Extremism in America

5. Islamic Extremism in the United States

147 Islamic Extremism in the United States James M. Lutz and Brenda J. Lutz The threat from Islamic extremism has long distressed the United States but has attained much greater salience after 9/11. In the aftermath of 9/11, a number of sporadic attacks by Islamist lone wolves and jihadist cells with little or no formal affiliation to al-Qaeda have raised fears of a homegrown Islamist fifth column in America. In March 2011 this angst was expressed in a congressional hearing called “The Extent of Radicalization in the American Muslim Community and that Community’s Response,” which was chaired by Peter King (R-NY). The hearing sought to assess the domestic Islamic terrorist threat to the United States. Distrust of Muslims and Arabs existed prior to 9/11. The OPEC oil embargo imposed in 1973 contributed to the economic “stagflation” of the period , which fostered resentment toward Muslims and Arabs.1 High-profile terrorist events, including the attack on U.S. Marines Corps barracks in Lebanon in 1983, the first attack on New York City’s World Trade Center in 1993, and the twin embassy attacks in East Africa in 1998, all contributed to increasing distrust of Muslims and set the stage for the general fear that occurred after 9/11. As a consequence of these events, the U.S. public equated terrorism with Muslims and the Middle East, often giving short shrift to terrorism committed by non-Muslims outside the Middle East. When a truck bomb destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995, the immediate reaction was to assume that a group from the Middle East was responsible for the attack. The discovery that a chapt er 5 148 · James M. Lutz and Brenda J. Lutz non-Muslim American citizen was responsible for this attack did not really change the general perception toward terrorism. Timothy McVeigh was simply viewed as an aberrant individual rather than representative of a serious domestic terrorist threat. Terrorism associated with jihadist groups has resulted in increased antagonism to Muslim Americans, who in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 became a suspect community because of their religion or country of origin. Negative stereotypes of Arabs and Muslims persist even in an age of multiculturalism in which foreign cultures are often celebrated. The negative image notwithstanding, terrorism carried out by American Muslims has not been as prevalent as many expected it to be. While the danger of terrorism continues, there is also the risk that that stereotyping and prejudice might actually drive more alienated young Muslims into violent actions as a consequence of negative climate of public opinion toward Islam. This chapter examines Islamic extremism in the United States. To place this topic in context, a brief overview of the history Muslim immigration into the United States is recounted followed by discussion on the negative stereotyping of this community. Next, episodes and patterns of Islamic terrorism prior to 9/11 are examined. The terrorist attacks of 9/11 and their consequences are discussed after that. Finally, the conclusion argues that a balanced approach characterized by both vigilance and respect for the civil rights and sensibilities of Muslim Americans is necessary to combating domestic Islamic terrorism. Muslim and Middle Eastern Communities in the United States The total Muslim population in the United States was relatively small for much of the history of the country. Migrants from the Middle East or North Africa were few in number, and many of them, while ethnically Arab, were Christian rather than Muslim.2 Christian Arabs were more likely to migrate to Western countries since they shared the dominant religious tradition of their host countries. After World War II, out-migration of Arabs from the Middle East and North Africa increased, but much of this migratory stream was directed toward Western Europe. As the European Economic Community expanded, later becoming the European Union, larger numbers of Muslims from many parts of the world became residents, either as guest workers or as refugees and asylum seekers from conflicts. As time went on the United States increasingly became a destination for Muslims seeking to relocate for a better or safer life. Islamic Extremism in the United States · 149 The increase in oil wealth spurred by the global rise in commodity prices in the 1970s further led to increased migration to the United States. With greater revenue from oil exports, governments in the Middle East sent...