Tuesday, December 29, 2009,
11:50 PM
Unless the majority of Jews and Muslims speak up, the evil men continue to do what works for their best interests. To be Evil is to kill, support or justify killing of another human. Neither Torah nor Qur’aan supports what Hamas or Israelis are doing, yet the inaction of Jews and Muslims is shameful. Both the books say, "to save a life is to save the whole humanity or to kill a life is like killing the whole humanity."
Approximately 1,000 men and women from 42 different countries, including the drivers of the move, the CODE PINK organization are daring to cross the Rafah Border going into Gaza as we speak now at midnight US Central time. This includes four of our heroes, whom I know- Aishah Schwartz (on facebook), Col Ann Wright, Roger Kallenberg and Diane Baker from Dallas Peace center. I salute them. It reminds me of Mahatma Gandhi's Dandi March, where thousands of men and women dared bullets and marched on, got beaten, but didn't get beat.
Continued: http://israel-palestine-dialogue.blogspot.com/2009/12/gaza-march.html
~~
Showing posts with label Stereotyping Muslims. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stereotyping Muslims. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Stereotyping Muslims and Jews
.
I have been sharing these two stories about how Muslims and Jews stereo type each other and yet, when asked individually, they would seek the truth. I hope through this story, we learn a lesson and speak up the truth, in the long haul, every one would be better off.
I was with a group of Jews after the movie "the monster among us" shown in a local auditorium.
I made copiuos notes about the 72 minute movie, and after the moive, there was a demand from audience to know if a Muslim had seen the movie, and there was a lady who said, I have many Muslim women friends, this movie does not reflect anthing like them. The barrage of questions was endless and I kept raising my hand to address some of the questions, but it took a chorus from the audience "give him the microphone" to get me to speak for a few brief moments.
Indeed the first thing I did was to hug a holocaust survivor who literally cried during the movie and during his comment. I wanted him to know that we are all humans and we need to be together in sharing the sorrows and joys.
I spoke about the movie, and condmned the ugly parts about anti-semitism in Europe, the efforts of the producer were lauded for bringing this to the fore. However, there were serious mistakes made in the movie, either they were deliberately made to fish money out by scaring the Jews who have survived the holocaust or a have made a genuine mistake.
The producer had warned me that the movie is one sided, "strictly a Jewish opinion" that made me want to see that perspective to understand and bring about a solution. In the movie, there was a Jewish professor of Islam in France, who said unlike the Jews and Christians, Muslims don't beleive in the messiah and beleive Muhammad will come and kill or convert every one to be a Muslim. The producer argued about the professors credentials, and I laid it out, that he did not know that aspect of Islam and challenged the audience to pick up the phone and call 100 Muslims randomly to verify this, and make their own determination. It is a cooked up lie to support the movie and further to cash on the fears. There were several flaws in the movie, another one was a man with a beard saying hateful things towards Jews and a book was shown nearby him to create the false impression that it was the Qur'aan he was speaking from.
After the conversations, some 15 people gathered around me with more questions, then I narrated a story about Muslims in the same situation.
I was attending a dinner some five years ago, and after the initial prayers people formed smaller groups for conversation while the food was getting ready to be delivered. I was in a group of about 15 with an Imam in the center. The Imam was telling a story of an acquisition of a Synagogue some where in W.Virginia or one of those states... and concluded that " we beat them Jews in the deal and got it and it is a mosque today".
I jumped at him without blinking an eye, "Prophet Muhammad would not have liked this" I continued, "he would have condemned it, for it breeds ill-will towards a people without any reason"
There was a dead silence and I was worried which way it was going to go, but speaking the truth was paramount, then one of the guys broke that eternal silence of some five seconds and said, "Mike is right, why do we need to hate the Jews?" then one after the other every one nodeed in agreement. I looked up at the Imam, he apologized and I asked him "never do it again" and I have watched him several times after that, thank God, he has fixed himself up.
