For Palestinians, the World is a Dangerous Place
Few articles so clearly point out
the log in our own eye as does this one by Joharah Baker. This article on the
Palestine Chronicle online lays out our countries slowness to do the right thing
about all sorts of discrimination. It is not the stuff of high school history
books because we don't teach students to learn from the past or their mistakes,
rather many 'teach to the test' not because they want to, but because school
systems and no child left behind tells them to so politicians can say we have
public education. It was not until I reached a college American history course
when these less family stories were shared. I don't think this is 'bad
mouthing' our country, but I am sure that some will email me the 'love it or
leave it' comment about America. This is a harsh article but one that
challenges the 'empire' thinking that has quietly swept our
nation.
When people say the world is a different
place after September 11, 2001, they are absolutely right. Of course, there have
been changes at several levels, which have run deep beneath the subcutaneous
layers of politics, mentalities and behaviors. However, one acutely tangible
ramification of the attack on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon is the manner in
which non-whites, especially Arab and Muslim peoples are perceived and
subsequently treated in the United States and in other western parts of the
world.No one knows this better than
Palestinians at the receiving end of this newly heightened racist mentality.
Earlier this month, three Palestinian students were brutally beaten by a group
of football jockeys at Guilford College, a small Quaker institution in the
southern US state of North Carolina. The three young men, Fares Khader, Osama
Sabbah and Omar Awartani, suffered several injuries varying from bruises and
abrasions to concussions. While the perpetrators were charged with assault and
“ethnic intimidation” charges, the FBI investigation is still
pending over whether the attack was a “hate
crime.”According to eyewitness
testimonies, there is not a shadow of a doubt that the football players were
motivated by anything else. The three Palestinians were called
“terrorists” and “sand niggers” and beaten with metal
knuckles. The question however, is not whether or not this was a
racially-motivated attack - obviously it was - but how the United States has
been transformed into a country where such heinous acts of discrimination are
reprimanded with as little as a slap on the wrist – the culprits have been
released on $2,000 bail.click here to read more
Filed Thu - February 1, 2007, 10:28 AM in
Return to: |