By The Arab Islamic American Summit was saturated with political hypocrisy.
After implementing two executive orders that prohibit people from Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S., claiming that “Islam hates us,” and having Islamophobic cabinet members that espouse Huntingtonian-like us vs. them worldviews, Saudi Arabia, the custodian of the two holiest mosques in Islam, welcomed Donald Trump with open arms.
Within hours of landing in Saudi Arabia, King Salman awarded Donald Trump the highest civilian honor and hosted him in King Abdulaziz’s home, reinforcing the fact that the Saudi regime will deliberately ignore blatant Islamophobia in exchange for weapons and economic interests.
The theocratic regime hosted roughly 50 heads of state from various Muslim-majority countries for the Arab Islamic American Summit, which ostensibly claimed to strengthen the cooperation between Muslim majority countries and the U.S., but actually became a display of which leader could bow down lower to the hegemon in the room.
An hour before Trump’s neo-orientalist speech, Trump and King Salman signed a $400 billion bilateral deal that included a $110 arms deal, which will certainly empower the military-industrial complex in the United States and will assist the Saudi regime in its imperial campaign in Yemen, where famine is a serious issue.
Trump’s first speech abroad, written by the architect of the Muslim ban, Stephen Miller, who’s notorious for his nationalist views, reinforced American geopolitical and economic interests under the banner of national security by demonizing Iran – which unlike many of the states present recently had democratic elections — and supporting the expansion of the Saudi defense apparatus.
An hour before Trump’s neo-orientalist speech, Trump and King Salman signed a $400 billion bilateral deal that included a $110 arms deal, which will certainly empower the military-industrial complex in the United States and will assist the Saudi regime in its imperial campaign in Yemen, where famine is a serious issue. A day after the deal was sealed, defense stocks rose to an all time high.
Although Trump’s speech ostensibly diverted from his usual blatant Islamophobia and took on a milder tone, it harbored undertones of neo-orientalism.
To illustrate a time when the Middle East was more stable and peaceful, Trump harkened back to Pharanoic Egypt and ancient Mesopotamia, declaring, “Egypt was a thriving center of learning and achievement thousands of years before other parts of the world…Iraq was the cradle of civilization and is a land of natural beauty. read more.” These remarks subtly suggest that the region was more peaceful before Islam arrived.
The overarching message from Trump’s speech is that terrorism is largely a Middle Eastern, and more specifically an Islamic problem, and consequently regional states should bear the brunt of fighting terrorism.
In the first few minutes of Trump’s highly anticipated speech, he alluded to his inaugural address. The same inaugural address that hosted several religious figures from different Christian and Jewish denominations to make prayers, and where no Muslim leader was invited to represent Muslim Americans.
The overarching message from Trump’s speech is that terrorism is largely a Middle Eastern, and more specifically an Islamic problem, and consequently regional states should bear the brunt of fighting terrorism.
Trump ignored the fact that political vacuums and conflicts fueled by the United States are the fertile grounds on which terrorism sprouts.
Blatantly, the Arab Islamic American Summit and Trump’s speech confirmed that the United States and its regional allies will always prioritize economic interests within the pretext of security, which above all demonstrates political continuity across different administrations and regimes.