By Isabel Hicks & Nicole Kalosh

In the month following the 9/11 attacks, Newsweek released an issue titled “The Politics of Rage: Why Do They Hate Us?” discussing the perceived war between the West and Islam. The article debunks various Western theories that argue Islam is an inherently violent and hateful religion and reminds us that the Quran condemns war, murder, and suicide. 

In response to 9/11 and the Newsweek issue, Americans were forced to self-reflect on their country and the actions of their government. 9/11 not only deepened the American conversation regarding our relationship with Islamic extremists but all Muslims and Muslim countries alike. 

Our reaction was retaliation, and the War on Terror began. 

In 2003, President George W. Bush launched an attack on Iraq claiming the U.S. found weapons of mass destruction, which led to the death of over 100,000 Iraqi civilians and over 4,700 U.S. and allied troops deaths. 

However, according to the White House, Bush had been fed incorrect intelligence, and Iraq actually had no weapons of mass destruction. The truth of the matter in addition to the Abu Ghraib footage lost Bush’s heavy public support for the war. 

Islamophobia and hate crimes against Muslims increased by 500 percent directly after 9/11. Media portrayal of men with turbans and beards as Islamic terrorists led to multiple hate crimes against Sikh men, who possess both turbans and long beards, which are articles of faith in Sikhism. 

The recent Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel caused a significant spike in anti-Muslim hate, leading to an 182 percent increase in reports of biased incidents from Muslim Americans across the country in the weeks following the attack. 

Hate speech following the attack has affected the Jewish community as well. Between October 7, 2023, and January 7, 2024, there were over 3,200 reported anti-Jewish incidents. 

According to Zahra Jamal, associate director of Rice University’s Boniuk Institute for Religious Tolerance in Houston, “62 percent of Muslims report feeling religion-based hostility and 65 percent feel disrespected by others.” Popular media, our government, and ignorance about Islam have perpetuated fear and violence towards Muslims, which continues to this day. 

Trump’s presidency also greatly influenced Islamophobia in our country. His constant use of anti-Muslim rhetoric and the “Muslim Ban,” banning the travel of citizens from various Muslim countries to the U.S., furthered xenophobic bigotry in the country. American presidents have endorsed Islamophobic beliefs for decades, and little attention has been given to their harmful implications. 

And now here we are again, watching our president and government support yet another attack on Muslim lives. For the past five months, Israel has led a brutal military campaign in Gaza, killing more than 30,000 Palestinians, the majority being women and children. 

Irfan Galaria, a reconstructive surgeon, recounted his time working as a doctor in Gaza in his LA Times article. He describes how the majority of the injuries he witnessed were from gunshot wounds, many to the head, showing the true genocidal intent behind Israel’s military campaign. His account of the horrors in Gaza paints the gruesome image that Western media refuses to face. The hospitals lacked basic medical equipment and sanitary workstations, conditions that would be considered inhumane here in the U.S.

“I feel incredibly guilty that I was able to leave while millions are forced to endure the nightmare in Gaza,” Galaria said. “As an American, I think of our tax dollars paying for the weapons that likely injured my patients there. Already driven from their homes, these people have nowhere else to turn.”

Although stories such as these have gained widespread attention, discussions of a ceasefire in Gaza have been challenging.

In February, the UN Security Council held its first attempt at a ceasefire resolution in Gaza. The U.S. however, stopped the resolution from passing by using their veto power as one of the permanent 5 members of the UNSC. 

“A vote in favor of this draft resolution is a support to the Palestinians’ right to life,” the Algerian UN Ambassador said. “Conversely, voting against it implies an endorsement of the brutal violence and collective punishment inflicted against them.”  

Then on March 25, the council voted on a ceasefire during the month of Ramadan. After much backlash for their use of veto power, the U.S. abstained from their vote and the resolution passed. However, the temporary ceasefire hasn’t stopped the war entirely. Israeli airstrikes continued days into the ceasefire, attacking Gazans trying to reach aid trucks.

It’s so strangely ironic how the U.S. likes to call itself the greatest nation on Earth for its values of democracy and freedom, all while funding military aid to Israel and profiting off the genocide of Palestinian civilians. Since 2016, the U.S. has been in a contract with Israel providing them military aid until 2026. The bombs used on Gaza over the last six months have been supplied by the U.S. as part of the 3.8 billion dollar contract. 

The U.S. has silenced the screams of the suffering of those who do not benefit us and fit our rhetoric and worldview. Gaza is now completely left in ruins. Almost all children have experienced injury or loss, and a culture has been almost destroyed. 

Americans as people are not innately hateful or capable of evil. There is beauty and pride in being American, and I have seen it reflected in the faces of my peers. 

Being American means sticking to our values and taking a stand against the wrongs we witness. Our country was founded because of the brave men who dared to fight against the mistreatment they experienced at the hands of the British. Those values persist in our country today; the courage of our founding fathers is something we must continue to emulate in our activism. Just like John Adams once said, “Always stand on principle…even if you stand alone.”

We as people have the power to call each other to action and point out the hypocrisies of our government. I strongly believe that empathy is an innate trait, and we can be cultured to express respect and love for all groups of people. 

As Nelson Mandela once said, “We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.” It is our responsibility to speak up against the injustices we see in the world and work to build rather than just imagine a better world.