Hoagland’s Hogwash: Islamophobia in the Washington Post
by Guest Contributor Fatemeh Fakhraie, originally published on Racialicious.
Jim Hoagland’s April 12, 2009 article for The Washington Post, entitled “The War Within Islam,” is the best example of “journalistic” Islamophobia I’ve seen in a reputable news source in quite a while. Hoagland has written for The Washington Post for several years, and his focus is on both national and international politics.
But in all his time at the Post, this is the first time he’s ever shown editorial concern for Muslim women. In fact, it’s only the second time he’s focused on Muslim women at all: in 2005, he wrote about the gains that Iraqi women gained in the 2005 elections. These two articles alone reflect a heavy-handed political paternalism that is amplified when he discusses the position of women in predominately Muslim societies. Get ready to see some serious faking concern for women to mask and justify martial occupation!
On a serious note, Hoagland opens by describing the recent video of a Pakistani girl being publicly whipped. This was a horrific occurrence, and no one should be made to suffer this way, publicly or privately. But Hoagland’s use of this video to illustrate the “brutality” of the local Taliban is misplaced because he ends up casting an illustrative net so wide that it catches all Muslim and Southwest Asian men, dehumanizing all instead of only a few. Which one is worse, I’m not sure.
While Hoagland attempted to differentiate between Islam and the political entities he discusses in last Sunday’s article by using specifics (“the Taliban’s version of Islamic law”; “Fanatical Islamic sects have framed their battle in holy terms and seek to destroy their faith’s mainstream values.”), any delineation is lost in his judgment-laden words and mischaracterizations of Afghan and Pakistani men.
The casual insertion of disparaging and condemnatory phrases, such as “…the local Taliban commander continues to flog her without mercy…”, “brutal subjugation of poor, uneducated women…”, and “The savage misogyny and feudal fury of the Swat Valley…”, paints a picture of a place where men are evil and women are victims. (emphasis mine) Instead of placing the blame on local manifestations of patriarchy, he hurls blame at local Taliban, not minding that his condemnation falls like misguided bombs on innocent men who have nothing to do with the Taliban or the public whipping in Pakistan.
Even without actually using the words “brutal” or “savage,” Hoagland successfully uses language to construct Afghan and Pakistani Muslim men as both: “The recent U.S. strategic review, … depict[s] the struggle in the desolate Afghanistan-Pakistan frontier as being rooted in fierce nationalism, the region’s ancient warrior culture, the failures of nation-building and the rebirth of jihadist terrorism.” Ancient warrior culture, huh? If that doesn’t convince you that these brown guys are also the bad guys, then what of “the desire of Pakistani and Afghan men to be left in peace to deal with their womenfolk as they see fit.”? Or “The savage misogyny and feudal fury of the Swat Valley are alien to modern, urban Turkey…” ?
There’s an interesting angle. The idea that Turkey is the “good” Muslim country, and Afghanistan and Pakistan are the “bad” ones is also racialized and Islamophobic. All three countries are predominately Muslim, but because of Turkey’s political/ideological identification with the white, non-Muslim West (particularly Europe), Turkey is the “tolerant, sophisticated” country, despite the fact that Turkey has just as many failings in women’s and human rights as Afghanistan and Pakistan do, both in its history and the present day.
Hoagland also drags out that old gem about Islam being incompatible with modernity: “All religions are absorbing the shocks of globalization. But none has felt more besieged than Islam as the flow of people, goods and instant communications across borders perturb or limit its deep reach into gender relations and family structures.” This paints Islam and Muslims as if they “can’t handle” modernization, and are thus not modern. Not to mention the myopic view that misses examples of religious extremism and gender backlashes from other faiths that have also grown with the rise of globalization.
The article is simply more of the same martial voices trying to camouflage themselves as “protectors of brown women from brown men” under the guise of politics. Hoagland’s judgmental phrases that cast Afghanistan, Pakistan, and everyone within their borders as innately and decidedly good-or-evil is not journalism, and it’s astonishing to see someone who has written about the region and its politics for so long know so little.
(Photo Credit: Xabier Mikel Laburu)
Tags: Afghanistan, Fatemeh Fakhraie, Islam, Islamophobia, Jim Hoagland, Misogyny, Muslim, Pakistan, Stereotyping, Swat, Taliban, The Washington Post, Turkey
Islamopobia, Media, War | Jehanzeb | 
April 22, 2009 3:27 pm
14 Comments
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More coverage of my Hoagland critique « Fatemeh Fakhraie — April 23, 2009 @ 4:05 pm
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By Casatap, April 25, 2009 @ 1:50 am
You are correct that there is a lot of Islamophobia going around. However, many Muslim majority countries have SERIOUS problems with human rights. It is imperative that muslims be at the forefront of confronting the inequities in the muslim world
By Jehanzeb, April 25, 2009 @ 11:09 am
Casatap,
In other words, you expect all Muslims to answer for crimes and actions that are committed by other people. If every White American was to answer for the war crimes of the Bush administration, imagine how many people would be racially profiled.
Your comments imply that Muslims are “foreign” to the West, which is why you say it’s “imperative” for them to confront issues in the Muslim world. For the record, Muslims *have* been speaking up and defining ourselves since before 9/11. It’s just that you haven’t been listening.
