We watched a documentary today in global media- how the US views Arabs, how we and others took Palestinian land, and why we support Israel.
It is hard for me to watch clips of Bill OReiley and FOX news. I don’t watch news television at home, unless it’s Democracy Now, and I don’t hang out with conservatives. To see the hate, the utter hate and evil that comes out of this man’s mouth is nothing short of repulsive to me. Then that repulsion turns to sadness, because I truly hate to think that any portion of the American public actually feels that way: that Arabs are all evil, that Islam hates freedom, and that all those “rats” deserve death.
I’m also processing the fact that I am incredibly drawn to Islamic culture and its peoples. When I think logically about this- I can’t relate to Islam at all. TOTAL submission to God? Not quite me. But I truly think I’ve come to this as a reaction to what has been submitted by my culture. To call Arabs “haters of freedom”, evil, and terrorists- well- these are all qualities I would attribute to the United States. What is terror? Is it bombing innocent civilians in the night to safeguard your economic interests? Is it attacking a people whose culture you find to be an assault on your God and your way of life? Couldn’t that last one be attributed to both sides in this ‘battle’?
Anyhow- I guess what I wanted to say is that 1) I’m shocked, deeply saddened, and disgusted with the way our mass media portrays the world, and 2) That I’m truly hoping to experience Middle Eastern culture in Egypt and Turkey-almost as a way of refuting the above. I want to find beautiful, kind people and take that hope to all the haters and say “look now! You’ve watched news but I’ve been there so let go of your damned animosity.”
I guess we’ll see what happens soon enough.
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