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Contextualize with care

By David Henschke

A recent Wespeak began by pointing out the inherent danger in making generalizations. The Wespeak was also written in order to put the “hateful and violent language” sometimes seen in the Arabic media into context. The Wespeak then went on to justify terrorism, generalize about Israeli society and fail to put American and Israeli policy into context.

The Wespeak failed to convince me why Professor Schwarcz’s comments at the “Israel and the Current Crisis” forum and her subsequent Wespeak were racist. At the forum Professor Schwarcz said, “listen carefully between what you hear in English and what you hear in Arabic. In English you will hear words that are consoling and commiserating and in Arabic you will hear hate and kill.” She followed that with, “I do not say all Arabs and Muslims, but there is a disparity.” I still cannot understand why it was racist of Prof. Schwarcz to not focus on the many who do not preach hate in the Arab and Moslem world. Those who hold candlelight vigils and write against racism and anti-Semitism are not the kind of people that the world has to worry about. Instead, we have to worry about those like Dr. Atallah Abu Al-Subh, a columnist for the Hamas weekly Al-Risala, who wrote how happy he is over the recent anthrax deaths and threats. I could quote others, but instead I’ll ask readers to visit The Middle East Media Research Institute at www.memri.org and read translations from the media in the Middle East.

The Wespeak then appears to justify terror, but I hope that was just a slip. Professor Schwarcz was quoted as saying, “there is no reason for terror.” The Wespeak then proceeded to give reasons for why many in the Arab world are angry at the United States. I believe that the authors meant to justify the hate and incitement that can sometimes be found in the Arabic media and not terrorism itself, but it is only a short logical leap.

Anti-Western and anti-American feelings are attributed to the sanctions against Iraq and Western colonialism. I do not deny that many feel this way, but that doesn’t mean that they are correct. Anti-American feelings are so strong because for decades the United States has been vilified and called the “Great Satan”. Some of this is because of America’s policies, but some of it comes from the fact that sometimes it is easier to blame others than to blame yourself. (Just look at the recent attempts by many in the Arab world to blame the World Trade Center attack on Jews and the Mossad.) Terrorism against the United States didn’t begin with the Gulf War. Violence against Americans goes back to at least 1983 with an attack on the U.S. embassy in Lebanon, killing 63. That was followed by other attacks on Americans in embassies, ships, planes and all around the world.

Finally the Wespeak concluded by pointing out that not all Israelis are Jewish and therefore that not all Israelis are afraid of terrorism. It is certainly true that around 20% of Israelis are not Jewish, but I wonder if only Israeli Jews are afraid of suicide bombers and getting ambushed and killed while driving on a road. Israel is not a racist society and I wonder how many ever think about putting Israel’s actions and policies into “context” or worry about generalizing about Israel. It is true that a dozen Arab-Israelis were killed while rioting last year and that perhaps the police acted inappropriately, but Israel is a democracy with a strong judiciary. There is currently a commission investigating the incident. I would also like to point out that the Palestinian police killed two Palestinians and injured 76 while trying to disperse a pro-Bin Laden rally in early October.

When attempting to put actions into context, one should be careful to not put them into the context that best fits your argument. The reality is that the groups that use “hateful and violent language” mean it and there is no point to sugar coat it, ignore it or look to its root causes in an attempt to pass the blame onto someone else. Instead it must be confronted even at the risk of being labeled a “racist”.

Henschke is a member of the class of 2003.