What I would like you to think about is that critical moment; had the silent been broken by the wrong guy and question me instead, "Mike he is the Imam, he knows what he is talking about, you better apologize to him" do you think the other sheep would have all jumped with him? I considered that, but speaking the truth is paramount, the eveil exists in the world because good people do nothing about it. I would have considered myself evil, had I remained silent. Would you feel the same in a situation like that?
After the story, I asked the Jews around me, by a raise of your hand how many of you would speak out against some one manufacturing ill-will towards Muslims, even it suits them? Every hand went up.
I congratulated them for being honest and forthright and told them... you know it is a coincidene that those Muslims were also 15 and every one spoke against the wrong, and now you have done the same... what if the group was 100, would I get the same response? The hands went up again. The same thing is true with Muslims, Jews, Christians, Hindus or any people.
Shame on us, many of us would walk away from the perceived trouble, it is as though encouraging the wrongdoers to go ahead. We worry about what the Jewish or Muslim or other gangsters are going to do to us if we spoke up? They would not spare Jimmy Carter or Salman Rushdie, they will make their lives miserable. That is fascism to hound the people who speak up.
My friends, this was a great example I have witnessed of stereotyping each other without logic or brains. People are inherently good but we need to keep them up and not let them fall into the pit of connivance.
If you are a Jew, Muslim, Christian, Hindu or otherwise, would you take a pledge to yourselves that you will speak out when some one is falsfying or spewing ill-will towards others, Even if it suits you?
It is you and your conscience and your solitude.
Let's change the world, one at a time. Let's become the change we want it to be like Mahatma Gandhi had said.
Mike Ghouse
#
I have been sharing these two stories about how Muslims and Jews stereo type each other and yet, when asked individually, they would seek the truth. I hope through this story, we learn a lesson and speak up the truth, in the long haul, every one would be better off.
I was with a group of Jews after the movie "the monster among us" shown in a local auditorium.
I made copiuos notes about the 72 minute movie, and after the moive, there was a demand from audience to know if a Muslim had seen the movie, and there was a lady who said, I have many Muslim women friends, this movie does not reflect anthing like them. The barrage of questions was endless and I kept raising my hand to address some of the questions, but it took a chorus from the audience "give him the microphone" to get me to speak for a few brief moments.
Indeed the first thing I did was to hug a holocaust survivor who literally cried during the movie and during his comment. I wanted him to know that we are all humans and we need to be together in sharing the sorrows and joys.
I spoke about the movie, and condmned the ugly parts about anti-semitism in Europe, the efforts of the producer were lauded for bringing this to the fore. However, there were serious mistakes made in the movie, either they were deliberately made to fish money out by scaring the Jews who have survived the holocaust or a have made a genuine mistake.
The producer had warned me that the movie is one sided, "strictly a Jewish opinion" that made me want to see that perspective to understand and bring about a solution. In the movie, there was a Jewish professor of Islam in France, who said unlike the Jews and Christians, Muslims don't beleive in the messiah and beleive Muhammad will come and kill or convert every one to be a Muslim. The producer argued about the professors credentials, and I laid it out, that he did not know that aspect of Islam and challenged the audience to pick up the phone and call 100 Muslims randomly to verify this, and make their own determination. It is a cooked up lie to support the movie and further to cash on the fears. There were several flaws in the movie, another one was a man with a beard saying hateful things towards Jews and a book was shown nearby him to create the false impression that it was the Qur'aan he was speaking from.
After the conversations, some 15 people gathered around me with more questions, then I narrated a story about Muslims in the same situation.
I was attending a dinner some five years ago, and after the initial prayers people formed smaller groups for conversation while the food was getting ready to be delivered. I was in a group of about 15 with an Imam in the center. The Imam was telling a story of an acquisition of a Synagogue some where in W.Virginia or one of those states... and concluded that " we beat them Jews in the deal and got it and it is a mosque today".
I jumped at him without blinking an eye, "Prophet Muhammad would not have liked this" I continued, "he would have condemned it, for it breeds ill-will towards a people without any reason"
There was a dead silence and I was worried which way it was going to go, but speaking the truth was paramount, then one of the guys broke that eternal silence of some five seconds and said, "Mike is right, why do we need to hate the Jews?" then one after the other every one nodeed in agreement. I looked up at the Imam, he apologized and I asked him "never do it again" and I have watched him several times after that, thank God, he has fixed himself up.