By Bill C, April 25, 2009 @ 8:22 pm
I see nothing in Casatap’s response that would suggest that all muslims are to answer for the atrocities committed in the Swat Valley. I also see nothing about how muslims are foreign to west- if anything he is talking about muslim countries which are not the “west”
Administrator Note: Your comment has been modified to fit within our comment moderation policy. We encourage mature, respectful, and friendly dialogue on this site; insults and personal attacks will not be tolerated here. You are welcome to share your thoughts, but please review the policy before making childish, accusatory, and degrading remarks.
By Bill C, April 25, 2009 @ 8:23 pm
perhaps you could show what part of his response suggests either of those accusations.
By Jehanzeb, April 25, 2009 @ 11:06 pm
Bill C.,
Implying that all Muslims should speak out against crimes committed in Muslim countries is like expecting all White non-Muslims to answer for the KKK and Timothy McVeigh. Muslims in the United States are Americans too.
Please refrain from making personal attacks and lousy accusations when you don’t even know me or the author of this post. Outrage against the Taliban has been expressed in previous posts and will continue to be expressed.
We also know that you’re commenting from the same IP address as “Winston Churchill” (another user who commented here), who had a notably different tone than yours.
By Bill C, April 26, 2009 @ 9:39 am
I then posted a link about how the Taliban in Pakistan put up signs telling Christians to convert to Islam or die and when Christians protested against this- some of them were murdered by the Taliban. Such Christian-phobia runs rampant throughout the Muslim World as does the brutality that occurred to this young woman in Swat VAlley. Refusing to acknowledge eitehr and criticizing those who do only emboldens those who harm innocent people.
Administrator Note: Your comment has been modified to fit within our comment moderation policy. We encourage mature, respectful, and friendly dialogue on this site; insults and personal attacks will not be tolerated here. You are welcome to share your thoughts, but please review the policy before making childish, accusatory, and degrading remarks.
By Bill C, April 26, 2009 @ 9:42 am
http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=15031&size=A
you might also want to read this article which continues on Taliban cruelty to innocent people.
By Jehanzeb, April 26, 2009 @ 11:36 am
Bill C.
No one refused to acknowledge and criticize the Taliban for their brutal crimes. It’s obvious that they’re horrible actions are completely un-Islamic. As mentioned in previous posts, they’ve destroyed a Sufi shrine and over 200 schools. This is very reminiscent of what the Wahabis did when they invaded Mecca and Medina.
There are extremist groups, but it’s important not to generalize about all Muslims.
Care to comment on why you and “Winston Churchill” have the same IP address?
By Bill C, April 29, 2009 @ 8:37 am
Are you sure about that? The taliban’s actions are very reminiscent towards how muslims have treated Sikhs throguhout history- see this article about how muslism are forcing sikhs to pay extortion money to them.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=174791
Can you imagine if muslims were forced to pay protection money in the United States?
If you are not familiar with the sikh martyrs who chose death over forced conversion, I will be happy to inform you- but I assume you already are well informed.
By Bill C, April 29, 2009 @ 8:37 am
correction: by forced conversion- I am obviously referring to forced conversion to Islam
By Jehanzeb, April 29, 2009 @ 10:49 pm
Bill C.,
No I couldn’t imagine Muslims being forced to pay extra taxes in the United States. We’re Americans too. We are not responsible for the crimes that have been committed in the past or by other people. “There is no compulsion in religion” says the Qur’an (2:256). Clearly, forced conversion is prohibited in Islam.
Please try to stay on topic. You still haven’t answered why you and “Winston Churchill” have the same IP address.
By Bill C, May 2, 2009 @ 8:24 pm
Yea- Having to pay extra taxes whether it be called a jiyza, protection or simply appropriately named extortion money is absolutely disgusting and I am glad that you are as against the Taliban as I. They are a despicable group and we should be all supporting the necessary military action to pull them from power in Swat Valley and elsewhere. As you know, they are dedicated to bringing what they (the Taliban not me) call Islamic law to the rest of the world.
I resent your accusation that I am off-topic for two reasons. First off, I am engaging in dialogue which is somethign that is necessary if the muslim and western world is going to avoid an all-out war. Civil War in some European countries is not far away to give an example. Second, I am bringing up that the Taliban’s actions are similiar to how non-muslims have been treated in that part of the world for a long period of time and we should sympathesize with those who are suffering such as the Christians who were greeted with a “convert to Islam or die” sign.
That implication is important to all of us, particularly non-muslims as we may need to question, wonder, and consider whether this type of behavior such as whipping teenage girls may become prevalant in areas of the Western World that have a fast growing musilm population in the near future.
I think that it was great that you brought up the disgusting behavior that took place in Swat Valley and I would encourage you to continue discussing this type of despicable behavior.
By Bill C, May 2, 2009 @ 8:27 pm
http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/May12009/foreign20090501133611.asp?section=updatenews
The Taliban are destroying Sikh houses for not paying the so called protection money.
I believe that muslim and nonmuslims can all unite this common cause and work to raise money for charity for these sikhs for two purposes.
1) get them the necessary arms to protect themselves
2) pay for new houses.
We can all work together and help to stop this. You have a blog and you can really help out! It is not good enough to speak out against Taliban- let us raise money for thsoe suffering under them!