The Vilification of Arabs and Muslims 12+

📕 Conflict between groups does not arise in a vacuum. To the contrary, conflicts- especially those that areenduring and seemingly intractable- are embedded inan information-rich context, often with a long andcomplicated history characterized by multiple forcesoperating at different levels of analysis (economic,political, religious, interpersonal). Yetparticipants and outside observers are rarelyoverwhelmed by such complexity and ambiguity,adopting instead a coherent depiction of theconflict, often with an unequivocal allocation ofblame to one side or the other. While we may know thefinal judgments of third party observers, it is notalways clear how people arrive at these judgments. This work attempts to explain why people arrive atvastly different conclusions regarding blame whenobserving an ambiguous and complex situation ofconflict. More specifically, it looks at popularmisconceptions and stereotypes of Islam and seeks toexplain how anti-Muslim prejudice has come tostrongly influence perceptions of blame in real-worldconflicts involving Arabs or Muslims.