What I would like you to think about is that critical moment; had the silent been broken by the wrong guy and question me instead, "Mike he is the Imam, he knows what he is talking about, you better apologize to him" do you think the other sheep would have all jumped with him? I considered that, but speaking the truth is paramount, the eveil exists in the world because good people do nothing about it. I would have considered myself evil, had I remained silent. Would you feel the same in a situation like that?
After the story, I asked the Jews around me, by a raise of your hand how many of you would speak out against some one manufacturing ill-will towards Muslims, even it suits them? Every hand went up.
I congratulated them for being honest and forthright and told them... you know it is a coincidene that those Muslims were also 15 and every one spoke against the wrong, and now you have done the same... what if the group was 100, would I get the same response? The hands went up again. The same thing is true with Muslims, Jews, Christians, Hindus or any people.
Shame on us, many of us would walk away from the perceived trouble, it is as though encouraging the wrongdoers to go ahead. We worry about what the Jewish or Muslim or other gangsters are going to do to us if we spoke up? They would not spare Jimmy Carter or Salman Rushdie, they will make their lives miserable. That is fascism to hound the people who speak up.
My friends, this was a great example I have witnessed of stereotyping each other without logic or brains. People are inherently good but we need to keep them up and not let them fall into the pit of connivance.
If you are a Jew, Muslim, Christian, Hindu or otherwise, would you take a pledge to yourselves that you will speak out when some one is falsfying or spewing ill-will towards others, Even if it suits you?
It is you and your conscience and your solitude.
Let's change the world, one at a time. Let's become the change we want it to be like Mahatma Gandhi had said.
Mike Ghouse
#
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Happy Muslim Men
Happy Muslim Men and Women Who Confuse You
Mona;
When I speak, I get the exact same responses;
my Jewish friends constantly ask " are you an exception?...."...
my Christian friends " you are not a representation of Muslims.."
my Hindu friends " You don't behave like a Muslim.."
I assure them all, if you want to beleive, you need to meet enough Muslims, just about every one I know, and that is a very large, huge mega number, they all talk, act and behave like me.
Two ideas jump at you;
1) Not enough of us have interacted with many
2) Not enough of others have not interacted with Muslims.
As always, a good piece
Mike Ghouse
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------By Mona Eltahawy
Tuesday, March 24 2009
Published in Arabic in Qatar's Al Arab and in English in Metro Canada
There’s something wrong with the pictures coming out of Pakistan these days.
Ever since Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari reinstated the country’s chief justice, I’ve been trying to figure out what it was.
And then it hit me.
Happiness. Joy. Celebration.
How often do we see pictures of happy Muslim men? What a relief too that they were Pakistani.
I’ve developed a theory about the Muslims we see on our television screens and front pages and who are usually from Pakistan.
Angry Bearded Muslim Man is the favorite. Whenever the Muslim world is supposed to be upset or offended, invariably that story is illustrated by images of Angry Bearded Muslim man: marching (usually in Pakistan), shouting (fists raised in the air in righteous anger), and burning something (an American flag, an Israeli flag, preferably both!)
His female counterpart is Covered in Black Muslim Woman. She’s seen, never heard. Visible only in her invisibility under that black chador, burqa, face veil, etc.
In those images you have conveyed all you want to say about Muslims: the men are angry, dangerous and want to hurt us; the women are just covered in black.
While there are indeed some Muslim men and women who fit both such descriptions they are by no means the majority and they are utterly insufficient in describing the diversity of views, appearances and attitudes among Muslims.
As a journalist I am loathe to blame the media for all and any perceived ills. But in the case of Angry Bearded Muslim and Covered in Black Muslim Woman, the media really do have a lot to answer for. Whether it’s the laziness of television producers or the tight and rolling deadlines of the 24-hour news cycle, you can be sure that when it comes to representing Muslims I will always lose out to Angry Bearded Muslim and Covered in Black Muslim Woman.
