A recent Washington Post article written by M. Steven Fish, a political scientist from University of California at Berkeley, stated that “[c]ontemporary terrorism is disproportionately Islamist.” Fish’s basic point is that Muslims are more inclined to terrorism than other groups of people. This “argument” does not stand up to the reality of contemporary “terrorism” and carelessly suggests that Muslims are the gravest threat to public safety worldwide.

Analysis from Global Research shows that of the approximately 2,400 terrorist attacks on US soil that are documented in the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, Muslims accounted for only 60 “terrorist” attacks. In other words, roughly 2.5% of all terrorist attacks on US soil between 1970 and 2012 were carried out by Muslims.

Research carried out by the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security showed similar statistics. Their report notes that only 33 out of the more than 300 deaths from political violence and mass shootings since 9/11 were carried out by Muslims. Charles Kurzman of the Triangle Center adds that “Islamic terrorism” does not even count for 1% of the 180,000 murders in the US since 9/11.

These numbers reflect a similar situation in Europe. Less than 1% of terrorist attacks in Europe have been carried out by Muslims.  Between the years 2006 and 2008, about 0.4% of terrorist attacks across the European Union were committed by Muslims, as noted in a terrorism report entitled EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report. Loon Watch carried out additional research and found that “a miniscule percentage of terrorist attacks in Europe were committed by Muslims.” Non-Muslim separatist groups in Europe are far more likely to commit acts of “terrorism” than Muslims.

It is also worth noting that a significant number of the “Islamic terror” plots on US soil included FBI informants and undercover agents, meaning that Muslims were entrapped by federal officials to carry out mass killings.

Fish has been duped by politicians, law enforcement bodies, and the corporate media into re-theorizing “terrorism” in order to support the myth that “Islamists” are the greatest danger to civilization. His propagandist approach, as discussed by Noam Chomsky, construes the concept of terrorism as a weapon to be exploited in the service of systems of power.