M.MAS 7/22/15 which people are mobilized towards violent action. In many of the cases above, while the basic facts of the given story may be known and true (‘a person at this time and place was killed’), it is not these facts but the way in which they are interpreted that reinforces the larger narrative. This is Tambiah’s concept of focalization and transvaluation at work. Questioning the efficacy of a focus on refuting rumours is not to say that they are not important in the production of violence. For example, a rumour that members of another religious group in an identified time and place have just committed a horrendous crime or are preparing for an attack could be used to mobilize violence in the name of revenge or pre-emptive action. But actual events, such as a crime committed by a person from the other religion, can be similarly used. The focus, then, must be on the use of a given story, regardless of its discrete accuracy. Recognize analogies between discourses in Myanmar and the Global War on Terror There are clear parallels between the discourses about Islam that we have summarized above and those that have become common worldwide since the expansion of a global ‘War on Terror.’ Those arguments all operate under the assumption that Islam is unitary, violent, and seeking to expand, which are defining features of ‘Islamophobia’ in many parts of the world.66 The analogy that best illustrates the circulation of these discourses in Myanmar is anti-Muslim discourse in the United States after September 11th 2001. Just as in the United States during that period, there is a kind of urgency felt by those who perceive Islam as a threat in Myanmar. And, where people believe Buddhists to have been the victims of recent Muslim aggressions in Rakhine State and elsewhere, there is also the siege mentality that accompanies feeling attacked and needing to close ranks. Three considerations stem from this. First, recognizing parallels between narratives of Muslim threat inside Myanmar and those originating outside the country underscores how the latter may serve to reinforce the former. Writing and rhetoric about ‘Islamic terrorism’ has real impacts in Myanmar. Unsubstantiated headlines that crow of a terror threat in Myanmar, like those recently published by Newsweek and the Independent,67 are dangerous and irresponsible.68 As one social activist in Myanmar put to one of the authors, ‘spreading such an idea in Myanmar is a killing license.' Similarly, well-meaning attempts to promote peace in Myanmar by, for example, warning that repression and discrimination could fuel extremism will also serve to reinforce the narrative that every Muslim is a potential terrorist-in-waiting. More subtle trends in western discourses about Islam and terrorism are important, too. People in Myanmar who are regularly presented with claims about a domestic Muslim threat – including what may appear to be outlandish rumours – assess these claims in a context that is also influenced by international media. To the extent that media coverage reinforces Islamophobia in countries such as the United States, so too does it in Myanmar. Myanmar is preparing for hotly contested national elections. We have 66 Andrew Shryock, ed., Islamophobia / Islamophilia: Beyond the Politics of Enemy and Friend (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2010). 67 See, Eilish O’Gara, “Isis Look to Recruit Rohingya Muslims Fleeing Myanmar,” Newsweek, June 2, 2015, http://europe.newsweek.com/isis-look-recruit-rohingya-muslims-fleeing-myanmar-328087; Peter Popham, “Burma’s ‘Great Terror’ Moves a Step Closer as Taliban Urges Rohingya to ‘Take up the Sword’,” The Independent (UK), June 14, 2015, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/burmas-great-terror-moves-a-step-closer-astaliban-urges-rohingya-to-take-up-the-sword-10319254.html. 68 Carlos Sardiña Galache and Veronica Pedrosa, “In Myanmar, Muslims Arrested for Joining Terror Group That Doesn’t Exist,” The Intercept, May 25, 2015, https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/05/25/myanmar-muslimsarrested-joining-terror-group-doesnt-exist/; Francis Wade, “The Dangers of Echoing Propaganda on Burma’s ‘terrorist Threat’,” Asian Correspondent, June 15, 2015, http://asiancorrespondent.com/133551/echoingpropaganda-on-burmas-terrorist-threat/; Elliott Brennan and Christopher O’Hara, “The Rohingya and Islamic Extremism: A Convenient Myth,” Policy Brief (Institute for Security & Development Policy, June 15, 2015), http://www.isdp.eu/publications/index.php?option=com_jombib&task=showbib&id=6642. 19