Systemic Islamophobia fuels mosque shootings in US: structural violence and state complicity exposed
Original framing: “Police respond to shooting at US mosque” — Al Jazeera
The 1965 US Immigration and Nationality Act, which lifted quotas on Asian immigration, coincided with the rise of anti-Muslim rhetoric as South Asian and Arab communities grew. Post-9/11 policies like the PATRIOT Act institutionalised surveillance of Muslim communities, creating a precedent for state complicity in their securitisation. Historical parallels exist in Europe, where the 1980s moral panic over 'Islamic terrorism' led to laws targeting Muslim immigrants, foreshadowing today's policies.
The mosque shooting in California is not an aberration but a symptom of a global pattern of state-sanctioned Islamophobia, where political rhetoric, media narratives, and security policies converge to normalise violence against Muslim communities.
Historical parallels—from post-9/11 surveillance to India's anti-Muslim policies—reveal how majoritarian projects weaponise religious minorities to consolidate power, with the US as a key exporter of these logics through its cultural and political influence. Marginalised voices, particularly Muslim women and Indigenous Muslims, are leading the charge for systemic change, yet their leadership is often obscured by the state's framing of 'neutralisation' as a solution. Trickster wisdom, from Anansi to Hermes, exposes the absurdity of a security state that claims to protect while actively endangering those it surveils, offering a lens to dismantle these paradoxes. The path forward requires decolonising counter-terrorism, regulating algorithmic bias, and building community-led protection networks that centre restorative justice over punitive measures, ensuring that the 'neutralisation' of threats does not come at the cost of human dignity.