No 9/11: what happens to American's views of Muslims and the Middle East?

if 9/11 never happened (to mean no major AQ attack on the US) how would Americans view American Muslims? and how would we in general view the Muslim world? would Americans stand on the Israeli issue be different? if so in what way?
 
I doubt the US's opinion on Israel shifts much; America backed them for decades before 9/11 after all. There might be some minor shift towards a slightly more critical stance on the worst Israeli excesses, but the US-Israel special relationship would remain largely intact.

General view of the Muslim world would probably stick to the pre-9/11 perception of the Middle East as largely populated with corrupt oil dictatorships. Though there would still be some awareness of Islamic Radicalism (depending on the PoD, and questions like what AQ is up to instead of 9/11)

American Muslims would greatly benefit from the removal of 9/11 in comparison to OTL. AFAIK, Pre-9/11 it was rare for muslims to face any systematic discrimination/hostility in the US. Of course, sans-9/11 the public face of Islam in the US is still likely to be the Nation of Islam, which has its own set of hazards.
 

DAMIEN

Banned
The American people would view them like terrorists as they mostly did before that or like Klinger from mash. With Beirut the terrorism against the Israelies Iran etc etc etc.

They would also side with Israel as being the only democracy in the region.
 

Sachyriel

Banned
Well it would depend on whether or not the USA goes to war with Iraq in the same timetable. I think that would have an effect on any Muslim-American relations too, though not to the scale of 9/11.

However since there are many American stereotypes and many Muslim stereotypes I don't think you'd see an over-arching view from one to the other, which only occured after 9/11 and every American became a Super-Patriot and every Muslim was a terrorist. Without 9/11 Americans would still have widely different views on the widely different types of Muslims. Sure you'd still see some people thinking all Muslims are Terrorists, but only because they're the type to say anything not biblical is wrong :p.

Americas stance on Israel would not change, I think.
 
The Americans still see the region as one of somewhat bakward but still mostly friendly despots, though with a few crazies around too, and probably care slightly less about the Israeli-Palestinian dispute.
 
It is soon a closed debate, so.. I will veer the situation into a more usefull way maybe.

How and when the views of americans on muslims and middle east can be improved to at least calm neutrality? A failed Zionism?
 
It is soon a closed debate, so.. I will veer the situation into a more usefull way maybe.

How and when the views of americans on muslims and middle east can be improved to at least calm neutrality? A failed Zionism?

It will take more than that I suspect. Arab nationalism itself may need to be butterflied meaning at the very least a different history of the Ottoman Empire in its later years.
 
I doubt the US's opinion on Israel shifts much; America backed them for decades before 9/11 after all. There might be some minor shift towards a slightly more critical stance on the worst Israeli excesses, but the US-Israel special relationship would remain largely intact.
I think that we'd in fact be less critical, because in our non-9/11 world middle east would get much less press in the US, the Media I'd guess would be more celebrities than anything else if you remember the press between 1999-2001, non-American news was almost never covered, the one story was that spy plane that crashed in China.
 
It will take more than that I suspect. Arab nationalism itself may need to be butterflied meaning at the very least a different history of the Ottoman Empire in its later years.
I don't think anything that extreme is required; just butterfly away Operation Ajax and have the US keep to its position circa the Suez Crisis, and relations between the US and Middle East would remain quite cordial.

Of course, a more consistently anti-colonial US would lead to all kinds of butterflies, and boosted relations with the Arab world would come at the expense of US-Europe relations.

I think that we'd in fact be less critical, because in our non-9/11 world middle east would get much less press in the US, the Media I'd guess would be more celebrities than anything else if you remember the press between 1999-2001, non-American news was almost never covered, the one story was that spy plane that crashed in China.

Considering a more isolationist US, I imagine you would get an odd divide in opinion compared to OTL. Most of the US populace would be largely apathetic, but vaguely pro-Israel. However, the people who actively followed/are interested in the area are likely to be warier of Israeli actions/intentions.
 
Considering a more isolationist US, I imagine you would get an odd divide in opinion compared to OTL. Most of the US populace would be largely apathetic, but vaguely pro-Israel. However, the people who actively followed/are interested in the area are likely to be warier of Israeli actions/intentions.

I think thats likely, but coverage will be less, I think e-news like hoffington post wouldn't be around so leftie coverage of news (and Israel) would be hard to get, maybe stuck in The Nation or New Left Review, any ways the vast apathetic masses would give American pols a blank cheek to support Israel, I'd guess that Dems would still be closer than Republicans to AIPAC and the Israel lobby.
 
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