| OPINION
| October 15, 2004
Guest Column
Prejudice in Politics
Minorities should not be targeted
for war’s blame
In the Sept. 28 column, “Know Thine
Enemy,” the writer, in his attempt to discuss militant Islam
as the threat and the cause behind terrorism, crosses acceptable
argument lines.
It astonishes me that in a time when political correctness and sensitivity
toward minorities and their beliefs is respected and even sometimes
enforced, stereotyping and labeling of Arabs and Muslims are widely
accepted. Mr. Morgan suggests clearly in his article that I should
be denied top-notch American education by being banned from entering
the country based on the sole fact that I share the same birth place
with a figure terrorist, considering me within the same lines a
terrorist myself, and a threat to the U.S. security. Why else would
you have me excluded from entering the country? I find this highly
offensive and even apology-worthy for all people who share my origin
and religion.
The article features contradicting statements and ideas caused,
I think, by the impotent effort to hide the prejudice against Islam.
The writer quotes, “Militant Islam is the problem, moderate
Islam is the solution,” then later suggests cutting all financial
aid to countries like Jordan and Egypt, who are known to be moderate
Islamic countries and even a key ally to U.S. in its alleged war
on terrorism!
The use of the innovative word “Islamist” to describe
Muslims did not seem to fair well in hiding the targeting of a group
of people based on their religion, a practice that is, again, shockingly
acceptable lately.
The call for more military action by the U.S. in the region shows
the kind of arrogance and carelessness that some Americans choose
to adopt when dealing with Third World countries, mainly the Middle
East. This area is trapped between terrorism labels and terrorists
(once recruited and trained by the U.S.), corrupt governments installed
and sponsored by the U.S., and now calls from Americans to protect
American interests even if that required wiping the people who live
there out with bombs! After all, who cares? They are just Arabs
and Muslims, right?
— Musa Alshuqairi is a mechanical engineering graduate student
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