“Your
task is not to seek for love,
but merely to seek and find
all the barriers within yourself
that you have built against it.” - Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
but merely to seek and find
all the barriers within yourself
that you have built against it.” - Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
I remember September 11th like it was yesterday. I was a student at the American University campus in Washington D.C. As students hovered over the small television watching the twin towers fall, tears rolled down my face. “Utter cruelty” I thought to myself. More difficult was the realization that this vicious act was done by “Muslims”.
“This simply can’t be” I
thought to myself, no person of faith can deliberately kill in the name of God!
But then again, history is full of stories of “religious” Christians, Muslims,
Hindus and Jewish people killing innocent civilians in the name of “God”.
While majority of
Muslims condemned the 9/11 attacks, unfortunately many Americans continued to
view Muslims not Al-Qaeda as the enemy.
Last July, I was in
Abyan province in Yemen, and I visited families of civilian casualties of the
“War on Terror”. These families had nothing to do with Al-Qaeda or the
Yemeni military, yet US drones and Yemeni aircraft hit their homes and killed
or wounded their family members.
Hearing their stories, and seeing the
photos of those killed reminded me of that feeling I had when I saw the plane
hit the twin towers. Once again I felt horrified and thought to myself “Utter cruelty”.
The effects of the global war on terror are far reaching. No matter who the
perpetrator is, murder and death of civilians can not be justified. Every individual
that was killed unjustly should be honored, and their tragedy remembered. Simultaneously, the politics that indiscriminately
kills innocent people should be criticized. This policy is counter-productive and fuels hates and keeps societies in a cycle of violence.
The anti-American
sentiment that is rising in Yemen, reminds me of the anti-Islam sentiment that
swept and continues to spread in the U.S. These reactionary feelings are
a product of internalizing political differences and forgetting the humanity
that we share.
The policies of the “War
on Terror” are often very divisive. And helps promote hatred, and continues the
cycle of violence. The War on Terror has also made my job of
trying to “bridge the gap” between “East & West” a more difficult
one.
While I am very vocal
about my concerns regarding both the policies of the Yemeni and American
government, visa-vi the “War on Terror”, I am also very vocal that politics is
one thing, human beings are another. We should not put both in one
camp.
As a person who spent a
significant amount of my life in both worlds (US & Yemen) I find it easy to float between one or the other. In each place I
go, I attempt to deconstruct some of the images people have of the OTHER.
For example, in Yemen I
tell people stories about Muslims in America who didn’t have a mosque near by,
so members of a church offered them space to perform Friday prayer there. Then
I watch their shocked eyes. It seems what I said was jaw-dropping.
So I continue: “America is not only what you see in Hollywood movies.”
In the US, I tell people
how Yemenis love to host foreigners and despite misconceptions, majority of
Yemenis do not like AQAP. Again I see people’s jaws drop from
shock. I continue: “Yemen is not only what you read about in your news
feed”.
We can not let politicians drive us away from our shared humanity.
We need to remember that we are more alike than different. As a reminder of that, here are 10 silly facts to remind us of our similarities:
2. Both countries have very low percentage of women in Parliament/Congress. Women hold 90, or 16.8%, of the 535 seats in the 112th US Congress — 17, or 17.0%, of the 100 seats in the Senate and 73, or 16.8%, of the 435 seats in the House of Representatives.[1] In Yemen the number of women in parliament fell from 11 in 1993 to only 1 in 2003. (but there is a high chance it will increase to 30% with a quota that women are currently pushing for).
3. Both countries love their STARS. Starbuger in Yemen and Starbucks in the U.S.
4. The death penalty is legal in both countries. And large groups in the population support the death penalty, despite the efforts of human rights activists for reform.
5. Both societies have their own popular political satire show. Daily Show in the US, Aakis Khat (against the Current) in Yemen.
6. Average citizens in both countries are very friendly and very welcoming.
7. In both countries the Military Budget as percentage of GDP is very high: US its 4.060%, Yemen 6.600% [2]
8. Both societies love movies. Hollywood makes movies, Yemenis sell the latest movies in every corner, sometimes before they’re even released in the U.S.!
9. In both countries, if you have money you can get proper health care, if you don't, your screwed.
10. U.S. & Yemen both lead the world in guns (http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/interactive/2012/07/2012726141159587596.html)
We need to remember that we are more alike than different. As a reminder of that, here are 10 silly facts to remind us of our similarities:
1. Both countries have talented sportsmen with skills for high jumping.
In Yemen the camel jumping tradition, and in the US the “slam dunking”
tradition.
 |
| camel jumping sport, from http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/The-Sport-of-Camel-Jumping.html |
 |
| Slam dunking in the US |
2. Both countries have very low percentage of women in Parliament/Congress. Women hold 90, or 16.8%, of the 535 seats in the 112th US Congress — 17, or 17.0%, of the 100 seats in the Senate and 73, or 16.8%, of the 435 seats in the House of Representatives.[1] In Yemen the number of women in parliament fell from 11 in 1993 to only 1 in 2003. (but there is a high chance it will increase to 30% with a quota that women are currently pushing for).
3. Both countries love their STARS. Starbuger in Yemen and Starbucks in the U.S.
4. The death penalty is legal in both countries. And large groups in the population support the death penalty, despite the efforts of human rights activists for reform.
5. Both societies have their own popular political satire show. Daily Show in the US, Aakis Khat (against the Current) in Yemen.
6. Average citizens in both countries are very friendly and very welcoming.
7. In both countries the Military Budget as percentage of GDP is very high: US its 4.060%, Yemen 6.600% [2]
8. Both societies love movies. Hollywood makes movies, Yemenis sell the latest movies in every corner, sometimes before they’re even released in the U.S.!
9. In both countries, if you have money you can get proper health care, if you don't, your screwed.
10. U.S. & Yemen both lead the world in guns (http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/interactive/2012/07/2012726141159587596.html)
[1] Center for American
Women and Politics, http://www.cawp.rutgers.edu/fast_facts/levels_of_office/Congress-CurrentFacts.php
1 comment:
Dear Woman From Yemen
I do appreciate the work you are doing in this website.
I read your previous essay ( The Veil, Self Expression, and Identityl ) and i stopped at the debate between two commentators Assem and Megali.They debated what Allah wanted to say in his Quraan. I asked myself that question long ago, why cant Allah put his words cut clear to avoid confusions. it took me long time to find the answer.
Someone like you, who have been to so many countries, saw so many religions must have figured out that religions is just like customs and tradition, its a product of human imagination.
Religions must be respected, and treated as a valuable piece of human history, but it must not be applied to our life. you see the latest attack on US embassy in Sanaa and Liybia , you see how savage people can become when illusion take control over logic and rationality.
Yemen has long way to go to get out of that dark pit, Qat - Religion - traditions - poverty etc. But ultimately it will get out and see the light, it may take a few generations but we will get out, and when we do we shall remember the hands that extended to lift us.
Hands like yours.
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