Other Voices

Confronting the 'clash of civilizations' mentality that prevents Arab and American understanding

After departing

I felt privileged to be in the midst of some the most accomplished and respected journalists covering the Middle East today, people whose resumes are crammed not only with academic and professional achievement, but fascinating histories of doing the right thing in difficult and often dangerous circumstances.

The purpose was to look at how we stereotype each other in our respective medias and how, at the most basic level, that impedes honest cross-cultural dialogue; and at a more complex level, how that prevents us from overcoming the either/or, "clash of civilizations" mentality that stops us from even trying to understand each other.

Listening to my Arab colleagues speak at times I felt ashamed about past complaints I've made about negative public reaction to stories I've reported, when so many of them work in countries like Egypt and Saudi Arabia where reporting that doesn't reflect governmental positions can get you fired, jailed or both.

We talked about media ownership in the U.S. and how corporate ownership can frame coverage, and conversely, how governmental control can frame coverage in the Arab media.

"If there's hope for Arab and American societies to view each other again through a more balanced and representative prism, I think it's critical to give those voices a chance to be heard..."— Kevin Sites

We discussed how important it is to be fair, but how in some cases overriding objectivity prevents us from saying what something is -- just plainly stating the truth -- even when the evidence is irrefutable. That, many of us agreed, can create a sense of informational relativity that creates confusion rather than clarity.

Perhaps most striking for me were our discussions of how the voice of moderate Arabs and moderate Americans have been drowned out in both the American and Arab media: that our societies are only hearing what one participant termed "the Bush or Bin Laden" question, rather than all the voices in between.

If there's hope for Arab and American societies to view each other again through a more balanced and representative prism, I think it's critical to give those voices a chance to be heard, especially while the Hot Zone is concentrating on the conflicts in the Middle East.

In that spirit, today in the Hot Zone I want to feature a piece from one of the conference attendees, Mona Eltahawy.

Born in Egypt, she was a correspondent for the Reuters news agency in Cairo and Jerusalem and also wrote for the Guardian newspaper from the Middle East. Now based in New York, Mona is also a frequent contributor to opinion pages in the U.S. and abroad. She also has her own blog, monaeltahawy.com.

These views are not necessarily the views of Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone or Yahoo!, and their publication here does not represent an endorsement.

-Kevin Sites

Walking in the Shoes of the Minority
by Mona Eltahawy

This article was originally published in Arabic on Nov. 1, 2005 in Asharq al-Awsat, a leading pan-Arab daily newspaper printed in London.

When the planes flew into the World Trade Center in New York on Sept. 11, 2001, I lived in Seattle, on the other side of America.

My brother and his wife were visiting me. We did not leave the house for two days because we were worried that Americans angry at Muslims would attack my sister-in-law, who wore a hijab.

On Sept. 13, 2001, one such angry American, Patrick Cunningham, tried to start a fire in my local mosque's garage. When two Muslims coming out from Isha prayers tried to stop him, Cunningham -- who was drunk -- tried to shoot them but missed. He was arrested and put on trial and eventually jailed.

But he is not important.

What was more important were the flowers and messages of support that flooded the mosque when news spread of the attempted attack. And from that night on and for weeks more, neighborhood men and women holding signs that read "Muslims are Americans" stood on 24-hour guard outside the mosque.

"We should not be deterred from calling for minority rights just because the Bush administration or anyone else issues similar calls on our countries to respect those rights."— Mona Eltahawy

I have waited to hear that Muslims who live near St. George's Church in Alexandria (Egypt) organized a similar patrol to protect it.

The church has been a target of Muslim anger over a play deemed offensive to Islam that was performed there two years ago. This culminated in riots after Friday prayers on Oct. 21 in which three people died and dozens were injured when riot police fired tear gas and used batons to dispel 5,000 Muslim protestors away from the church. A nun was stabbed a few days earlier.

But ahead of Friday prayers on Oct. 28, it was just hundreds of riot troops who guarded the church.

It looked like the church was under siege. Instead, it is the belief in minority rights that is under siege -- not just in Egypt but throughout the Arab world.

We will learn nothing from the Alexandria violence unless it is placed within two larger contexts. The first is a regional one that focuses on the Sunni Muslim majority and how it treats minorities, whether they are from other Muslim sects or other religions. The second is a global context that flips the equation by concentrating on Muslim minorities around the world, particularly the West.

Last week I urged Egyptians to acknowledge the problems between Muslims and Christians and to admit that Christians in Egypt face discrimination. The phenomenal reaction I received in response was proof that we must end our self-denial and urgently address these problems. I thank all the readers who wrote to me.

Minority rights in Egypt are central to the debate on reform and democracy that began when pro-reform activists started demonstrating in 2004. In recognition of this, the opposition movement Kifaya called on Egyptians to join its march this Monday against the dangers of sectarianism. Kifaya was launched by Muslims and Christians who lead protests as Egyptians first and foremost.

We should not be deterred from calling for minority rights just because the Bush administration or anyone else issues similar calls on our countries to respect those rights.

A Christian called an Egyptian talk show on sectarian relations recently to say he would rather be killed by Muslim extremists than have America come to save him. Muslim guests on the show jumped to assure him they'd defend him against extremists. But just a few weeks later, when the riots broke out in Alexandria, it was just the police defending St. George's church.

Minority rights are also central to the debate about Iraq and its new ethnic and sectarian power structures.

Iraq's Sunni Muslim minority -- long used to privilege under

Looking further, Muslim majority countries must be more sensitive to minority rights not just because it is the morally correct thing to do but also because the 9-11 attacks and others since have thrust Muslim minorities in the West onto an uncomfortable stage of permanent suspicion.

Five years ago when I moved from Egypt to the United States I made a parallel move from being a member of my country's majority to joining a minority which is under tremendous scrutiny. The attempted attack on my mosque in Seattle ended without harm thank God. But other attacks were successful. Muslims and those perceived to be Muslims have been attacked and some have been killed. Some mosques were set on fire and others vandalized.

But there are legal resources we can turn to. Muslim civil rights groups have won lawsuits against discrimination and unfair work dismissals of Muslims, scoring victories that Christians in my country of birth can only dream of achieving.

I live in New York now but there is a happy ending from my Seattle mosque incident that we can all learn from. Issa Qandil, a Jordanian immigrant who was one of the two Muslim men whom Cunningham had tried to shoot, told authorities he forgave Cunningham and wanted to drop the charges.

The Seattle Weekly newspaper said that wasn't possible but that Qandil's attitude of forgiveness facilitated a plea bargain that dropped some of the charges. Qandil even testified at Cunningham's sentencing hearing, saying that retribution was useless and asked the court to be lenient. Cunningham got six and a half years instead of 75.

According to the newspaper, Cunningham wrote a four page, handwritten apology to the mosque in which he referred to "the two brave men of your congregation."

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