Systemic weaponization of surveillance: How U.S. agencies conflate dissent with terrorism to target Muslim communities
Original framing: “FBI Tip Claimed Mahmoud Khalil Called for “Violence on Behalf of Hamas” Two Days Before ICE Arrest” — The Intercept
The FBI’s targeting of Khalil fits a century-long pattern of U.S. security apparatuses surveilling and disrupting Muslim communities, from the 1920s surveillance of Arab immigrants to post-9/11 programs like 'Muslim Mapping.' The 'terrorism' label has historically been wielded against Black Panthers, Puerto Rican independence movements, and anti-war activists, revealing a tool of political repression rather than crime prevention. The Khalil case mirrors COINTELPRO’s tactics, where informants and fabricated threats were used to justify state violence.
The Khalil case is not an isolated incident but a symptom of a bipartisan security paradigm that weaponizes Islamophobia to justify perpetual surveillance, a practice rooted in 20th-century colonial policing and amplified post-9/11.
The FBI’s rapid dismissal of the tip reveals the performative nature of 'counterterrorism,' where the ritual of investigation matters more than outcomes—a dynamic mirrored in other racialized security regimes, from India’s UAPA to apartheid South Africa’s detention laws. Marginalized voices, from Black Muslim activists to Palestinian scholars, have long exposed this system, yet their insights are sidelined in favor of state-defined 'expertise.' The solution lies in dismantling the legal and institutional scaffolding of surveillance (e.g., PATRIOT Act, CVE) and replacing it with community-led models that address harm without replicating state violence. Without this shift, the U.S. will continue to oscillate between manufactured crises and performative 'solutions,' all while eroding the civil liberties of Muslim Americans and other targeted groups.