The 11th September attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001 was a watershed moment in America's relationship with the Arab world. Amid the grief and US military response that followed, American fear of the threat of international terrorism grew.
George W Bush's so-called 'crusade' against what he labelled the 'axis of evil' fueled suspicion of the Middle East as a whole and as US military action increased and led to the invasion of Iraq in 2003, this fear turned into one of Arabs generally and Muslims in particular.
With the rise of ISIL and the way the mainstream American media reports on it, fear of Islam further increased, tending to demonise Muslims and portray them and their faith as dangerous and violent. Donald Trump is a textbook fascist and we will see whether or not that translates into fascist policies.
Hank Johnson, Democratic Congressman of Georgia Elshamy's investigation uncovers a network of Islamophobic writers, campaigners, funders and politicians who combined to bring about the conditions in which Donald Trump would be elected President in November 2016.
