Session Details Guest NameGeneive AbdoSubjectMuslim Life in America After 9/11
Date Thursday,Jul 19 ,2007
Time Makkah From... 17:00...To... 18:30 GMT
From... 14:00...To...15:30 NameHost - ProfessionQuestion
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AnswerNameAhmed - Egypt ProfessionTraining Development Manager Question
I would like to inquire about how social pressure on other stigmatized social groups was reduced after negative attention in the USA came to be focused on Muslims and Arabs in the aftermath of 9/11.. and to know which social groups most benefited of this shift in negative attention (e.g. have Jews, Asians, Hispanics, been better treated since 9/11?.
Answer
Ahmed, thank you for your question.
To be perfectly honest, I do not know the answer exactly because I have never researched this question. I will just offer my impression: I think African Americans who are Muslims have been treated worse since 9/11.
I think what you are asking is whether, once the Muslims became the bad guys, did that reduce pressure on other minorities who historically were the targets of racism, and I think the answer generally is no. Americans who are racist do not think in those terms.
NameMuhammed Abdelmoteleb - Egypt ProfessionQuestion
Are you perceived as a Muslim 'apologist' in mainstream American journalism?
Answer
Muhammed, thank you for your quesiton.
No, I am generally not considered an apologist, but I was once denied a job at a major publication in the United States because of my position on the Islamic world.
I am interested in why you asked. Do you think I am perceived as an "apologist?"
NameEditor - ProfessionQuestion
Do you think American Muslims have been focusing too much on civil rights and immigration issues post 9-11? Are they ignoring other issues in the meantime?
Answer
Yes to some degree but there is a reason: Muslim activists here - those trying to influence the public debate - are reluctant to talk openly about foreign policy issues, particularly the Palestinian occupation, because the public debate is so one-sided. They feel that openly discussing these issues will not advance their standing in American society, but will in fact made matters worse.
This is one reason they focus on issues where they know they will get support from mainstream society. Immigration and civil rights are definitely issues in which Americans can relate and sympathize with.
Have you also done research on the reasons for Muslim extremism amongst Europeans as oppossed to American-Muslims? Can socio-economics explain it?
Answer
This question requires a lengthy answer. However, I will give you a brief version. Also I would like to recommend a good book that will answer this question: "When Islam and Democracy Meet" by Jocelyne Cesari, a professor at Harvard.
Muslims in Europe, as you know, are so different from one country to the other and it is not good to generalize. But if you take Britain as an example, Muslims there have been radicalized over foreign policy issues and feelings of alienation. Generally, British Muslims do not have as much invested in British society as American Muslims do in American society. So it is not so much their socio-economic status, but more their participation in mainstream society that makes them feel less alienated. Since 9/11 however, life has changed dramaticaly for American Muslims and they are far more alienated now than before 9/11.
NameMohamed - Egypt ProfessionEditor at IslamOnline Question
Salam. First I would like to say that I bear a lot of praise to your other book on Islam in Egypt "No God but God." The approach was free from usual wish-washy analysis of the media that feeds off and on the decision maker. Do you believe that this kind of media plays a large role in demonizing Islam and Muslims in post 9/11 America?
Answer
Salam Mohamed and thank you very much for your comment about my book on Egypt. Egypt is a great country and I am very happy I had the opportunity to live there for five years. Those were the greatest years of my life.
Regarding your question, yes I do believe the American media demonizes Muslims and Islam but the European press does this to a lesser degree. The reasons in the American media are ignorance and prejudice. But there is another, more subtle reason. Even the greatest American intellectuals do not get Islam. They can't understand it intellectually, particulalry those on the left, and many in the media are on the left - at least as the left is defined in the U.S. They are obsessed on issues about veiling, what they perceive are human rights abuses in Islam....and they never get beyond these impressions to try to really understand the faith. In addition, the media here focuses on militancy.
I hope this answers your question.
NameGreg - Saudi Arabia ProfessionQuestion
Since you were in the AOC, how do you think the Alliance of Civilizations can achieve real results, besides being academic talk fests?
Answer
Good question and in my view it was little more than a talk fest. Now the project is in an implementation phase, which is even more useless. I do think the document did some good - at least in the cautious context of the UN.
