The Rise of Islamaphobia
After last week's "horrific outburst" (as President Obama referred to it) in Fort Hood, Texas, it did not take long for rumors to start flying. With 13 people dead and 30 more wounded, people wanted answers and they wanted them fast.
It was quickly brought to light that Major Nadal Malik Hassan, the 39-year-old army psychologist responsible for the shooting spree, had received a poor performance evaluation from his previous position at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington before arriving at his Fort Hood post last July. The public was also informed that Hassan's deployment to Iraq was imminent and that he was incredibly displeased about it. However, the seemingly most important thing about Hassan was not unearthed or dug up; it was implied in the very sound of his name: he was Muslim.
Sure enough, it did not take the media long to spin a web around this incident.
Speculations of whether or not Hassan's massacre had been a crime or a terrorist attack quickly began to circulate. Rumors of Hassan reciting Allah Akbar as he committed the shootings began to fly as it came out that he has been under government surveillance for the past six months for possible affiliation with a blog that equated of Middle Eastern suicide bombers' actions to the deaths of American soldiers who threw themselves on hand grenades to save nearby civilians.
And before long this was no longer the isolated crime of a deranged individual but a link in a steadily growing chain linking Islam to upheaval.
The Islamic community was quick to react to the tidings of Hassan's crimes: The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Washington-based interest group, issued a preemptive statement just hours after the attack, stating, "No political or religious ideology could ever justify or excuse such wanton and indiscriminate violence. The attack was particularly heinous in that it targeted the all-volunteer army that protects our nation. American Muslims stand with our fellow citizens in offering both prayers for the victims and sincere condolences to the families of those killed or injured."
It was quickly brought to light that Major Nadal Malik Hassan, the 39-year-old army psychologist responsible for the shooting spree, had received a poor performance evaluation from his previous position at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington before arriving at his Fort Hood post last July. The public was also informed that Hassan's deployment to Iraq was imminent and that he was incredibly displeased about it. However, the seemingly most important thing about Hassan was not unearthed or dug up; it was implied in the very sound of his name: he was Muslim.
Sure enough, it did not take the media long to spin a web around this incident.
Speculations of whether or not Hassan's massacre had been a crime or a terrorist attack quickly began to circulate. Rumors of Hassan reciting Allah Akbar as he committed the shootings began to fly as it came out that he has been under government surveillance for the past six months for possible affiliation with a blog that equated of Middle Eastern suicide bombers' actions to the deaths of American soldiers who threw themselves on hand grenades to save nearby civilians.
And before long this was no longer the isolated crime of a deranged individual but a link in a steadily growing chain linking Islam to upheaval.
The Islamic community was quick to react to the tidings of Hassan's crimes: The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Washington-based interest group, issued a preemptive statement just hours after the attack, stating, "No political or religious ideology could ever justify or excuse such wanton and indiscriminate violence. The attack was particularly heinous in that it targeted the all-volunteer army that protects our nation. American Muslims stand with our fellow citizens in offering both prayers for the victims and sincere condolences to the families of those killed or injured."
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