With each passing day the amount of intolerance and therefore, discrimination is seen to be exponentially increasing in the world. We no longer associate ourselves to certain groups in order to understand ourselves but rather to separate ourselves from others so as to create hierarchies and be able to discriminate. This creates social grouping and produces dynamics of its own wherein everything from race to gender is politicized and things such as religion are weaponized.
An example of this is how recent history has seen a spike in the number of wars in the middle east which is a predominantly Islamic region. This has allowed the west to paint Islam, as a religion, in an unfavorable light making all of its followers a threat. In spreading this propaganda, the United States and other such countries are allowed to continue to wage wars against terrorism in the Middle East and therefore, increase military spending. This, in turn, continues to grease the pockets of those in the weaponry and warfare industry at the cost of the lives of homegrown soldiers and innocent civilians which belong to war-torn countries in the Middle East.
This situation has deteriorated so much that the mass media in Western countries continues to not just hold their silence on the illegal occupation of Palestine, a predominantly Muslim country, by Israel, a state being created on the Zionist ideology, but also show support for the human right violations carried out by Israel. Continuing to spread this propaganda not only makes it difficult for Muslims to go about their life but actively puts them in danger and creates the possibility of Muslim lives being looked at as secondary or inferior to other lives.
In light of recent events, an example of this would be the horrific incident that occurred in London, Ontario recently where a family of five was run over in a hate crime targeting them, specifically for being Muslims. All that remains of what was once five family members is a nine-year-old boy who has been orphaned. This is precisely the consequence that arises when Muslims are constantly painted out to be the terrorists on every media outlet within the West.
The Western youth is constantly exposed to media that tells them that Muslims are the enemy, and this has reached a boiling point wherein we now witness hate crimes being committed which target the Muslim community. It is tragic enough to see that hate crimes have become so normalized within the global community that we are a part of only to realize that any crimes committed against the Muslim community as perceived to be acts of righteousness and goodness that are carried out to safeguard the community. This clearly illustrates that the media has succeeded in spreading its Islamophobic narrative which not only threatens the Muslim community but also all of our lives since it depicts how easily media can affect us and disrupt the social framework of our lives.
The question that arises, finally, is: “What in the world is wrong with the world?” The answer, however, is much simpler. The world we live in is dissimilar to the world around us. We are surrounded by one thing but within our heads exist within societal groups and self-created differences which, through essence, pit us against one another. This needs overcoming in the near future in order to restore peace and ensure it lasts which is imperative to all of our security and safety.
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