Preseason 1AC
Contention 1: Status Quo
The U.S. has yet to engage the Muslim Brotherhood despite lip service suggesting they would
AA 11
Almasay Aloum, Arab new service, July 22
(“Egypt’s Brotherhood: No Contacts with U.S. so Far”, http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/479544)
US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman said …comments were just designed to attract media attention.
This is largely because “war on terror” era has elevated the racist image of a dangerous, monolithic Islam into American political thought. In this paradigm “Islamic democracy” is seen as an oxymoron while violence and Muslim are synonymous.
Aarnivara 8
MA @ Lund University, Dept Political Science
(“Empire and Resistance An Analysis of the Occupation of Iraq and the Iraqi Opposition and Armed Resistance”, Thesis 2008 http://lup.lub.lu.se/luur/download?func=downloadFile&recordOId=1320277&fileOId=1320278
Thus, we can observe a reinforcement of the stereotypes by which the Orient is viewed, … neither tolerance nor recognition is the preferred option of social contact and interaction between “liberal” majorities and “illiberal” Muslims today (ibid, 73-77)
Advantage 1: Islamism
The current paradigm of good, “moderate” Muslims vs. bad, “extremists” is an artificial construct based on U.S. self-interest. “Good Muslims” are those who accept and/or aid in domination and erase all traces of their identity. Anyone in opposition is labeled extremist and dangerous which is used to justify their elimination, when in fact there is no causation between religious liberalism and non-violence.
Ramadan 10
Professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies in the Faculty of Oriental Studies at Oxford University (Tariq, “Good Muslim, Bad Muslim (Defining “Moderate” Muslims’), http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/good_muslim_bad_muslim_defining_moderate_muslims/)
The dust from the collapse of the twin towers had hardly settled on 11 September 2001 when the febrile search began for “moderate Muslims”, …extremist groups that murder innocent civilians supposedly in the name of Islam, we must move forward and place their political positions in context.
It’s not JUST about U.S. interest. The current paradigm has legitimized the religioning of race conflating Muslims and Arabs making them apart of an inferior, monolithic, violent “other” to be defeated. Race is socially constructed and influenced by policy.
Chon & Arzt 5
Professor, Seattle University School of Law. Professor Chon is a co-author of ERIC K. YAMAMOTO ET AL., RACE, RIGHTS AND REPARATIONS: LAW AND THE JAPANESE AMERICAN INTERNMENT (2001) [hereinafter YAMAMOTO ET AL.].
(Margaret & Donna, “WALKING WHILE MUSLIM”, August 29, 2005, http://www.law.syr.edu/Pdfs/0WWM_ChonArzt.pdf)
Critical race theorists consider race to be socially constructed…There is also widespread misunderstanding about the overlap between Arabs and Muslims, who are often lumped together but are fundamentally different identity groups. For example, the majority of Arabs in the U.S. are Christian, and Arabs constitute a minority of Muslims worldwide. 31 Partly due to these confusions, the current targeted group includes Latinos and Latinas, African Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and even European Americans. 32 This current group is much more disaggregated across different national origins, dispersed across the geographic U.S., and more diverse ethnically than Japanese Americans were prior to World War II. The one common denominator across this heterogeneity, however, is that the members of the group are linked, mistakenly or not⎯by physical or other cues such as surnames or dress—either to Islam as it is practiced here in the U.S. or to countries of origin with substantial Muslim populations such as Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines or, more commonly in the popular imagination, countries of the Middle East.
The legally reinforced subjugation of Arabs and Muslims make nuke war inevitable. Violence is the first and only option
BC 3
Black Commentator, Magazine Dedicated to addressing the issues of the African-American Community
(“Racism and War, Perfect Together”, Issue Number 33 March 13, 2003, http://www.blackcommentator.com/33/33_cover_story.html)
African Americans know full well that white Americans are, in the mass, crazy. The white supremacist fantasy is integral to the American identity, and remains intact… violence." Black America's problem is the entire planet's affliction, now.
The current paradigm makes the worst forms of violence inevitable, while masking them making it uncontestable.
Gafaiti 8
Hafid Gafaiti. “Hyperculturalization after September 11: The Arab-Muslim World and the West” SubStance. Issue 115, Vol 37, Num 1. Pp 98-117. 2008.
