Islamophobia: Making Muslims the Enemy

by Peter Gottschalk, Gabriel Greenberg

In the spirit of Edward Said's Orientalism, this book graphically shows how political cartoons-the print medium with the most immediate impact-dramatically reveal Americans demonizing and demeaning Muslims and Islam. It also reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of the Muslim world in general and issues a wake-up call to the American people.

Genres: Nonfiction, Islam, Religion, Politics, Sociology

162 pages, Hardcover

First published July 26, 2007

Reviews

[Diz · Rating 3 out of 5]

The focus of this book is the stereotyping of Muslims in political cartoons. There are two ideas that I thought were particularly interesting were that the Islamophobia of today has deep historical roots, with the authors tracing it all the way back to the Crusades, and that some of the imagery that was used for anti-Semitic political cartoons in the 19th and 20th centuries were recycled in the political cartoons criticizing Islam in the late 20th and early 21st century.

[Marjanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting read. It discussed the way Muslims are represented in the media, though primarily in political cartoons. It seems that a majority of these cartoons reinforce the common stereotypes for Muslims. Some of these include: all Arabs are Muslim, Muslim/Middle Eastern culture is backwards, and men are usually shown with large amounts of unkempt hair. I felt like I agreed with what this book was tying to say. That you can't judge a whole group of people, that may have their religion in common, based off the actions of a few. By the by, the country with the highest Muslim population is Indonesia.

[McCall · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting look at how many western cultures are exhibiting an irrational and uneducated fear towards Islam. I read this for a college course and it defiantly takes a academic approach to fear of Muslims. It also created a clear connection between the fear and hate exhibited towards Muslims and Islam. However, it got dry at points and I did not like how it connected Islamophobia to being the new form of hatered of Jews. I personally believe that the two are not as allegorical as this book mentions. While some of the same aspects can be seen in both types of hate they cannot be compared like the book insinuates to!

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brief depiction of how Muslims have been portrayed in cartoons throughout history, and the implications the stereotypes used have. It was Interesting

[Erdoan A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

For a long time i haven't read such an interesting book. very clear and precise, focusing on a very specific part of media covering of Islam. this books covers the discourse on Islam through the caricatures drawn in the US media. VERY INTERESTING and a "can't put it down" book

[Angela · Rating 2 out of 5]

First chapter was very illuminating. Made valid points about how stereotypes and political agendas pla a huge role in the way we view muslims and Islam. Analysed cultural and actual depictions of muslims quite interestingly. Because the book is written for an American context, I couldn't relate to it completely. But I could see why the rest of the western world harbours similar negative views towards Islam.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting look at how editorial cartoons depict stereotypes and perpetuate islamophobia. A quick read but really well thought out and executed. would recommend to anyone who consumes editorial cartoons. This really shows how much of the stereotypes we consume are manipulating us into building and transmitting negative stereotypes, rather than just poking fun at situations.

[Zainab Bakry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I honestly believe that if everyone grabbed this eye-opening book and read it thoroughly, we'd be living in a completely different world.