US media framed Arab geopolitical acts as irrational rather than legitimate protest

Evidence

The Arab terrorist stereotype has emerged not only through repeating this one-dimensional character in films, news reports, and government speeches but also through its particular framing. The Arab terrorist stereotype was born from a fundamental distinction: violence perpetrated by Arabs and Muslims is framed as illegitimate; violence committed by the United States is legitimate, indeed necessary to democracy, freedom, and peace. What makes a terrorist a “terrorist”—a pejorative term, in comparison to “freedom fighter”—is that the violence is illegitimate because it is targeting innocents and because it is senseless or without a moral outcome. — Evelyn Alsultany, Arabs and Muslims in the Media, 169 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: National Geographic travel journalism was the leading channel imparting anti-Arab racism — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 216; Western media framed the Egyptian uprising through the 1989 Berlin Wall template — Vincent Bevins, If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and…, 229; Arab violence is framed as illegitimate while US violence is framed as legitimate — Evelyn Alsultany, Arabs and Muslims in the Media: Race…, 169 (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Arab violence is framed as illegitimate while US violence is framed as legitimate #expands (0.92) — Evelyn Alsultany, Arabs and Muslims in the Media, 169