The singularization of “Islamic Violence” by Western discourse springs from … does not justify the generalizing discourse about a so-called structural violence of Islam. This ongoing debate necessitates an interrogation of the famous—but much misunderstood—notion of Jihad.
The alarm over Islamism is a self-fulfilling prophecy-Political Islam is an inevitable expression of Muslim and Arabic public opinion. The Brotherhood is non-violent and pragmatic but political repression makes violence inevitable
Pillar 11
28-year veteran of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), a visiting professor at Georgetown University for security studies and a member of the Center for Peace and Security Studies.[1]
Prior to joining the CIA, Pillar served as a U.S. Army officer in Vietnam. He earned an A.B. degree from Dartmouth College, and received the B.Phil from Oxford University and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Princeton University.
(“Egypt and Islamophobia”, The national Interest, February 2011, http://nationalinterest.org/blog/paul-pillar/egypt-islamophobia-4824)
As fears and concerns get expressed about less salubrious directions the political turmoil in Egypt might take, a frequent theme is, “Watch out for the Islamists!” More specifically, the theme is to watch out for the Muslim Brotherhood. A common scale for … would be to create a self-fulfilling prophecy of radicalism by denying the legitimacy of peaceful expressions of political Islam.
Advantage 2: Pluralism
Islam is being excluded from the political sphere because of its construction as a political and cultural threat to democracy. This destroys pluralism and encourages scapegoating
Moore 7
(Kathleen M. is an associate professor of law and society and director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, a specialist on how Islam and Muslims have fared in U. S. courts of law and on Muslim women in the United States, July, 2007, “IN THIS ISSUE: RELIGIOUS PLURALISM AND CIVIL SOCIETY: SECTION THREE: MINORITY AND IMMIGRANT EXPERIENCE: Muslims in the United States: Pluralism under Exceptional Circumstances”, 621 Annals 116, JD )
Variations in ideology, theology, and degree of religiosity are highly contingent on pressures toward conformity exerted upon individuals in one … grand juries investigating Islamic charities for possible ties to terrorism reflect the generalized fear that America is being Islamized. n4 This contemporary crisis, which has categorized Muslims as the public enemy, promises to be the birth pangs of a new era for Muslims in the United States.
This exclusion is specifically formulated around “the clash of civilizations” paradigm used to subjugate Muslim identities as undemocratic and thus ineligible of participating in the political
Moore 7
(Kathleen M. is an associate professor of law and society and director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, a specialist on how Islam and Muslims have fared in U. S. courts of law and on Muslim women in the United States, July, 2007, “IN THIS ISSUE: RELIGIOUS PLURALISM AND CIVIL SOCIETY: SECTION THREE: MINORITY AND IMMIGRANT EXPERIENCE: Muslims in the United States: Pluralism under Exceptional Circumstances”, 621 Annals 116, JD )
Levels of Integration
Identity is always fluid and multivalent, and in the case of Muslim Americans, the intersection of identity and religiosity at this moment in history yields a particular framework for understanding some common values that may facilitate political integration… in the minds of many Americans, Islam remains so suspect that even simple religious observances such as sunset prayers take on sinister interpretations. Furthermore, more than five years after 9/11, the public still has little confidence in how well security services screen airline passengers. On a positive note, the incident merited repeated mainstream media coverageon several TV news programs ranging from CNN's Paula Zahn Now to PBS s News Hour. And Muslim American organizations, representing a fairly clear case of injustice, were able to gain some degree of vindication in the press.
And, Pluralism alone is critical to addressing numerous global issues threatening human survival
Wenman 3
Wenman, Lecturer in Political Theory, University of Nottingham 03 (Mark, “What is Politics? The Approach of Radical Pluralism,” Politics, V. 23, Iss. 1)
I have shown that the approach of radical pluralism is predicated upon a very broad conception of the political … well placed to enable political theorists and practitioners alike to navigate these turbulent events and the infinitely plural possibilities that will shape the politics of the new millennium. One way to keep pace with this increasing complexity is to work towards the elaboration of a typology of forms of political articulation and sites of political enactment. Connolly has pioneered this approach (Connolly, 1995a, p. xxi). Nevertheless, as always, there is plenty to be done.
