'Hope not Hate' forum challenges stereotypes about Muslims

'Hope not Hate' forum challenges stereotypes about Muslims

by Leslie Talmadge
Brunswick Times Record (ME)
09/15/2004

BRUNSWICK - You don't have to be a male Arab from Tikrit to be horrified by the recent abuse of prisoners by U.S. prison guards at Abu Graib, according to Kevin Reinhart, professor of Islamic religious studies at Dartmouth College.

Reinhart, who attended high school in Turkey and spent last summer doing humanitarian work in Iraq, was part of a diverse panel that spoke Tuesday night at Bowdoin College as part of a program sponsored by Americans for Informed Democracy, a nonprofit group that aspires to foster global understanding.

Other panelists included former 1st District Rep. James Longley Jr., R-Maine, a Roman Catholic who served in the Marine Corps; and Anouar Majid, who was born in Morocco and now serves as professor and chairman of the English department at the University of New England.

The "Hope Not Hate" meeting was one of more than 30 such "town hall meetings" on U.S.-Islamic relations held this month at college campuses throughout the country.

Reinhart outlined an important paradox at the heart of U.S.-Islamic relations: On the one hand, understanding Muslims in Iraq, Egypt, Turkey and elsewhere helps us to formulate smart policies; on the other hand, emphasizing the "foreign-ness" of Arab culture dehumanizes Arabs and "makes Muslims seem more mysterious, like an alien species." The latter viewpoint impedes our understanding of them, he said.

Referring to the prisoner abuses in Iraq, he said the situation has been explained in terms of Arab men's sense of honor and modesty. It's horrific, we conclude, because of Arab sensibilities. But, he said, "the very fact we try to explain it by Arab character denies the humanity we both share." Reinhart argued that the implication should be that these actions are horrific by any cultural standards.

He urged Americans to "imagine ourselves differently" — to try to regard our actions from the experience of much of the Arab world. Citing a litany of actions by Europeans and the United States, including stationing U.S. troops in Lebanon in 1958, invading Iraq in 1991 and again in 2003 and invading Afghanistan, Reinhart said even if a number of these actions were good things, we are perceived as the "proverbial 600-pound gorilla."

"Suppose we're the country that gets repeatedly invaded. See the world from that point of view," he urged.

Longley conceded that "we have these stereotypes that misinform." But, he said, the bottom line is we were attacked on Sept. 11, 2001. Describing some of his experiences while serving in the first Persian Gulf War, he stressed that Islam represents a wider range of values perhaps than even Western values. The challenge is to try to reconcile the differences between the two value systems. But, he said, "We have an obligation as a country to protect our citizens."

Anouar Majid outlined two challenges for different cultures to come together. First, the tendency toward universalism or absolutism — the belief that as Muslims or as Americans we believe in the correctness of our beliefs along with the inability to be self-critical — is a major obstacle.

"To hold such views in such a crowded, global environment is to invite disagreement if not to invite conflict," he said. "People have this sense of separateness from others, which is the problem. That's why education is so great."

Majid said the United States, in particular, is an idealistic culture that was conceived as a beacon of freedom.

"It's hard for Americans not to believe in their version of American freedom," he said. Suggesting that the entire world cannot afford to live the American lifestyle and that the natural resources could not support that vision, he asked, "Why do we think there's only one economic model for the whole world?"

Americans and Muslims are trapped in our ideological beliefs, thereby causing both cultures to lose sight of the common destiny of humanity.

"There is tremendous misunderstanding on both sides," he said. Muslims have no sense of American history — their image of the United States is based on popular culture — and Americans similarly lack information about the Muslims. Only through discussions and debate can this gap be bridged, he said.

Longley agreed that the first step is understanding. But, he said, "Just because you understand each other doesn't mean you agree. And people lose sight of that. It's just not 'Kumbaya.'"

Reinhart criticized the United States for more than just misunderstanding.

"We have created conditions by which moderate Islam is impossible," he said. "Let's support an environment we'd like. Out of that environment you'll see development of a democratic or moderate Islam, such as Turkey, which, he said, "is more or less a good neighbor."

And, he encouraged members of the audience not to be afraid. "If you have a chance to go to the Muslim world, go," he urged.