Abstract

Terrorism is the talk of the world. It also occupies a larger part in the media and Islam receives relatively high attention compared to other religions. Islam, Muslims, particularly Arabs, in the eyes of the West, become the source of terrorism that gives the West an opportunity to launch a war against the countries which are accused of terrorism. It is, in fact, a war against radical Islam as they claimed. How do the western politicians, reporters, journalists and writers address terrorism in their official speech or literary works that reflect their vision and understanding of terror/terrorism? The present article addresses Amy Waldman’s The Submission, 2011, John Updike’s Terrorist, 2006, Joel Rosenberg’s The Last Jihad, 2002, and their vision of terrorism, its reasons and the people behind. The article concluded that the western narratives written during the controversial period of the post 9/11. 2001 came deeply influenced by the western media reports and the official statements about 9/11. Such narratives also created, but enrooted Islamophobia and anti- Muslim attitudes in the hearts of the westerners while the western narratives written lately showed more sympathy and rationality towards Muslim characters because the hidden facts of terrorism become exposed. The narratives showed that the western countries exaggerate in their reactions against terrorists/terrorism and the present research concluded that the West has taken precautionary steps to protect its interests and its allies in such countries accused of terrorism. The westerners make use of their domination upon the media to create negative and aggressive attitudes towards Islam/Muslims to blackmail the Islamic countries in the name of war on terrorism, and to secularize/westernize the different aspects of life in such Islamic countries. The narratives showed that war on terrorism is a war on Islam, particularly, radical Islam as claimed. 

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