Preface: In light of the current events
taking place across the Muslim world, I am going to temporarily ignore one of
my blogs guiding principles, limited political commentary, and take a moment to
react to the anti-American protest that are taking place across the Muslim
world. First and foremost, mom I assure you that I am safe. Second, although I
have been devouring information about what is going on around the Middle East,
I can only talk about my experience in Cairo.
With renewed
energy, protesters have taken to the streets of Cairo, throwing rocks, waving
flags, clashing with riot police, and generating a firestorm of news coverage
around the world. At a glance this new wave of protests seem like an extensions
of the wildly successful pro-democracy demonstrations of the Arab Spring that,
as we all know, ousted many long-term dictators from power. However, the
current demonstrations do not have the same pro-democracy elements as those of
the Arab Spring. This time around the flags that are being waved are not
Egyptian flags but the flags of conservative Islamist groups.
While still politically charged,[1]
the current protests are not intended to further democratize the Egyptian
government or to demand greater freedoms for the people of Egypt. What makes these
protests different than those of the Arab Spring is that they are religious in
nature, and are not directed at internal change, but at the Western influence
in the Middle East. Now the protesters, driven by conservative religious
ideology, have directed their attentions at Westerners.
What we are seeing
is the angry and hate-filled response to the publication of the anti-Islam film
on YouTube.[2]
Rather than neutralizing the
film’s hate by opening a constructive discourse aimed to educate the world about
what makes the film so offensive to Muslims, angry protesters responded with
violence. Ironically, by turning to violence the protestors have publically
reinforced the stated message of the film that they are protesting. They
allowed their passion to dictate their actions and as a result fell pray to the
trap set by the film’s creators. What possible result could it have intended aside
from deliberately provoking a violent response? It seems obvious that the
film’s creators expected its eventual audience to react as they did. It is for
the benefit of their own ideology that Muslim protesters have taken to the
streets, scaling embassy walls, burning flags, and clashing with police, they
were counting on it.
Judging by the reactions, the film effectively
conveyed its message of hate. But posting the film has also jeopardized the
safety of all of the American citizens in the region, resulted in the deaths of
four American diplomat and many more Muslims. It is easy to make such
inflammatory material from a safe distance. Those responsible for the film are
sheltered from the reprisals to your creative hatred. The dead Americans in
Benghazi were not afforded this luxury. The burden for those of us that are
trying to strengthen the ties between cultures has been made exponentially heavier.
Along with the
much-publicized killing of American citizens in Benghazi, ten Libyans were also
killed in their attempts to defend the American embassy.[3]
During high stress situations like this, it is easy to become hyper focused on
certain aspects and ignore the broader picture. The film was deeply insulting
to Muslims and elicited a dramatic response across the Muslim world, but it is
the actions of few that have dictated the terms of this current conflict. The
infamous film was created and disseminated by ultra-conservatives in order to
advance their own agenda, and was met with a strong response lead by
ultra-conservatives with the same intent and opposite ideologies. The rest of
us are caught in the crossfire and becoming either casualties or hostages. In
the wake of the Benghazi killings, Libyan citizens took to the streets carrying
signs that read, “Chris Stevens was a friend to all Libyans,” “R.I.P.
Christopher Stevens,” and “Sorry people of America this is not the Pehavior of
our ISLAM and Profit [sic.].”[4] The heroic actions of the Libyans to defend
the US embassy, and the peaceful protests condemning the violence demonstrate
that the anti-American sentiment is not universal. Unfortunately, only the
loudest voices are heard, and guns are louder than apologies.
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