NameEditor - ProfessionQuestion
While American Muslims are increasingly turning to their communities and the "Zaytuna Sheikhs," are their voices being heard in U.S. civic life?
Answer
Good question. Yes, at least more so since before 9/11 but certainly not enough. Muslims here do not have access to the media or the foreign policy debate. They are trying and some activists are now regulars in Washington circles, but not enough.
How can a balance be maintained in the US between a genuine security concern and racial profiling?
Answer
Good question and one that is certainly on the minds of some in government. This is the big problem. Racial profiling and other measures that have stemmed from the US Patriot Act are effectively collective punishment on the Muslim community. But the conservatives in government argue that it is necessary and too bad if such measures violate civil liberties. I think one answer is to change the approach. When people are searched at airports, often the officers are aggressive and treat them with no respect. I think if the approach changed, Muslims would not mind so much because of course everyone is concerned about security and wants to do their part.
NameGreg - Saudi Arabia ProfessionQuestion
Do you think the Western and Islamic worlds can really engage in constructive dialogue - given there are areas where each side doesn't seem to want to move from - e.g. lack of religious freedom in the Middle East?
Is there a clash of civilizations?
Answer
I think these two worlds are definitely becoming more polarized but I do not think it is a clash of civilizations. I would not characterize it that way.
NameAhmed - Egypt ProfessionTraining Development Manager Question
Thank you for your reply. But to be frank, I am not very convinced. Muslim African-Americans probably are treated worse, but I doubt that racists have had unlimited resources to increase their persecution of a group without it reducing the pressure on other groups. That would take impressive devotion.
And yet I thank you for your honest answer and best assessment, and would ask you if possible to study this question in terms of media coverage (afterall, a racist column in a publication or a minute on a biased TV network could EITHER be used to attack Muslims OR another group).
Job opportunities -- a job denied a Muslim or Muslim sympathizer would have to be given to someone else, and if a racist was considering a Muslim for the position, chances are their were no WASPs [White Anglo-Saxon Protestants] to take it, so another minority would benefit.
general treatment esp in security (a police or airport security officer probing a Muslim would necessarily not be probing another minority at the same time
etc
Thank you again and if it didn't take you out of your way in research, I hope to see this question researched and especially to see which groups benefited most, if any, for I could be mistaken.
Thank you again.
Answer
You're very welcome.
NameGreg - Saudi Arabia ProfessionQuestion
What can the Islamic world do to improve perceptions of Islam in the West? And the West the same in the M.E.? How can everyday people take the initiative for a peaceful and tolerant world?
Answer
They can get involved in the media. I think at this point in history there is little ordinary people can do.
NameEditor - ProfessionQuestion
What are your current projects, literary or otherwise?
Answer
I am now working on another book, this one with Fawaz Gerges. The working title, which I think will give you an idea of the subject is "Dangerous Delusions: How the Myth of Secular Islam Shattered American Power." The book is about how the Islamic world can never be modernized, secularized in the ways the US thinks it should. The book will argue that Muslims have their own ideas about modernity, pluralism, gender issues, and they can never be coerced into some sort of model the US has designed for them. We just started on this book and the resesarch is just beginning.
NameGreg - Saudi Arabia ProfessionQuestion
Is terrorism an internal Islamic problem and should Muslims be more proactive in denouncing it?
Answer
I would prefer to answer only the second question. I do not think it is enough to denounce terrorism. Muslim scholars and theologians must publicly explain the origins of extremist thought and delve into a deeper explanation for the public as to why extremists carry out violence and then justify it in theological terms.
The strangest things have been happening to you lately and you have no idea why.
Suddenly, you feel you live in a fishbowl where your every move is watched, where you are being studied from afar and from close by, where your taste in clothes, music, food, books, art, etc., is being analyzed, where your "Muslim-ness" is of concern to people, and where you, my friend, can choose to either sink or swim.
It was not always like this, but, regrettably, you are growing up at a time when the most commonly used terms to describe your religion and people who belong to your religion range from backward, anti-progress, and oppressive to extremists, fundamentalists, and violence-prone.
The idiom "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me" is false, because words do hurt and sometimes the sting of words remains long after the physical wounds, from an assault by sticks or stones, have healed.
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