Jihad/Terrorism in the media
William Mathews
Blog entry
4-5-12
On December 27, 2010 Stimson, a nonprofit,
nonpartisan institution devoted to enhancing international peace and security
through a unique combination of rigorous analysis and outreach, published an
article titled “Losing The Meaning Of
Jihad: Terrorism And The Us Media”.
The article opens with this
statement by President Obama “During
his trip to India, President Barack Obama visited St. Xavier's College in
Mumbai, where he answered a student's question about jihad: "I think all
of us recognize that this great religion in the hands of a few extremists has
been distorted to justify violence toward innocent people that is never
justified."[1] Before I
began with the argument of the paper I first want to define jihad. Jihad is
defined based on class notes as a struggle within the self. This article
attempts to bring to light the way in which Islamic extremists use the term in
order to create the false impression that the text of the Quran supports their
violent crimes. Also the issue of U.S. media service assisting terrorist with
improper use of the term is a major argument.
The
article says Islamic extremists use the term to propagate the belief that the
West is at war with Islam. That some Muslims (Namely Al Qaeda) are deploying
the tactic to say that the U.S. isn’t engaged in a war on terrorism, but rather
a war with Islam. The U.S. media’s role as information provider plays a
critical role in how the American public perceives Islam. In fact terrorists do
and have committed terrible acts against civilians through the claim of jihad.
With that being said, most U.S. media constrict the use of the term jihad only
to the use of violence. How is this damaging? With the improper use of the term
the media unknowingly (?) maintains the link between terrorism and Islam, that
creates a lasting negative perception of Islam within the American public.
I
personally agree with the arguments made within the article. I know for a fact
that before taking this course on Islam I was very much ignorant to the
practice and teachings of Islam. I, like my peers and most of the American
public, have little connection to Islam, and all the information I did receive
was negative. That information from the American Media services painted Islam
and Muslims as enemies of America. Those peopled needed to be defeated, so the
American public after 9/11 was faced with war against terrorism (Muslims). The
media portrays Muslims in very similar ways as orientalism as the “ideal other”
(or not so ideal?). The fact that Islamic extremists use the term jihad to create
a sense of justification for terrible acts is not surprising to me. They are
using the principles of the Qur’an to unify other Muslims to support their
bloodthirsty cause.
[1]
Kirchner, Allie.
"Losing The Meaning of Jihad: Terrorism and the US Media." . http://www.stimson.org/spotlight/losing-the-meaning-of-jihad-terrorism-and-the-us-media/
(accessed March 25, 2012).
No comments:
Post a Comment