For Muslim Americans, this year's anniversary of September 11, may be the most stressful one yet, and possibly the most consequential. A confluence of events and political developments has produced a situation more volatile than any since the immediate aftermath of the horrific terror attacks of 2001.
Back then, with our nation in shock, it was to be expected that some might react in anger or out of fear. There were marches on mosques (I was struck by one in Chicago, where protesters carried Confederate flags while incongruously chanting "U.S.A."), acts of violence (including the murders of Sikhs, whose assailants thought they were Arabs) and a flood of vile threats (I know because I received many, including the one from Zachary Rolnik who called me a "rag head" and threatened to "slit your throat and murder your children" -- a hate crime for which he was convicted and sentenced to prison).
But something else happened in the days after 9/11. While some reacted in anger, others recoiled from these acts of hate, reaching out to Arab Americans and Muslim Americans offering understanding and even protection. It was important that President George W. Bush helped set a positive tone by going to a mosque and, together with other elected officials and prominent entertainers, challenged all Americans to remember that if we struck out blindly against Islam or blamed all Arabs or Muslims then we were letting "the terrorists win".
The tide began to turn. Hate crimes which had spiked in the first month following the attacks, showed a significant decline. And across the country change was in evidence. Churches offered protection to neighboring mosques, the Ad Council of America sponsored TV, radio and newspaper ads urging Americans to reach out to support their fellow citizens, other offices in my downtown Washington building offered to make lunches for my staff, knowing that some were afraid to leave, and the flood of emails and letters we had been receiving changed in tone from accusation to support.
In a way, though welcome, these developments were rather bewildering. As unwarranted as the attacks had been, we felt undeserving of the gestures of support. What we came to realize, however, was that it was all part of a healing process, as the values of goodness and generosity at the heart of our people were reasserted, defining our national character.
Now, nine years later, the hate and anger are back and it is not only Muslim Americans who are at risk, but the very soul of America. I've written before about the precipitators of this transformation: economic stress and social dislocation; preachers of hate (both neo-conservatives with their anti-Muslim and anti-Arab axes to grind); irresponsible mass media (including Fox News and a whole host of talk radio shows); and politicians (some eager to exploit fear for political advantage and others too afraid to demonstrate leadership). All have combined to create the current situation described in a recent New York Times story headlined "American Muslims Ask, Will We Ever Belong?"
What is most disturbing is not just the current state of affairs; rather it is what, if left unchecked, all this portends for the future of our country.
About five years ago, I was invited to speak in a number of European capitols about the difference between the experiences of Arab and Muslim immigrants in America and Europe. What I observed, in my remarks, was that what has made America unique is that, despite the periodic ranting of bigots, we are not a nation defined by a single ethnicity or faith. Rather we have, in our history, demonstrated a remarkable absorptive capacity that has brought scores of immigrants to our shores making them all Americans. On the other hand, I have spoken to third generation Kurds in Germany or Pakistanis in the U.K. or Algerians who have complained that while they may, with difficulty, become citizens, they remain "Turk", "Ay-rab", or "Paki" immigrants. In the U.S. it is a different story. Not only does one become a citizen, but one becomes fully American, and, in the process, the very concept of "American" becomes transformed.
This is what has defined our character and made us the vibrant nation we have been - though not without a struggle as we confronted our demons. We were, for example, born plagued by our "original sins" of slavery, the dispossession of indigenous peoples, and the conquest of the southwest. We endured waves of anti-Asian backlash and campaigns of discrimination against new immigrants from Ireland, Eastern Europe and the southern Mediterranean. But through it all, the genius of America was affirmed and we became a better, stronger and more unified nation.
The election of Barack Hussein Obama for many represented the triumph of this vision. Racism had not been defeated, but the America that promised "e pluribus unum" had asserted itself.
What we did not know then, was that this victory would, when combined pressures resulting from the ongoing pressures confronting the electorate, only add fuel to the fires of discontent.
And so here we are, nine years after a devastating attack that both shocked and then unified our nation and we are engaged in a debate, not about building a mosque or its location, but whether or not Muslims will find a place in America. Some may argue that that is not their intention. But reading the responses to my past columns and the signs of the protesters, or listening to the vile rhetoric from shameless politicians (some "respected" national leaders with aspirations for higher office) and the disgraceful discourse that fills the airwaves -- and one might easily conclude otherwise.
