Spring Break
Panel says Americans suffer from "Islamophobia," Muslims suffer from anti-Americanism
Tyler Will
Issue date: 10/30/07 Section: News
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Bill Bartels, a philosophy professor at the University of Rhode Island, Omer Bajwa, a Muslim Chaplain at Cornell University, and Dr. Mohamed Nimer, a member of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), spoke for nearly three hours Saturday night at the lecture "Islamophobia: Myth or Facts" in the Memorial Union Ballroom.
The lecture, which attracted about 90 people, was MSA's response to the College Republican's Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week.
The speakers described American sentiment as "Islamophobia," and discussed Muslim anti-American feelings.
"There are people who want to see a clash of civilization," Bajwa said. He added that it could become a self-fulfilling prophecy, and described the prophecy as a "lose-lose situation."
Nimer said that Islamo-American relations are complicated, and there is "a lot beyond cultural misconceptions."
Sarah Shihadeh, MSA's president, read a message from university president Robert L. Carothers, who could not attend. The message said that Muslim-American relations is a matter that should be taken seriously.
"URI believes profoundly that the way to combat bad ideas is with good ideas," Carothers said in the message.
Bartels described "Islamophobia" as a fear of religious difference. He attributed it to four chief factors: evolutionary history, religious beliefs, political affiliations and a violated sense of security.
Bartels said that personal religious beliefs might lead to "religious exclusivism." Bartels described "religious exclusivism" as a narrow-minded attitude towards religion. Political beliefs can also lead to isolated feelings, he said.
Bartels concluded by saying that uncertainty leads to "Islamophobia."
"The more insecure we feel the greater will be our fear towards others," he said. "I personally agree that there is so much misinformation about Islam, and it's important to combat that." Bartels said the vulnerability can only be overcome "when people realize how similar we are."
Bajwa pointed out that the story of Job, about a man who loses all of his material possessions and retains his faith, appears in the Bible, the Quran and the Torah. Bajwa pointed out that, in spite of this, a poll showed that 44 percent of Americans would support "the curtailing of civil liberties" because of the fear of the Muslim-American community.
Bajwa attributed "Islamophobia" to two chief factors. First, Bajwa said that jihad and hijab are the two most misunderstood terms in all of Islam. Bajwa said that jihad should be viewed as a struggle and strive for personal purification, not violence. Hijab, or religious coverings women wear, should be seen as a religious right and obligation, saying it adds to womens' sense of spirituality.
"Hijab is very frightening to American audiences in different ways," said Bajwa, showing a picture of a woman wearing a burkah, or face covering, while holding a gun.
"From a Western point of view, [the burkah is] a very disturbing idea of how a woman would want to live," Bajwa said. He said that, to Westerners, the burkah makes women like "ghosts."
Bajwa identified the second chief factor as a cultural phenomena he calls Orientalism.
Bajwa said Orientalism is a movement 200 years old, which was a colonialist study of Arabs and Islam. Bajwa said the intellectuals who visited the Middle East constructed images of Muslims as "the Other," and something exotic, unusual, and even inferior. Orientalism founded stereotypes that still exist in today's culture, Bajwa said.
Bajwa blamed the media for perpetuation of such stereotypes, pointing out that over 20 movies in the last 15 years have portrayed violence associated with Islam. Bajwa said the Muslim image promoted by the media has led Americans to think of Muslims in terms of "the three B's: bombers, belly-dancers and billionaires."
Bajwa said that film directors are the most powerful historians of the modern age.
"They literally have the ability to craft history," he said.
Nimer was the final speaker, and attributed "Islamophobia" to misconceptions and grievances. Nimer said that anti-Muslim feelings arose in the U.S. after the Sept. 11 attacks. Nimer labeled those feelings as "the most remarkable wave of anti-Muslim feelings in the history of the U.S."
He added that in five major Muslim countries, 51 to 79 percent of the population expressed negative feelings towards the U.S.
Nimer said that terrorist attacks are used to justify anti-Muslim sentiment, which generates anti-American feelings in the Middle East, and results in "a new round" of attacks, which in turn generates more anti-Muslim sentiment in the U.S.
"So the pattern is clear," Nimer said.
Nimer said it was a vicious cycle, and said that, while Americans think of Muslims in terms of Bajwa's "three B's," Muslims think of Americans in terms of the "three R's": rich, ruthless and rowdy.
Nimer said the problem lies in the generalization of Muslims and Americans, which leads to justification of hostility.
"[Generalizations] must be confronted as wrong and harmful," Nimer said.
Nimer pointed out America's fault in connecting Iraq with the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. He said that terrorism has caused insecure feelings in the U.S., while U.S. foreign policy has caused aggravation in the Middle East.
"Iraqi people believe the invasion [of Iraq] is to weaken Islam and the Middle East," Nimer said. He accuses both Americans and Muslims of "stretching the facts."
"The two civilizations are more interlinked than most would like to acknowledge," Nimer said.
Nimer joined Bartels and Bajwa in pointing out the similarities between Christianity, Islam and Judaism.
"All three [religions] implement the golden rule," Nimer said. "This universal principle offers grounds for peaceful coexistence."
The golden rule is an idea found in the holy texts of Christianity, Islam and Judaism that promotes good treatment of all people.
A buffet-style meal preceded the lecture. There were two lines of tables with food; one of which was designated for men, and one for women. Zawia said that Muslim women do not feel comfortable being served with men. While this illustrates one of the defining differences the two cultures face, Zawia said it was not intended to place women as second-class citizens.
