The other
day, I received an email from a sensitive and caring 80-year-old American Jew I
have been corresponding with for the last few months on various topics,
including the Middle East. He forwarded me a letter that was apparently written
by an American airline pilot entitled “YOU WORRY ME!” (the
pilot’s capitals).
“I wonder
if you would comment on the concerns of this American who may very well reflect
the feelings of the great majority of his fellow countrymen,” my e-pal asked
me, hoping that my views would help still his and his friends’ anguish and
worries.
After
expressing understanding for the genuine fear many Americans must feel, I told
him that I found it unfair that people such as the letter writer insisted on
tarnishing all Muslims with the same brush.
The pilot
asked: “How do I differentiate between the true Arab/Muslim-Americans and the
Arab/Muslim terrorists in our communities?” It is very easy to distinguish, I
informed my e-pal, which western Muslims are not terrorists: all the millions
of them except a few hundred extremists at the very most. So, that means all
Muslims are innocent until proven guilty.
The pilot
added: “I want to know where every Arab Muslim in this country stands and I
think it is my right and the right of every true citizen of this country to
demand it.”
Instead of
writing a glib, self-righteous letter and forwarding it to his friends, why
didn’t he get off his backside and go out and ask some Muslims what they think
of terrorism? It put me in mind of that Queens
of the Stone Age album Songs for the Deaf. Since he’s too lazy to do so, I can
give him some indication.
Violent
Islamic extremists are as abhorred and hated by Muslims as they are by
westerners. One reason for this is that more Muslims die in Islamic terror
attacks than westerners.
To
illustrate my point, I sent my friend a link to the subtitled version of a songthat is
currently No 1 in
the Pakistani music charts. Yeh hum naheen
(This is not Us), officially released in the UK
this week.
The venture
was the brainchild of WassemMahmood,
a UK-based Pakistani media consultant, who was inspired by his children to show
that Muslims do not approve of the atrocities being committed in their names.
“I wanted
to give a voice to young Muslims who reject terror and are sick of the image of
terrorism that has been attached to their faith,” he told the Dutch newspaper
De Volkskrant.
Given that
Bin Laden is the most famous “poster boy” of the stereotypical “Muslim man” and
the popular idea of Muslim pinups are burkah-clad “Talibabes”, I am glad that the clip sheds light on the
modern and trendy face of Pakistan, in the form of its slick and well-groomed
pop artists, including the beautiful and brainy Hadiqa
(whose name means garden), a classically trained singer who holds an MA in
psychology.
Although it
is not my type of music, given its message, I hope this video gets lots of
international airspace. However, I doubt it will beat Bin Laden’s
latest offering in the global charts.
Yeh
Hum Naheen does not intend to share the fate of
one-hit-wonder boy or girl bands. Mahmood has already
set it up as a foundation that will work “to build on the essence of Islam as a
faith that promotes tolerance, peace and harmony removing prejudices within the
community and amongst non-Muslims around the world”.
The
American pilot claimed: “I don’t want to be consumed by the same rage and hate
and prejudice that has destroyed the soul of these
terrorists”. Well, his letter struck me as being filled with that same “rage
and hate and prejudice”. In fact, it was the braying for vengeance after
September 11 that allowed a cynical and embattled Bush administration to lead
its people down the path to an endless war.
But I do
not blame ordinary Americans for the deadly terror their government has
inflicted on other peoples, even though they elected it democratically, because
I know that most Americans are decent folk at heart. So, I urged in my
response, please do not blame Muslims for the actions of people whom they
neither elected nor support.
The
pre-Iraq Not in our Name movement in the west has found its Muslim
cousin. Perhaps the next step is an international protest song targeted at the
wilfully deaf on both sides, grouping together top western and Muslim artists
to voice young people's rejection of terrorism and the so-called war on terror.
Perhaps Faithless, who condemn fear as a weapon of
mass destruction, and Michael Franti,
who reminds us that we cannot bomb the world into peace, would join such an
international effort? Who else do you think should sing along for peace?
July 2007 –
The time is ripe for a Middle Eastern sexual revolution and there are signs
that a quiet one is in progress. But will young Arabs openly stand up for their
right to get laid? Read
on
A war on error
June 2007 – It is time to dispel the myths
surrounding Muslims – namely, that we are all terrorist anti-feminist
teetotallers. Read on
A war on error (2)
June 2007 – It is time to dispel the myths that
conservative Muslims often propagate about 'the west'. Read on
Conversion is not a crime
December 2005 – Muriel Degauque has the dubious
distinction of being the first white European female suicide bomber. Shocking
as this is, suggestions that we have reached a dangerous turning point and that
converts are brainwashed fanatics and their partners are comic-book villains
are unfair to the vast majority of converts and to non-converts married to
Muslims.Read on
A revision of Salman Rushdie’s vision –
We need
ijtihadis, not jihadis
September 2005 – Salman Rushdie’s proposed Islamic
Reformation touches on the urgent need for reform in most Muslim societies. But
his vision needs serious revision if it is to work. Read on
Islam and Europe:
Clash and mash
April 2005 –
Khaled Diab and Katleen Maes examine the myths driving anti-Islamic fervour in
the EU. Read
on
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is the copyright of Khaled Diab.