We are, in fact, facing a critical choice and need leadership, now more than ever, to remind us of who we are as a nation and the consequences in store for us should we forget.
John Lundberg: Remembering 9/11 Through Poetry
Amb. Marc Ginsberg: 9/11/10 -- Unfinished Business Take #9
Karen Armstrong: 9/11 and Compassion: We Need It Now More Than Ever
Chris Kelly: The Secret Relevance of Glenn Beck's 9/11 Show REVEALED
– Karl Marx, "On the Jewish Question"
On the other hand, international anti-Americanism among Muslims is epidemic. Even though the good people of the US have elected Obama, who immediately went to Cairo and Istanbul, anti-Americanism in the Muslim world is growing. That is the real problem, not exaggerated anti-Islamic sentiment.
The fact is as Glenn Greenwald perfectly put it: "Bigotry against Muslims and Arabs is one of the last acceptable forms of overt bigotry that is tolerated in American political culture. If you look at the things that he said and replace the word Muslim or Arab with Jew or even Christian, those comments would be completely career ending and reputation destroying."
While they wage, we're looking into this crazy abyss. After they're over, it will take more than a kiss and a hug goodbye to remedy the chaos left behind. It will require some generations of time to allow for healing, on both sides. Some not in power view that as the best reason to continue the campaigns in the Middle East.
What a preposterous thought.
It sickens me.
Tell me, just tell me who deliberately has torched the Bible to purposefully incite war and make a radical statement?
Stop playing the victimization card. The level of bigotry and hate against Arabs and Muslims in this country is perpetuated by the likes of those who stay silent or even give cover to the loathsome, hate-filled men like the Koran burning pastor. If the reaction to him is a phony outrage what do you call Muslim Americans inalienable right to worship and build 2 blocks from Ground Zero as people of other faiths can?
I pray for the psychological recovery of the United States. It truly is the best medicine.
I am watching you on BookTV's After Words just now. It is a good interview with Lawrence Wright on the "Looming Tower". One suggestion might be to limit the preamble to your questions, but otherwise quite good.
Regarding your column, the construction of this Manhattan Culture Center is nationalizing the debate and that is not a constructive contribution. In addition, the cast of characters surrounding the construction is not gaining credibility as their backgrounds are brought to light.
The backers can persist. So will the impressions that they are leaving.
Is your way of correcting a wrong to give in to it, or to fight and dispel it? If its the latter as I believe Imam Rauf shouldn't go anywhere and continue his just cause. But my opinion counts just as much as anyone else's, which is to say, nothing.
He has a right to build and he's choosing to exercise that right. Case closed!
Fanned & faved! You are right! This country, the majority of its people, have yet to face up to the criminal over-reactions to 9/11 by our government! It is the unmentioned "elephant in the living room"! Had there been honest investigations and appropriate consequences (prosecutions for war crimes, impeachment) of members of the Bush administration for their Constitutional abuses of power/malfeasance, Republicans would not now be so arrogant and obviously "untouchable" in their re-writing of the history of the last 9 years! Faux "News" and its loudmouthed, war-mongering, hate-mongering allies on talk radio might---might, just might---have had to eat a lot of "crow" and "humble pie"! We would not now be facing the frightening scenario of those people taking the reins of power back to finish destroying this country!
I know they'd want that, as they died together as well.
Just an alternative thought.
Or, we can just roll over.
As far as rolling over goes, how much world chaos would be sufficient to satisfy your sense of justice? My anger and sorrow motivates me to seek peace, because I would never want to lose another loved one.
"An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind."
~ Gandhi
And not as much as 20,000!
In Lebanon, the restoration of the Maghen Abraham Synagogue in downtown Beirut is nearing completion, even Hezbollah supports the restoration. Now, Israel has devastated Lebanon, over the years, to a degree that vastly exceeds the devastation, in terms of loss of life's and property damage, that occurred as a result of Al Qaeda's attack on New York... at least 20,000 Lebanese have been killed by Israel since 1982, including 1000 in 2006. Nevertheless, the people of Lebanon, unlike many Americans, have the ability to make a distinction between Judaism and the policies of Israel!
And Muslims also died in the attacks, would you oppose it for them too?
It is a popular theory on the left and is totally false. They support these policies because they are aligned with them, for better or for worse.
Of course, you might want to watch a few of the videos from al-Zawahiri and Adam Gadhan. The basis messages can be condensed to "convert or die"
Seems you missed that message in your summary above....