For two decades, we have been saddled with a double image in service of the ‘war on terror’. No other version of Islam seems legible to the public
On 17 September 2001, days after horrific terrorist attacks had hit the nation, George W Bush paid a well-publicized visit to the Islamic Center of Washington. At the time, vigilante violence was raining hard on Muslims and Sikhs around the country, with hate crimes already numbering in the hundreds. These included brutal physical assaults, several mosque burnings and at least two murders.
Bush came to the Washington mosque, it has often been reported, to stem the spread of such hate, and over the years Bush’s visit has been repeatedly invoked with near mystical reverence. In 2002, the New York Times called the visit “another anniversary worth honoring”. In 2016, Foreign Policy magazine labeled it “a show of leadership and support for tolerance”. In 2020, a former aide in Bush’s White House, writing on NBCNews.com, described it as a moment of “solidarity with Muslim Americans”.
Continue reading...source https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/sep/09/muslim-america-september-11-war-on-terror
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