Muslim Animosity Toward the U.S.

An Exploration of Muslim Animosity Toward the U.S.

The events of September 11, 2001, served to confirm what American government officials and many private citizens have long recognized: within the Islamic States of the world, there are many, many Muslims whose feelings toward the United States can only be described as hatred, contempt, and disgust. The question to be considered in this report is why this anti-American animosity has developed. Various explanations have been offered, among which are the belief that America has unfairly supported Israel and ignored the interests of the Palestinians (Sheler, 2001).

Other explanations of this phenomenon have been discussed by Sultan Shahin (1995) who argues that Islam views the West as an excessively secular civilization in which genuine religious feeling is increasingly stifled by materialism, consumerism, and greed. The West represents a direct threat to the traditional cultural and religious values of many conservative Islamic states. Shahin (1995) contends that the growing Islamic fervor was itself a response to the perceived threat of modernity and secularization. As the most powerful country in the world, the United States was singled out as a target for much Muslim animosity.

During the Persian Gulf War, many Islamic states and even more members of Islamic fundamentalist movements deeply resented the involvement of the United States. Some of these groups found the presence of an American-led coalition in

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nation does. Mubarak also stated that public opinion in the Muslim world is seething against America because of continued support for Israel, irrespective of that government's policies - policies believed by the majority of Muslims as designed to prevent the Palestinians from having their own state. In the "modern" Persian Gulf States, including Jordan and Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, Qatar, and Oman, it is this understanding of America's role in the Middle East peace process that predominates public thinking (Borchgrave, 2001). Even though the United States intervened on behalf of these moderate Muslim States in the Persian Gulf War, continued support for Israel is a major source of Muslim antagonism toward the United States. Other causes for concern in the Muslim world include Pakistan's sense that until very recently, the U.S. acted in a manner unfavorable to its interests and the long-standing belief in Iran and Iraq and Syria that this is the case more often than not (Stokes, 2001). Many fundamentalist or extremist groups in Islam, including Osama bin Laden's terror network, see the U.S. as "Satan" and as little more than a continuation of the Christian Crusaders who sought control over the Middle East during the Middle Ag

Category: Foreign - M