After 9/11, and the purported responsibility of Islam as the event’s driving ideology, it could have been predicted that there would be anti-Muslim sentiments. However, one could have never guessed that 13 years later Muslims would be viewed far worse than in those first few months.
In fact, Islamophobia has seen a drastic increase in correlation to other global events — ironically, even when Muslims themselves are the victims. A recent example is the hanging of Reyhanah Jebbari in Iran and the convoluted reaction against Muslims that resulted.
Yet such reactions have extended past verbal abuse and now encompass an institutionalised practice of sweeping generalisations in favour of vilifying Muslims and Islam and an absurd lack of regard to individualism within human nature. It’s reminiscent of justifications used for previous disasters and an ironic reflection of what “terror” groups themselves teach, and forces Muslim-response campaigns which under any absence of such embarrassing double standards would not be necessary.