Zionism and the war(s) on terror

Extinction phobias, anti-Muslim racism, and critical scholarship

Bibliographic Data

ID12918792
AuthorsC Heike Schotten (0000-0002-5236-1137, University of Massachusetts Boston, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume17
Issue4
Pages996-1018
Publication date2024-04-08
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueCritical Studies on Terrorism (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1753-9161 • E-ISSN: 1753-9153
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/17539153.2024.2337448
OpenAlexW4394615177
LanguageEN
Citations received14
References cited49

This article traces the genealogy of 21st century "terrorism" discourse to mid-to-late 20th century neoconservative thought and Israeli propaganda, arguing that Zionism is the disavowed rhetorical, political, and affective centre of the Global War on Terror (GWOT). The paper further analyzes Zionism and the "terrorism" discourse to which it gives rise as extinction phobias, or moralised narratives of existential threat that explain the voluminous, horrific violence unleashed by the GWOT, the persistence of the GWOT's signature racisms (anti-Muslim, anti-Arab, and anti-Palestinian racism), and the world-destroying violence unleashed by Israel on the Gaza Strip most spectacularly in 2023–24. The article concludes by explaining the implications of this genealogy for efforts to classify white supremacist violence as terrorism and scholarly accounts of terrorism in the fields of TS and CTS

Anxiety · Criminology · Phobias · Political science · Politics · Racism · Scholarship · Sociology · Terrorism · War on terror · Zionism · Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies · Law · Philosophy · Political Conflict and Governance · Psychology · Religious studies · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence

Tools

Open DOI