Causes of antiislamism in the West

[So rightwing that I broke the Political Compass!]

Obviously general bigotry is a part of it. But I think the reaction of Westerners to Muslims has been substantially different to their reaction towards other non-Western immigrant communities.

9/11 is part of it. And to an extent in might be class based- East Asian and Hindu immigrants tend to be relatively wealthy. But even before 9/11 the difference existed... and the reaction to Muslims has been different to the reaction towards other working class immigrants such as Mexicans in America and Black Africans in Britain. It also bears noting that India and China have substantially tenser relations with Muslims then do their other religious minorities.

I see two probable explanations for this. Firstly Muslims seem to be a rather assertive culture, I would describe them as an "alpha culture" were as the Westerners became a "beta culture" over the course of the last century. Secondly Muslims are a lot more distinctive then other significant cultural blocs- Buddhists and Christians tend to blend in pretty well into their host culture, whereas Islam isn't just a religion but a way of life and necessarily resists blending in a whole lot more.

I think its interesting to note that Americans are more paranoid about Muslims then Hispanics, despite the former being a tiny presence and the latter being set to become a plurality of nation. I think my two explanations more or less sum up why.