-Caveat Lector-
12 - Sep - 2001 / 09:18 PM GMT
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EDITORIAL:Will Americans react once the inevitable occurs?
Sep 09, 2001, 12:38 PM
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������ (AROL) - IT IS inevitable. Despite their best intentions, Americans,
are going to find themselves physically part of the conflict in the Middle East.
What will happen then, especially in light of the American convention of
protecting their own? Even recently when a young man was accused of
possessing and dealing drugs in Russia, he knew he could count on his
President to whisper in the ear of President Putin for a get out of jail free card.
And now Israelis are hitting Palestinian-Americans in their continuing
aggression. It was inevitable. Will President Bush come to their aid the
same way he did for the American accused of drug crimes? It is curious to
most outside the US, outrageous to others, that American citizens continue,
day to day, to sit in their homes eating dinner, watching television and
allowing the violence to continue in the Occupied Territories. How can
Americans sit back and watch a people ‘targeted’ by weapons their
very government supplies? Are they unaware they are financing this
aggression? Haven’t Americans realized their silence makes them as
much a part of this as their President and his ill-defined policies?
Truth is, they don’t. Americans’ relation to the world is complicated. It is a
complexity that is perhaps best understood in the Middle East, where complexity is a
way of life. It is complicated by a media that sees
its job as entertainer first and then as a very selective informer. It is complicated
by a society that seems to value pop culture and the Weather Channel over global
warming and the ill-effects of globalization. It is
a nation of consumers whose power is unknown to them. Many live in a vacuum unaware of
the brutality outside. And now, largely unbeknownst to them, they are playing a role
in the way a war is being waged. It is not a dec
lared war; to label it so changes political dynamics. Though most involved would feel
a sense of relief at calling a spade a spade. Are Americans aware that no response
still counts as a response, leaving them complicit i
n actions they would surely find reprehensible?
Right now Americans are worried about their dollars. The US economy is in the
doldrums. Afraid to say the word ‘recession’, a struggle continues as the budget
surplus promised by the previous administration dwindles a
nd the finger pointing begins.
With all this in mind, will Americans remain mute when one of their own comes in
harm’s way? Western media reports change their tone and direction when an American
face or voice tells the tale.
American reports from the assassination of Abu Ali Mustapha ran with American voices
telling American perspectives of the atrocity. Does this make it more legitimate to
Americans? Yes. Should it? Surely not. But the real
ity is Americans come together when they see one of their own attacked. Israeli
movement into Beit Jala resulted in reports subtly tinged with the words ‘a largely
Christian community.’ Islam, so often misunderstood
or maligned, can now be removed as a filter for American relevance. Here was a moment
that showed it did not matter the faith; no one was immune.
For the message to be understood it must cross the threshold, entering American
homes, making point after point. Only then can the political change so desperately
needed in American-Middle East policy begin.
It is difficult to blame an American public so dumbed down by a media tightly aligned
with corporate sponsors whose primary focus is consumerism. The message gets lost
time and again. It is unfortunate it takes the sound
of an American voice to break through all the media static, but this is the American
reality. The sound of one American voice speaking will not change things. But the
fact it is heard at all could be the beginning of a
sea of change. One report leads to another until slowly Americans develop some
sophistication and awaken from their slumber. This fact should not be lost as the
media war unfolds.
Seeing American faces standing amongst the rubble of another Israeli attack
begs a question: Will it take American blood drawn by Israel and likely fired
from American weaponry to make Americans care? Perhaps. In a war where
the targets of so-called "targeted killings" end up women and children, such
a circumstance seems inevitable. Americans don_t see Israel_s policies in
the Middle East as a personal threat. It is out there, happening to a people
and a faith they don_t understand. Only when they appreciate the relevance,
understand the similarity and realize the faces on television could be their
own, will they cry out for change and hopefully justice.
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