Another route into less xenophobic reasoning is to think in what circumstances we would be fighting like the 'terrorists' = perhaps against a technologically superior alien race bent on our destruction.
On 16 Jan, 16:27, ornamentalmind <[email protected]> wrote: > This is a continuation of the "Are Muslims making you nervous?" topic. > > For those who might be interested in experiencing all three ways of > knowing about this subject, this author appears to provide the > opportunity through more insight than most can provide. If you have > the time to watch the Booktv video, the empathetical sense is evoked > as well as analysis and analogy. > > http://www.booktv.org/Watch/11072/A+Country+Called+Amreeka+Arab+Roots... > > At one point she says “The main point is to not have fear.” > > From one page of her websitehttp://aliamalek.com/is a synopsis of > her book: > > “Among the surfeit of narratives about Arabs that have been published > in recent years, surprisingly little has been reported on Arabs in > America — an increasingly relevant issue. This book is the most > powerful approach imaginable: it is the story of the last forty-plus > years of American history, told through the eyes of Arab Americans. It > begins in 1963, before major federal legislative changes seismically > transformed the course of American immigration forever. Each chapter > describes an event in U.S. history — which may already be familiar to > us — and invites us to live that moment in time in the skin of one > Arab American. The chapters follow a timeline from 1963 to the > present, and the characters live in every corner of this country. > > These are dramatic narratives, describing the very human experiences > of love, friendship, family, courage, hate, and success. There are the > timeless tales of an immigrant community becoming American, the > nostalgia for home, the alienation from a society sometimes as > intolerant as its laws are generous. A Country Called Amreeka’s > snapshots allow us the complexity of its characters’ lives with an > impassioned narrative normally found in fiction. > > Read separately, the chapters are entertaining and harrowing > vignettes; read together, they add a new tile to the mosaic of our > history. We meet fellow Americans of all creeds and colors, among them > the Alabama football player who navigates the stringent racial mores > of segregated Birmingham, where a church bombing wakes a nation to the > need to make America a truly more equal place; the young wife from > Ramallah — now living in Baltimore — who had to abandon her beautiful > home and is now asked by a well-meaning American, “How do you like > living in an apartment after living in a tent?”; the Detroit toughs > and the potsmoking suburban teenagers, who in different decades become > politicized and serious about their heritage despite their own wills; > the homosexual man afraid to be gay in the Arab world and afraid to be > Arab in America; the two formidable women who wind up working for > opposing campaigns in the 2000 presidential election; the Marine > fighting in Iraq who meets villagers who ask him, “What are you, an > Arab, doing here?” We glimpse how America sees Arabs as much as how > Arabs see America. We revisit the 1973 oil embargo that initiated the > American perception of all Arabs as oil-rich sheikhs; the 1979 Iranian > hostage crisis that heralded the arrival of Middle Eastern Islam in > the American consciousness; bombings across three decades in Los > Angeles, Oklahoma City, and New York City that bring terrorism to > American soil; and both wars in Iraq that have posed Arabs as the > enemies of America. > > In a post-9/11 world, Arabic names are everywhere in America, but our > eyes glaze over them; we sometimes don’t know how to pronounce them or > understand whence they come. A Country Called Amreeka gives us the > faces behind those names and tells the story of a community it has > become essential for us to understand. We can’t afford to be > oblivious.” > > On another page is found different news presentations of her work > including everything from the Christian Science Monitor to a program > on Aljazeera. > > http://aliamalek.com/in-the-news/A blurb about the latter program > shown on YouTube here is printed on that page as follows: > > “Arab Americans have been in the US since before its founding but are > often treated with hostility and distrust by their countrymen. > > With the American government heavily involved in the Middle East, they > must deal with the political and emotional challenges of belonging to > a country that sometimes pursues policies that are unpopular in their > family's homeland. > > Seen by potential immigrants as a utopia, does the 'promised land' > offer the opportunity and freedom they expected? > What is it like having your feet straddle two worlds? > > On this episode of the Riz Khan show we look at the challenges and > prospects facing Arab Americans today and ask a bigger question: The > US is a nation of immigrants, but what does it take to actually become > American and succeed? > Joining the programme are Alia Malek, the author of A Country Called > Amreeka: Arab Roots, American Stories, and Steven Roberts, the author > of From Every End of This Earth: 13 Families and the New Lives They > Made in America.”
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