Notes
177 Notes 1. This position could be seen at the outset of the Egyptian uprising when U.S. vice president Joe Biden defended Hosni Mubarak as an ally and not a dictator. Biden argued that Mubarak should not step down due to popular protest. Over time, the U.S. government ’s position shifted, as Mubarak’s fall was inevitable in the face of massive popular rebellion in Tahrir square and across Egypt. See Bridget Johnson, “Biden: Mubarak not a dictator, protests not like Eastern Europe,” The Hill blog, January 28, 2011, at http://thehill. com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/140923-biden-mubarak-not-a-dictator-protestsnot -like-eastern-europe (accessed August 23, 2012). Under Mubarak’s rule, Egypt received U.S. foreign aid in an amount second only to Israel’s. See http://www.politifact. com/truth-o-meter/statements/2011/feb/04/ross-douthat/egypt-got-more-foreign-aidanyone -besides-israel-s/ (accessed August 26, 2012). 2. In the wake of the Cold War a consensus developed within that United States that U.S. foreign aid should be directed toward “democracy promotion” through aid to civil society organizations. George H. W. Bush offered $3 million in aid to create the Middle East Democracy Fund as a means of encouraging economic and political liberalization. From 1991 to 2001, the United States spent $250 million on democracy programs in the Middle East. After September 11, 2001, U.S. officials questioned the utility of “democracy promotion,” but the U.S. continued to encourage civil society development via top-down initiatives. See Muravchik, “Exporting Democracy to the Arab World”; Carapico, “Foreign Aid for Promoting Democracy in the Arab World”; and Denoeux, “Promoting Democracy and Governance in Arab Countries.” 3. Among the most significant examples of armed self-defense within the U.S. black freedom movement are the NAACP chapter of Monroe, N.C., led by Robert F. Williams in the 1950s–60s; the 1960s Deacons for Defense; and the 1970s Black Panther Party. See, for example, Tyson, Radio Free Dixie; Hill, Deacons for Defense; and Williams, Negroes with Guns. 4. Obama, “Remarks by the President on a New Beginning.” 5. Obama’s “Remarks by the President on a New Beginning” presented a teleology of Western progress that could also be seen in his important speech on race in America, “A More Perfect Union.” In that speech, Obama argued that the U.S. was constantly improving its attitudes and policies toward racial minorities in ways that were leading to “a more perfect union.” The speech was a rebuke to his pastor, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, who had embarrassed Obama by naming racism as something that was constitutive of the United States and not a mere dilemma the state had to confront on its route toward perfection. For the text of Obama’s speech, see Obama, “More Perfect Union.” 6. Obama, “Remarks by the President on a New Beginning.” 178 / Notes to Pages 2–5 7. Ibid. 8. Among the many excellent books on the history of U.S. cultural and diplomatic engagement with the Middle East, I have been most drawn to those that discuss the cultural and affective dimensions of U.S. foreign policy. See, for example, Makdisi, Faith Misplaced ; Little, American Orientalism; and McAlister, Epic Encounters. 9. The Foundation for Middle East Peace estimates a West Bank settler population of 328,423 as of 2011. According to their statistics, this represents a population increase of 177 percent from 1999 (when the settler population of the West Bank was 177,411). These data are based on Israeli census figures and may not account for the nonrecognized “outposts” or pre-settlements that contain settler populations unrecognized by Israel in settler demographics. Demographics are immensely important and contested in Israel/ Palestine. For the purpose of showing the expansion of Israeli settlers in the West Bank, I’ve chosen here the most conservative figures, recognizing that there are estimates of greater settler population figures. See Foundation for Middle East Peace Settlement Report 21, no. 1 (2011), http://www.fmep.org/settlement_info/settlement-info-and-tables/statsdata /settlements-in-the-west-bank-1 (accessed August 24, 2012). 10. There are many excellent studies of the racialization of Arabs and Muslims in the United States after September 11, 2001. See, for example, Jamal and Naber, Race and Arab Americans before and after 9/11; Sheehi, Islamophobia; Shyrock, Islamophobia/Islamophilia ; and Alsutany, Arabs and Muslims in the Media. Each of these studies argues that the U.S. justifies...
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