Attending the Middle East discussion lecture series at the Overture Center this past Wednesday inspired me to realize what I've already realized, over and over again. Disenfranchised, poor, unhappy people can really make a mess of things when they have little regard for rule of law. But, what to do when those unhappy people mobilize or create instability in our borders? Nadav Shelef and Ali Abootalebi discussed "Paths to Peace" in the Overture Center to educate the public, once again, on the problems existing in the Middle East and to produce clean, broad academic solutions.
We all learned about power struggle in the Middle East, American hegemony in the Middle East and most of all, the factionalism of the Middle East. I can only hope my mom restrains herself from disowning me for cursing my Arab roots from time to time.
Professor Shelef is a professor in Israeli Studies and Political Science here at UW-Madison and is anything but a talking head, but these lectures are starting to build up with no outlet in our government. How many of us have been to lectures on the Middle East? If so, have you noticed a moving crowd that follows you? If we're preaching to the choir about the nuances of Middle East politics and pathways to peace, where is the dramatic change? Who is representing us?
A list of questions may not be the best way to solve a problem, but perhaps the lack of doubt and reevaluation is aggravating the problem. So, no, I'm not entirely against academic lectures. But what I am against is the stagnancy they promote. There is no guarantee that the audience understands the necessity and practicality that can be harnessed from these lectures.
Professor Abootalibi almost spoon-fed us activism by linking our (Wisconsin-sensitive) American-bred problem of elaborate campaign finance with the inadequacy of our representatives. And perhaps, even further to the inability of our government to concertedly define and filter out the true enemy of our territories. These are Religious or secular fundamentalists intent on bringing destruction with their solution to a problem viciously exacerbated. Not the political refugee, aspiring foreign professional or controversial Islamic studies author Tariq Ali.
The proposed "Sensenbrenner" Bill has enhanced the fierce attack on immigrants and "outsiders" within our borders. Yes, there is indeed a sense of "us vs. them" being cultivated in our culture, and that reeks of psychological advertisement for our men in suits on the Hill. If we keep going to these lectures, yes, we'll be educated on the differences between President Bush speaking to us and Condoleeza Rice speaking to our international neighbors — but they will continue to undercut our integrity and pride in our country as they are entirely uninterested in any pathway to peace.
Our domestic fight against terrorism has been messy and embarrassing to date, even if we all gratefully pause for the effective information that has protected our lives. Karen Greenberg, executive director for New York University's Center on Law and Security, explains that we're still not seeing consistent and substantive evidential cases being brought against terrorist suspects. In an interview with PBS Frontline, Karen laments, "there is a great deal of fanfare when a case is initially brought, before the indictment … but if you actually follow the case itself, those links to terrorism often do not materialize in the court record, in the follow-up with the media … "
So although the audience loved to hear the explanations and elaborations by Professor Shelef and Abutalibi, I am left unsatisfied with the changes from above. How oblivious and uninformed do we appear about the offenses they perpetuate in our name, all while they never worry we will really commit to a change in our political system. Is Foley really going to be the reason we see a Democratic majority? Or are we going to see representatives that are accountable to our definitions of justice and rule of equitable law?
Suzanne Zoheri (smzoheri@wisc.edu) is a senior majoring in history and global cultures.