Islamophobia and the Reign of Terror

Orientalists, Islamists And The Global Public Sphere: A Genealogy Of The Modern Essentialist Image Of Islam. By Dietrich Jung. Equinox Publishing Ltd., 2011. Pp. 323. ISBN: 9781845539009.

Postmodern Imperialism: Geopolitics And The Great Game. By Eric Walberg. Clarity Press, Inc. Atlanta GA, 2011. Pp. 300. ISBN: 978 0983353966.

From The Ruins Of Empire: The Revolt Against The West And The Remaking Of Asia. By Pankaj Mishra. Penguin Books, 2012. Pp. 341. ISBN: 9780141970165.

The Liberal Defence Of Murder. By Richard Seymour. Verso, London, 2008. Pp. 358. ISBN: 9781844672400.

Are Muslims Distinctive? A Look At The Evidence. By M. Steven Fish. Oxford University Press, 2011. Pp. 385. ISBN: 9780199769216.

Under The Drones: Modern Lives In The Afghan-Pakistan Borderlands. Ed. by Shahzad Bashir and Robert D. Crews. Harvard University Press, 2012. Pp. 336. ISBN: 97806740655611.

On Utøya: Anders Breivik, Right Terror, Racism And Europe. Ed. By Elizabeth Humphrys, Guy Rundle and Tad Tietze. Elguta Press, 2011. Pp. 144. ISBN: 9780787058805.

Islamophobia, to call anti-Muslim racism by a fancy name, is now the handmaiden of Empire. It is not only intrinsic to Pax Americana but also sustains the genocidal passions of a whole multitude of neo-fascists and ultra-right fanatics, including mass murderers like Anders Breivik of Norway. However, the Islam that is the obsession of this discourse and the object of such loathing and aversion has very little to do with the religious tradition or the historical community of the Muslims. Islam may connote a rhetorical trope, an imaginary phantom, an ideological spectre, an invented conspiracy, a fictional foe but all that Islamophobes seek is racial purity and all they manage to achieve is murder and hate crimes.