The ‘terrorism’ frame in ‘neo-Orientalism’: Western news and the Sunni–Shia Muslim sectarian relations after 9/11

Abstract

Sunni–Shia relations have become a topic of significant media attention; this attention is largely due to the tendency of these groups to engage in sectarian strife as well as the Islamic Shia sect’s influential rise in world politics. The inter-Islamic sectarian relations are part of extensive reporting on upheaval events currently taking place in the Greater Middle East in the post 9/11 decade. This study analyses ten years of news coverage of the Sunni–Shia relations in the Canadian Globe and Mail and the US-based Washington Post. Results indicate that rather than contextualizing sectarian tensions between Sunni and Shia Islam, this media coverage overwhelmingly frames the tensions from the ‘war on terrorism’ perspective. This article argues that ‘neo-Orientalist’ discourses and propagandist perspectives have become routinized and more prevalent in the manner in which Western media represents Islam, privileging dominant discourses and ‘war on terrorism’ frames. MCP_10.1_Douai_Lauricella_7-24.indd 7 6/3/14 11:55:00 AM Aziz Douai | Sharon Lauricella 8 The post-9/11 ‘war on terrorism’ has directly led to Western media’s greater attention to Muslim countries, issues related to religious extremism and radicalization and, more generally, the salience of Islam and Muslims in international news coverage (e.g. Karim 2003; Palmer 2003; Tumber and Palmer 2004; Richardson 2004; Artz and Kamalipour 2005; Saeed 2007). The salience of Sunni–Shia relations in Western media’s coverage of Islam and terrorism is part of this extensive reporting on the Greater Middle East. For media professionals and reporters of international news, a host of reasons warrant such increased media scrutiny of Sunni–Shia relations and the Sunni–Shia ‘divide’ in Islam (Nasr 2006), not least due to the threat of ‘terrorism’ and al-Qaeda (Schwartz 2002). On the one hand, Sunni Islam has become inextricably embroiled in the debate about how Saudi Arabia’s Wahhabi tradition instigates extremism (Delong-bas 2004). The fact that al-Qaeda emerged out of Wahhabi Islam’s teachings, with its leader Osama Bin Laden born into the tradition, further cemented Sunni Islam’s supposed relationship to terrorism (Schwartz 2002). For international media organizations, highlighting the apparent rift between the Sunni and Shia Islamic teachings could provide a way of gauging the underpinnings of religious extremism. On the other hand, Sunni–Shia relations have become a hot topic of media coverage in large part due to these groups’ potential to engage in sectarian strife, but also because of the Shia sect’s influential rise in world politics (Nasr 2006). In addition to the evident geopolitical importance of the Khomeini-led Shiite Iran in the region, the US invasion of Iraq and the subsequent overthrow of Saddam’s Baathist regime shifted the balance of power in Iraq as its Shiite majority has become more vocal and the country’s de facto governing regime. While violence raged in Iraq, particularly in the years between 2004 and 2007, Iraq’s Sunni minority identified with the ‘resistance’ and the attacks targeting the US military, including the muchpublicized battle of Fallujah (Baram 2005). Moreover, the Lebanese Israeli war in 2006, which was essentially a confrontation between Shiite Hezbollah fighting Israeli forces, signalled the pre-eminence of Shia Islam in the region (Snow and Byrd 2007). The Sunni–Shia rift in Islam is rooted in the historical development of Islam itself and the struggle over power. After the death of Prophet Muhammad in 632 AD, two different perspectives regarding the succession of the prophet, and who should become the Caliph (the Muslim community’s leader) emerged, and subsequently clashed. While one perspective on succession claimed that Ali, Prophet Muhammad’s cousin, was the rightful heir, the second perspective believed that the prophet’s companions, Sahaba, had a rightful claim (Behuria 2004). Ali’s consent to be the fourth Caliph would have put the conflict to rest, but his assassination and the murder of his two sons led to a bloody conflict between his supporters and the opposing factions led by Muawiya, Muhammad’s brother-in-law. The political struggle had religious ramifications with the decision of Ali’s supporters to follow the teachings of ahl-ul-bayt (or the house of the prophet), and they became known as Shia. The Muawiya-led faction decided to solely follow the Hadith and Sunnah, the teachings and acts of Muhammad, and therefore assumed the label Sunni. While the bitter rivalry between the Shia and Sunni religious communities has ebbed and flowed, some contemporary scholars suggest that the current tensions are emblematic of a deep transformation in the Muslim world (Nasr 2006). MCP_10.1_Douai_Lauricella_7-24.indd 8 6/3/14 7:45:26 AM The ‘terrorism’ frame in ‘neo-Orientalism’ 9 wesTern MediA frAMing of isLAM: MuLTipLe TheoreTicAL