Unfortunately, violence is becoming synonymous with a new and expanding Middle East. The geographic space that is the Middle East has grown considerably over the past few decades to the point that one can simply replace "Middle East" with "Muslim countries." From reading major media outlets, it seems as though in the Middle East and wherever Islam is predominant, peace seems impossible and violence and death are commonplace. In Afghanistan, Taliban leaders, tribal warlords and NATO troops fight viciously over towns and villages while suicide bombers threaten foreign troops and nearby civilians. In Pakistan, a government is forced to bomb its own towns and villages in order to maintain a precarious order. In Sudan, a government provides tacit support to quasi-genocide. Shia Hezbollah and Sunni pro-government supporters stand at the brink of another Lebanese civil war while Syria and Iran maneuver for leverage against their regional rival of Israel. In Palestine, Fatah and Hamas wage a civil war fought in the streets of Gaza while Israel breathes a sigh of relief — content only as much as those who are satisfied that it's "them" and not "us" can be. In Iraq, Shia and Sunni seem to be an American withdrawal away from all-out civil war, and scores die daily in senseless sectarian violence.
We are bombarded with a myriad of images depicting many of Islam's adherents in violent and hateful acts. The images of Sept. 11 are still fresh in our minds, and Americans are all too aware that our war on terror is overwhelmingly a war on Islamic extremism. Islam, however, is no longer a buzzword that sends Americans into a frenzy of worry and ignorant confusion. Americans have made strides — meager at least, significant at best — to understand and even embrace what was once an enigmatic and mis-portrayed religion. Recently, Keith Ellison of Minnesota became America's first Muslim congressman, and Zalmay Khalilzad will become our nation's first Muslim ambassador to United Nations and the first Muslim to serve on a U.S. president's cabinet.
Americans are no longer interested in whatever agenda it was Osama bin Laden and his ilk seemed bent on pressing upon the United States but instead are more interested in learning about the religion he claims to represent. A lot of us even know the difference between Shia and Sunni. America is no longer convinced its interests lie diametrically opposed to Islam's. Instead, we have found a variety of Muslim voices and listened, somewhat belligerently at first, but with an increasing understanding and objectivity. There is an undercurrent of change that we are increasingly beginning to embrace.
There truly is no better way to get Americans to acknowledge your qualms and complaints than by violently forcing us to acknowledge that you and your problems exist. Well, congratulations Islamic extremism, you got our attention. Since the 9/11 attacks, interest in Islam, its prophet and the Quran have increased. In Great Britain, Penguin, a publisher of an English translation of the Quran, saw a 15-fold increase in sales of its English translation of the Quran in the months following 9/11.
Increased interest in Islam following the 9/11 attacks has been widespread. Islam has seen an increase in conversion, and the study of the language of the Quran, Arabic, has heightened. On our own campus, classes teaching Arabic and Urdu are becoming more and more difficult to get into, and classes offering the literature and history of Muslim cultures are always filled.
So what surprises me about so-called radical Islam is not so much that radical Islam simply cannot put up with the bacchanalian West. Rather it is that Islamic extremism so often cannot find enough common ground among its own adherents to respond decisively to the West's burgeoning willingness to change.
After 9/11, Americans began to listen more intently. We sought an explanation for the hatred. Yet, we were disappointed when we were provided not a chorus but a cacophony. It seems that sectarianism is deep seated within many disgruntled adherents of Islam. Sunni and Shia barely seem capable of communicating effectively with one another, much less communicating a solution to the clash of cultures that seems to plague our relations with Islam.
We are watching, listening and learning, yet a majority of what we see seems to be anger, hatred and sectarian violence. Blame it on CNN if you want, but American interest and patience are beginning to wane. Whatever it was that Islamic extremists seemed to want, they're going to have a tough time getting it. Until Muslims, extremist or not, begin to speak with a unified voice, Americans are going to have a tough time listening. Chalk it up to our short attention spans, but with a culture that seems possessed with anger at itself as well as others, Americans may begin to stop listening altogether.
Gerald Cox ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in economics and Middle Eastern studies.
