"Ten
years after the disaster of September 11th, we Arabs live in a world where we
are increasingly subjected to the prejudices of the West and its hostility, fear
and arrogance. Being an Arab today and living in an Arab country is like
repeatedly running headlong into a wall made of steely political and social
quandaries. You may pound and pound away, but to no avail."
My 19-year-old son, Mounir, has
just returned home. He had been traveling through Europe with his friends. They
had a great time, as he says. There's just one thing that irritated me while he
was there: every time I called him, he would speak to me in either English or
French. Not a word of Arabic. And why? As he explains it to me now, he had
feared that the people he met would be less than welcoming if they knew him to
be an Arab. He therefore posed as a Canadian.
Is this not terrorism? To be
ashamed of one's own identity? To feel the need to disguise oneself due to prevailing
prejudice? Ten years after the disaster of September 11th, we Arabs live in a
world where we are increasingly subjected to the prejudices of the West and its
hostility, fear and arrogance. Being an Arab today and living in an Arab
country is like repeatedly running headlong into a wall made of steely
political and social quandaries. You may pound and pound away, but to no avail.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
Of course, such misgivings
are not entirely unwarranted. Arab terrorists do unfortunately exist. Wherever
you go, from Yemen to Egypt, Saudi Arabia to Bahrain, one finds these religious
forces and corrupt and/or convoluted political systems and patriarchal
societies. And they are all excellent at challenging voices of tolerance and
provoking extremist instincts. And yet it is no less scandalous, sad and unfair
that there is no other image of Arabs within the Western perspective. I don't
want to generalize. I know only too well that there are definitely Westerners
out there who recognize the complex and heterogeneous nature of our Arab
societies and cultures. The only problem is that he or she is the exception
that proves the rule.
We are witness to perpetual
misunderstanding and oversimplification invoked by fear and ignorance, as well
as the media's fascination with sensational news. There's an old saying that
says: "A falling tree makes more noise than a whole forest growing." Ten
years after September 11th, I ask myself: when will people begin to hear the
whispers of the growing trees?
Joumana Haddad is a
Lebanese writer. She alternates writing on Thursdays with Sebastian Turner.
