End terrorism with unconventional means
Nadia Elinbadi
Daily Targum
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J.
I'm half Arab. My father is Egyptian, and in the past 20 years he has tried to talk to me about my heritage and my ancestry, and I have denied him the privilege.
At the time my family's background was more than inhibiting, it was stifling my sense of independence. I didn't want to be regarded as an Arab, because I wanted to be regarded solely for my own being.
I didn't want to know, so I turned a deaf ear when my father spoke to me of a past I should have acknowledged, yet didn't. I'd like to apologize to my father today. I'd like to apologize for not understanding, and not listening.
For not making the effort toward empathy, because today I suffer in ignorance. I apologize for my country, the great and wonderful United States, which in all its glory and purity will never understand the need to lend an ear to others.
I apologize for the American people, who in their ignorance do not even know when they are being led. Who are sadly, like me, acting the part of a sheep.
Terrorism is defined as using the acts of extreme fear in a manner of coercion. Our president has visited the leaders of foreign countries to "pressure" them for their support in aiding our cause.
Asking France to not only support us in the fight against terrorism, but to refrain from trading with Iran and Iraq because of their prior involvement with terrorism.
How about our own prior involvement? How about our current involvement? How does a country as liberal as ours, one that trumps freedom, cover up the fact that we have trained bin Laden in his warfare?
How do we cover up the fact that we continually send arms and assistance to Israel to protect our interests there? How much do we need to gain from taking sides before we do?
There is a saying that goes: "Do not try to take down the Master with the Master's own tools." It is impossible to end terrorist attacks by using the same tactics.
So I'm not scared about renewed attacks upon the United States. I'm not scared about a building coming down around my ears when it seems like I have more to fear from the world coming down.
This endless circle of tragedies we will inflict upon each other will be never-ending. We must stop it before it starts. I do not mean war.
We must not inflict more unnecessary grief upon the world and those who suffer in it. We are a large, strong, important government — we do not need to "save face" by attacking a faceless shadow in the mountains of a foreign country.
We can be strong enough to make things right. To apologize for past transgressions, to protect ourselves better in the future and to show the world what true power and authority is.
We need not use it to make the world kneel before us, for there are those who will never kneel — I like to think that we are among them — but why add thousands of Americans and thousands of victims of war to the growing list of the dead?
In this tragic aftermath, we cannot change the past and bring back those who have lost their lives, but we can protect the lives of those still living.
We must reevaluate the things we learned in that moment of grace after the buildings had fallen. The silent moment of grace where what mattered most was forefront in our minds: family, friends, love and hope for peace.
Do not let the deceptions of the media and the governments hold the power for our future in their hands.
They are incapable of treating it with the tenderness it deserves.
They will scream war and retribution because they know we are scared, and they know we want to hurt those who have hurt us.
But as for the leaders of our country, they are surprisingly uncreative. There must be another way, and if we cannot think of one today, we must hold off for one more day and give ourselves time.
I urge you all to make your voices heard. We should not let ourselves be intimidated by the minority who want war just because their voices are so much louder than our own.
Pain, fear and ignorance are often blanketed by strong emotions yelled at top volume. Do not let us send off our siblings, our parents and our friends to die forsomething we have no control over.
We must always have the control — we have the vote, we have our voices and we will be heard.
This column first ran on Sept. 25 in the Rutgers University newspaper, The Daily Targum. It appears here courtesy of U-WIRE.
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
All Viewpoint Stories for Thursday, September 27, 2001
