
• SEED: Angle: how the terrorism designation functions as a mechanism of global detention-without-release — the watchlist as a life sentence beyond any jail term.

Broader Connections

• Terrorism labeling follows political allegiance, not acts of violence #expands (0.82) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 413
• US policy backed dictators and counterrevolution against the Arab Spring #complicates (0.80) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 580
• The freedom-versus-terrorism dichotomy blocks clear perception of the Middle East #corroborates (0.75) — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 99