When military attitude and Islamophobia come head to head, terrible things are bound to happen.
It is tragic that this was not as big of a surprise as it could have been.
What’s worse is that something terrible had to happen before people began to criticize the mentality created from military boot camps.
Recently, there has been a hazing issue at Parris Island, a Marine boot camp in South Carolina. Hazing focused on Muslim recruits is particularly terrible.
Reports have come out detailing that twenty people are possibly involved in an intense hazing that lead to the suicide of a Muslim recruit back in March.
Raheel Siddiqui was a recruit who had felt suicidal throughout his time in boot camp, claiming to have a hard time adjusting while also dealing with racist insults from other recruits and instructors.
His difficulties at Parris Island came to a head when Siddiqui was forced to participate in exercises despite having coughed up blood the night before. The instructor in charge gave him extra work to do, then assaulted Siddiqui when he fell on the ground, unable to continue.
After Siddiqui was hit by his instructor, he jumped into a stairwell and fell thirty-eight feet to his death.
Back in November, another Muslim recruit was interrogated about his religion, his intent to serve and whether or not he was a Muslim spy after being forced into a clothes dryer.
When he filed a report against the instructor, the Marine Corps allowed the instructor to continue working at Parris Island.
Because of the investigation resulting from the suicide, several instructors were fired after being proven guilty of discriminatory actions toward recruits.
Just the thought that it took someone committing suicide for the Marine Corps to take these reports seriously is appalling.
[Professor and students discuss Islamophobia | IDS]
Boot camp is a difficult time or any recruit who joins. It is not meant to be a happy or peaceful time, as they are being trained and prepared for war.
However, this does not excuse the terrible treatment of Muslim recruits.
There is a difference between hardening soldiers so they can survive the horrors of war and blatantly attacking them for who they are.
It’s difficult to make the assumption that this only happened because the recruits were Muslim, but it’s clear that their religious beliefs played a role in the abuse.
The military was created to protect the population and its freedoms — including freedom of religion.
Such a rough mentality is created in military boot camps that spreads into the everyday life of a soldier after the war.
Medical reports reveal that soldiers go through a brain chemistry change while in boot camp and in the war.
Movies like “American Sniper” brought the tension between the Muslim population and the military to the forefront of America’s mind for a few months, even though the movie did not intend to do that.
Many Americans blindly follow whatever the military does, so when they see a movie showcasing the horrors of Islamic extremists, they become unnecessarily nervous and make lives for innocent Muslims a nightmare.
Asking for boot camps to reform in order to prevent incidents from this happening again is ideal, but we must first ask America to change their views on the Muslim population.
