Justification of

Muslims
Opposing
Americans
Heeyoung Betty Park
Real life situation
 Anti-Islam film posted on
YouTube infuriates the Muslim
world
 Thousands of protesters on US
embassy across the Middle East,
North Africa, and Asia
Knowledge Issue:
To what extent do Economics and History
play roles in justifying whether the
Muslims have a right to oppose the Americans?
Historical Reasons
 How can we use historical knowledge
and deductive reasoning to justify the
aniti-American feelings of the
Muslims?
Palestinian-
Israeli Issue
Palestinian-Israeli Issue
▪ “To catch the Jewish vote in the US, President Truman in 1946
demanded that the British admit one hundred thousand Jewish
refugees to Palestine, in violation of British promises to the Arabs.”
(Time Magazine 1951 “Man of the Year” issue)
Arab’s response: regarded Israel as a US creation and the US as
enemy
▪ Israelis-Arab War: million of refugees

▪ Israel violates international law under US’s protection

US Support for
Despots and
Dictators
•Saddam Hussein of Iraq (Iraq-Iran War)
•The Shah of Iran
•Hosni Mubarak of Egypt
•Zia-ul-Haq of Pakistan
•Sukarno of Indonesia
•Suharto of Indonesia
•Hafez al-Assad of Syria (US ally in the Gulf
War)
Support for Despots and Dictators
▪ Western powers: promoted democracy and human
rights
▪ Under US-supported dictatorships, millions of people
were suppressed
US: hypocrites
▪ US’s counter claim: containment more important
during the Cold War
Mujahedeen
Were Used and
Abandoned
Mujahedeen Were Used and Abandoned
▪ US funded Afghan insurgents, mujahedeen, against
Soviets
▪ After war, governments didn’t want insurgents back
home
Bitterness and a vacuum; others, like bin Laden
and the Taliban, stepped in.
War Against Iraq
War Against Iraq
▪ No Weapons of Mass Destruction found
▪ Saddam Hussein: secular
▪ Logical fallacy of Special Pleading: double
standards with N. Korea and Iraq
▪ Violating UN resolution
Deductive Reasoning: Reasoning from general to particular

Conformational Bias: People tend to

remember only evidence that
supports their beliefs and to forget
evidence that goes against them.
Relativism:
There is no such thing as absolute truth
that exists in an objective way independent of
what anyone happens to believe is true.
Reasons Relating to
Economics
 How can we use economical knowledge
and effects of emotions to justify the
opposition felt by the Muslims against
Americans?
Internal
Problems in the
Muslim World
Internal
Problems in the
Muslim World
50% women are illiterate
Unemployment is higher than any
other portion of the Third World
Gini Index > 30 in average
Psychology
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Language & Media
▪ The most vocal Muslims are the radicals and extremists who get maximum
attention and media coverage (study done at Duke University and University of North
Carolina)
▪ “Death to America!”: appears that Muslims are thirsting for blood, but it only
represents less than 5% of Muslims
▪ Plays an important role in shaping our attitudes, to fuel flames of hatred in this case
Emotions
▪ Rationalizations: if we have particular emotional attitude about something, we may
manufacture bad reasons in order to justify it
I accept that there
Americans criticize the is gender
gender inequality in inequality
Muslim states

I try to treat
women equally

Feelings
of tension
I continue to treat
women unequally

I question the
I am a Muslim male
evidence
Scapegoat