Word: islam
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Noah D. Oppenheim's piece (Op-Ed, Oct. 22), in its unconditional praise for Steven Emerson's documentary "Jihad in America," unwittingly conflates, Islam and political terrorism. There is a tendency in American society to view Middle Eastern politics solely within the context of Islam. One indication of the fact that people do not separate religion and politics is that people do not know the difference between an Arab and a Muslim. Indeed, in a conversation with me Wednesday night, Oppenheim asked me the difference between the Society of Arab Students and the Harvard Islamic Society. Arab is an ethnicity...
Here is the fundamental problem with referring to terrorists as "Islamic terrorists." The word "Islam" refers to the religion and its ideology while "Muslim" refers to the worshippers themselves. This is an important difference. The dangerous misnomer Islamic terrorist implies that the religion itself is the cause or the motivation of the violence--that terrorism can be carried out within the dictates of Islam. By referring to such a terrorist as a Muslim terrorist, one merely refers to the fact that the terrorist happens to be a Muslim without implicating the religion as a whole...
Oppenheim's piece has commendable elements, particularly in noting that Islam itself does not condone violence. The issue of terrorist threats posed by extremists deserves media attention. Terrorism persists as a reality in our world, and an investigation into its activities has a definite relevance and validity. However, Emerson does not make adequate efforts to highlight the political ideologies that compel these terrorists to act. So we are left to think that religion itself motivates terrorists...
...religion in America, Islam is easily misunderstood, and the media has not shown sufficient care in delineating between politics and religion in its coverage of the Muslim world...
...They're not the only ones. Besides trying to block both the Nation of Islam-sponsored Million Youth March and the Klan rally, Giuliani has drawn fire for his recent attempt to remove city funding from the Brooklyn Museum over an art exhibit. Although the moves seem to be designed to position him at the moderate center, Giuliani hasn't been able to make the transition completely: He plans to appeal the court's ruling, which he sharply criticized as "another example of the '60s ideology." Note to Hillary: There's still plenty of room in the middle...