ABSTRACT
While terrorism is by no means a new phenomenon, the post-9/11 world has greatly focused its efforts on understanding the post-9/11 Muslim world. With images of Arabs in Palestine and Lebanon allegedly celebrating the death of Americans shortly after the attacks, U.S. officials raised the misguided question, “Why do they hate us?” There are many reasons that motivate groups of people to engage in acts of terrorism, but hate is not one of them. One cannot overestimate the wealth of information available online that
can help us better understand the rationale of extremist groups. Thanks to the Internet, we do not need to travel thousands of miles to learn what extremists are thinking, how they view world events, and most importantly, how they justify their actions, including terrorism. Terrorists have a presence online. They are visible, and a study of their extensive network proves that they have created a virtual Habermasian public sphere and they are here to stay. While many citizens around the world oppose U.S. foreign policies, as was evident during the Bush administration’s unilateral approach to the Iraq war, only a handful express their frustrations using extreme measures such as terrorism and bringing harm to others. Extremists know they can grab the world’s attention with such unconventional methods of violence. Post 9/11, the lines between who is an Arab, who is a Muslim, and who is a
terrorist, were all blurred, and journalism often linked the three categories together in the public’s mind. Cases of what appeared to be discrimination against Arabs surfaced across America. Within the first nine weeks after 9/11, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee reported 700 cases of violent discrimination against Arab-looking people in the United States, including several murders.1 Discrimination continues today, and can affect Arabs or Muslims, or those thought to be Arabs or Muslims, in all facets of life. Such is the case of an Arab family that was removed from an AirTran flight in January, 2009, because of a misunderstanding resulting from a conversation they were having about the safest place to sit on an airplane.2 There is reason for hope, nevertheless. A 2009 Pew survey reported that a plurality of Americans (58 percent and 45 percent respectively) agree that Muslims face a lot of discrimination and that “Islam is no more likely than other faiths to encourage violence among its believers.”3