And it’s quite easy to see why - they make for sexy TV and enticing front page photos. And they are my biggest competitors and nemeses when I give lectures or appear on television here in the U.S.
My first U.S. TV appearance was on the Fox News Network on a show called “The O’Reilly Factor”. The host of the show, Bill O’Reilly is known for his conservative views and his confrontational style which often provokes guests with the result that O’Reilly and the guest shout at each other. It’s more entertainment than news or information.
After my appearance on “The O’Reilly Factor”, some viewers sent me email asking “Are you sure you’re a Muslim? Where’s the headgear?” Others wanted to know why I spoke English so well. Clearly, I did not fit the image of the Covered in Black Muslim Woman that many American viewers are used to. I was confusing them.
People don’t like to be confused. I discovered that during a panel discussion I took part in at a cultural centre in New York City in 2007 in which the questions “What does a Muslim look like? What does a Muslim home look like? And just who exactly makes up the Muslim mainstream?” seemed to be the ones foremost on the audience’s mind.
The panel discussion was meant to highlight the diversity of Muslim voices and experiences in the United States. My fellow speakers and I offered quite different views on a range of subjects that surely were proof of the vibrant debate among Muslims but despite our best efforts, not all were convinced apparently. Two women from the audience were later overheard saying “They’re trying to convince us they’re the mainstream? They’re not the mainstream.”
That, coupled with a question during the question and answer session on “what does a Muslim home look like” (implied was that it can’t possibly look like a home any normal person would recognise), got me wondering against whom my co-panelists and I were being compared.
I’m quite sure it’s Angry Bearded Muslim Man. And Covered in Black Muslim Woman.
Which brings me back to the happy Pakistanis – men and women – in our newspapers these days.
While I’m the last person to deny the danger of radicals in the Muslim world - much of my time and effort go into denouncing violence in the name of religion – I am also a proud liberal, secular Muslims.
I love to confuse people by subverting the stereotype of Muslims that they always see and hear from. I believe that breaking the false equation between conservatism and authenticity is the best way to end the monopoly over religious thought by radicals and their supporters.
When we stop equating conservative with authentic, we recognize the diversity of Muslim views and refuse to allow one voice to speak for us all. Only then can we be recognized as human beings, in all our differences.
It is by confusing people that we are allowed to be human beings, not Muslims, not Angry Bearded Muslim Man or Covered in Black Muslim Woman but human beings.
That will become possible when we see more Happy Muslim Men and Women Who Confuse You.
Copyright Mona Eltahawy 2009
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mike Ghouse
www.MikeGhouse.net
www.FoundationforPluralism.com
www.WorldMuslimCongress.com
Mike Ghouse is a Dallas based writer, blogger, speaker and a thinker. A frequent guest on talk radio and local television networks offering pluralistic perspectives on issues of the day. His comments, news analysis and columns can be found on the Websites and Blogs listed at his personal website.
Mona;
When I speak, I get the exact same responses;
my Jewish friends constantly ask " are you an exception?...."...
my Christian friends " you are not a representation of Muslims.."
my Hindu friends " You don't behave like a Muslim.."
I assure them all, if you want to beleive, you need to meet enough Muslims, just about every one I know, and that is a very large, huge mega number, they all talk, act and behave like me.
Two ideas jump at you;
1) Not enough of us have interacted with many
2) Not enough of others have not interacted with Muslims.
As always, a good piece
Mike Ghouse
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------By Mona Eltahawy
Tuesday, March 24 2009
Published in Arabic in Qatar's Al Arab and in English in Metro Canada
There’s something wrong with the pictures coming out of Pakistan these days.
Ever since Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari reinstated the country’s chief justice, I’ve been trying to figure out what it was.
And then it hit me.
Happiness. Joy. Celebration.
How often do we see pictures of happy Muslim men? What a relief too that they were Pakistani.
I’ve developed a theory about the Muslims we see on our television screens and front pages and who are usually from Pakistan.
