Arun Kundnani: The Muslims are Coming

Categories: Latest News
Monday March 17 2014
Counterpunch features a review of Arun Kundnani’s new book, ‘The Muslims are Coming: Islamophobia, Extremism, and the Domestic War on Terror’ by Ron Jacobs.
Kundnani, who authored the report on Prevent, ‘Spooked! How not to prevent violent extremism’ develops his study further in this new book looking at the surveillance systems in the UK and US and how ‘potential terrorist’ targets are selected.
Kundnani distinguishes between ‘Culturalists’, those for whom “there is a historical war between the West and Islam and that the global war on terror is but the latest installment of that war” and the more insidious techniques used to subject Muslims to profiling as part of government counter-terrorism efforts.
From Counterpunch:
“Kundnani’s reader is introduced to a look into how law enforcement and intelligence agencies determine which Muslims are “dangerous” and what means should be used to turn or, at the least, neutralize them.
“…these individuals’ religious understanding that is used to determine their future actions, when it is the political and economic situation that is usually more important in determining one’s political radicalism and response.
“To state it succinctly, most governments determine the parameters of the ongoing discussion about the causes of terrorism while leaving out the policies which are often the reason people become terrorists. Of course, the left out policies are those undertaken by the governments themselves—war, economic exploitation, etc.”
Kundnani observes the absence of socio-economic and political variables in explaining individual motivations for engaging in violent extremism as theological orientations are foregrounded by security and government officials.
Ron Jacobs adds a useful dictum by John F. Kennedy, who said “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.”