Islamophobia
Most in the United States are not challenged enough to consider what they think of Muslims. Islam rivals the Christian faith in adherents, with a multi-ethnic, multi-national reach. Islamphobia: Making Muslims the Enemy by Peter Gottschalk and Gabriel Greenberg digs into how discomfort in openly looking at Islam has opened up a space for prejudice and reaction.
Using the Danish publication of depictions of the Prophet Mohammed and the ensuing riots over such, authors Gottschalk and Greenberg bring light to topics most people take for granted, specifically the lack of understanding among Western countries’ of those of the Muslim faith, and the method in which their beliefs are represented in mass media. This book intelligently contextualizes Muslim history against a backdrop of European imperialism; that section is brief, for those who have read such history, but is detailed enough to introduce the casual reader to such matters. However, the history lesson is brief, and the authors are quick to relate the Muslim image in contemporary journalism.
Islamophobia builds a considerable body of research from the mainstream media, most notably editorial cartoons, a good number of which are shared in the book. Just looking for the way newspapers’ editorial staffs represent Muslims, the authors note, the uninformed could assume the average Muslim to be Arab, intolerant of progress, and wielding a curved blade. Many of these stereotypes, the authors recognize, are portrayed with a purpose: to make America, in the guise of Uncle Sam or Lady Liberty, out to be a defender of freedom, progress and justice. Other times, images seem aimed at reinforcing Bush Administration positions on a host of issues.
Islamophobia is likely to be controversial to some for implications that fear of Muslims has become the new anti-Semitism. But the important book must be read on its merits, to which there are many.