Contention 2: Solvency
The plan is key to removing the mystique surrounding the Brotherhood and resolving hypocritical U.S. democratic policy based on interests
Kadlec 9
Amanda Kadiec. Democracy Promotion: The Case of the Muslim Brotherhood
MA candidate in International Affairs. International Affairs Review. Feb 17, 2009
http://iar-gwu.org/node/55
Achieving stable democratic states in the Middle East is not a simple task. The region has endured centuries of autocratic, monarchic and dictatorial regimes that have severely weakened the will of the people, making democracy today seem like a naïve ideal. Despite the difficulty of the task, the United Sates could potentially play a role in the democratic development of Middle Eastern governments… Democracy here must develop on its own, from its own beliefs, colored through its own distinct cultural lens. The Brotherhood ought to get a fair chance in the political process. Only then will the US government match policy with message and promote true democracy in the Middle East.
The U.S. strategy of grouping all Islamist as untouchables of democracy assistance fails. Only providing practical support to non-violent Islamist groups like the Brotherhood can prevent radicalization and solve the currently flawed paradim
Mephan 6
Associate Director and Head of the International Programme at ippr. He is also a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Global Governance at the London School of Economics
(David, “Changing states A progressive agenda for political reform in the Middle East”, January 2006, http://www.ippr.org/ecomm/files/changing_states.pdf)
Media and political attention focuses disproportionately, if understandably, on the violent extremists. However, there is a critical role for progressives in drawing attention to the very real diversity and popularity of Islamist groups … A better understanding of the complex phenomenon of political Islamism – and a willingness by the EU, US and others to engage with its moderate elements – holds out the best prospects for political reform and the avoidance of further political and religious radicalisation.
Embracing the Brotherhood is key to radical democracy and religious pluralism
Farr 8
(Thomas F. is visiting associate professor of religion and international affairs at Georgetown University, November 2008, “Islam’s way to freedom”, First Things, http://www.firstthings.com/article/2008/10/002-islams-way-to-freedom-22)
the United States has paid Cairo more than $50 billion to buy stability and to keep the lid on radical Islam. …—it has drawn no lessons from its domestic success. Why has a country so rooted in pluralism made so little of religious freedom?”
Contention 3: Decision Calc
Academia is stuck in a “pedagogy of revolutions” instead of a revolutionary pedagogy. As a result we reproduce oppressive social systems surrounding U.S. democracy policy instead of questioning them. We must prioritzize questions regarding the destructive role Islamophobia plays in the American political paradigm
Sheehi 11
Associate Professor of Arabic and Arab Culture at the University of South Carolina. His received his PhD in Near Eastern Studies from the University of Michigan. In addition to Islamophobia: The Ideological Campaign Against Muslims, he is the author of Foundations of Modern Arab Identity(University Press of Florida, 2004) internationally acclaimed author, scholar and activist.
(“The Social Relations of Islamophobia and the Role of the Academic”, May 1, 2011, http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/TME1/1413/the-social-relations-of-islamophobia-and-the-role-)
The role of the academic has been to negotiate the social relations that Islamophobia perpetuates … role of academics who ensure that exploitive social relations will be recuperated into a transformative intelligentsia who can serve change both home and abroad.
Our political frame must take into account the racial subordination created by the law’s construction of racial difference regarding Islam
Chon & Arzt 5
Professor, Seattle University School of Law. Professor Chon is a co-author of ERIC K. YAMAMOTO ET AL., RACE, RIGHTS AND REPARATIONS: LAW AND THE JAPANESE AMERICAN INTERNMENT (2001) [hereinafter YAMAMOTO ET AL.].
(Margaret & Donna, “WALKING WHILE MUSLIM”, August 29, 2005, http://www.law.syr.edu/Pdfs/0WWM_ChonArzt.pdf)
The most widely acknowledged way in which law can construct racial subordination through commission is by legally sanctioning acts …This is also true of anti-discrimination doctrine, although scattered exceptions exist. 163 While hate crime statutes usually include religion as a basis for prosecution, 164 civil remedies are few and far between. A recent Amnesty International survey of profiling laws finds that only four states specifically proscribe religion as a basis for profiling. 165 This is one example of the way law excises religion out of anti-discrimination protections that might provide meaningful shields to the excesses of terror-profiling. International law is similarly barren of meaningful remedies. If religion is taken more seriously as a source of group-based harm, where can group-based discrimination claims be developed? Two areas with doctrinal potential that might provide useful approaches are Fourteenth Amendment equal protection jurisprudence and international treaty law.