Angry Bearded Muslim Man is the favorite. Whenever the Muslim world is supposed to be upset or offended, invariably that story is illustrated by images of Angry Bearded Muslim man: marching (usually in Pakistan), shouting (fists raised in the air in righteous anger), and burning something (an American flag, an Israeli flag, preferably both!)
His female counterpart is Covered in Black Muslim Woman. She’s seen, never heard. Visible only in her invisibility under that black chador, burqa, face veil, etc.
In those images you have conveyed all you want to say about Muslims: the men are angry, dangerous and want to hurt us; the women are just covered in black.
While there are indeed some Muslim men and women who fit both such descriptions they are by no means the majority and they are utterly insufficient in describing the diversity of views, appearances and attitudes among Muslims.
As a journalist I am loathe to blame the media for all and any perceived ills. But in the case of Angry Bearded Muslim and Covered in Black Muslim Woman, the media really do have a lot to answer for. Whether it’s the laziness of television producers or the tight and rolling deadlines of the 24-hour news cycle, you can be sure that when it comes to representing Muslims I will always lose out to Angry Bearded Muslim and Covered in Black Muslim Woman.
And it’s quite easy to see why - they make for sexy TV and enticing front page photos. And they are my biggest competitors and nemeses when I give lectures or appear on television here in the U.S.
My first U.S. TV appearance was on the Fox News Network on a show called “The O’Reilly Factor”. The host of the show, Bill O’Reilly is known for his conservative views and his confrontational style which often provokes guests with the result that O’Reilly and the guest shout at each other. It’s more entertainment than news or information.
After my appearance on “The O’Reilly Factor”, some viewers sent me email asking “Are you sure you’re a Muslim? Where’s the headgear?” Others wanted to know why I spoke English so well. Clearly, I did not fit the image of the Covered in Black Muslim Woman that many American viewers are used to. I was confusing them.
People don’t like to be confused. I discovered that during a panel discussion I took part in at a cultural centre in New York City in 2007 in which the questions “What does a Muslim look like? What does a Muslim home look like? And just who exactly makes up the Muslim mainstream?” seemed to be the ones foremost on the audience’s mind.
The panel discussion was meant to highlight the diversity of Muslim voices and experiences in the United States. My fellow speakers and I offered quite different views on a range of subjects that surely were proof of the vibrant debate among Muslims but despite our best efforts, not all were convinced apparently. Two women from the audience were later overheard saying “They’re trying to convince us they’re the mainstream? They’re not the mainstream.”
That, coupled with a question during the question and answer session on “what does a Muslim home look like” (implied was that it can’t possibly look like a home any normal person would recognise), got me wondering against whom my co-panelists and I were being compared.
I’m quite sure it’s Angry Bearded Muslim Man. And Covered in Black Muslim Woman.
Which brings me back to the happy Pakistanis – men and women – in our newspapers these days.
While I’m the last person to deny the danger of radicals in the Muslim world - much of my time and effort go into denouncing violence in the name of religion – I am also a proud liberal, secular Muslims.
I love to confuse people by subverting the stereotype of Muslims that they always see and hear from. I believe that breaking the false equation between conservatism and authenticity is the best way to end the monopoly over religious thought by radicals and their supporters.
When we stop equating conservative with authentic, we recognize the diversity of Muslim views and refuse to allow one voice to speak for us all. Only then can we be recognized as human beings, in all our differences.
It is by confusing people that we are allowed to be human beings, not Muslims, not Angry Bearded Muslim Man or Covered in Black Muslim Woman but human beings.
That will become possible when we see more Happy Muslim Men and Women Who Confuse You.
Copyright Mona Eltahawy 2009
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mike Ghouse
www.MikeGhouse.net
www.FoundationforPluralism.com
www.WorldMuslimCongress.com
Mike Ghouse is a Dallas based writer, blogger, speaker and a thinker. A frequent guest on talk radio and local television networks offering pluralistic perspectives on issues of the day. His comments, news analysis and columns can be found on the Websites and Blogs listed at his personal website.
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