American Islamophobia during Israeli-Palestine Conflict

Before I begin…

As a non-Muslim and non-Palestinian white American, it is my desire to use my knowledge and platform to advocate for these disenfranchised communities; however, I lack the full perspective of experiencing the discrimination aimed at these groups. I am not and should not lead this conversation or pretend to fully understand the weight of its effects, but I will speak to my beliefs for the purpose of allied support.

Legislative Action

After Gov. Abbot passed an executive order preventing pro-Palestinian support in state universities in Texas, Palestinian students across the state have grappled against the shocking restriction on free speech. The University of North Texas, for one, had to remove a piece from a Palestinian student’s art exhibit on campus that labeled the Israel-Palestine conflict as an “ethnic genocide.”

As someone who has read several articles and accounts from experts on both sides of the conflict, I can inform you that ethnic genocide is not an anti-Semitic perspective, it’s another way of saying what Israeli historians like Benny Morris have been saying “ethnic cleansing” for decades.

Now, it should be noted that not every Palestinian Arab is Muslim and Israeli Muslim do exist; however, according to statistics from the Association of Religion Data Archives, 80.7% of people in the Occupied Palestinian Territories in 2020 were Muslim. It’s fair to say that American Muslims identify with Palestinian citizens the same way Jewish Americans identify with Israel. (When I say Palestine, I mean the vast majority of the population which does not support Hamas).

Until the 2016 Trump administration, several American presidents set a tone of unbiased negotiation, but since the first Trump administration began a federal rhetoric that is pro-Israel, the rest of the country has followed suit.

By restricting pro-Palestinian speech, the United States has deprioritized international relations with Muslim countries.

Although Islamophobia may not be as severe now as it was post 9/11, I do believe that this conflict has increased the intolerance towards Islamic people from those who do not understand the conflict. Al Jazeera believes that Muslims are “Seen as less human” since Islamophobia skyrocketed after the October 7th attack in 2023. Even though hundreds of Muslims have also died during this conflict, empathy tends to extend further to Israelis.

Media Recommendations

Unfortunately, Hollywood is still lacking in positive and accurate representation of Muslim people in media. The only depictions I can recommend having personally seen are Lost which brushes on some Islamophobic narratives through Sayid Jarrah. However, Sayid did have a violent Iraqi military background, but he was a complex character outside of his ethnicity. Additionally, the show Quantico portrays Muslim twin Nimah and Raina Amin, and Raina even wears a hijab and speaks to the importance of her hijab practice throughout the show.