Well...what an interesting 24 hours this has been. My fingers are cramped from typing all night last night. I was answering phone calls, ims and e-mail from friends and students all night. I was up until 1:30 a.m. I have never watched TV for that long in my life. It was interesting getting the various reactions from fearing the world was going ot end the same day and wanting to make the middle east "a parking lot" by "nuking the shit out of it." The anitpathy, ethnocentrism, and vengeful patriotism cuased by this situation is horrifying and the media is NOT helping at all. They are making things worse by showing clips over and over again and in increasing severity. They are propogandistically using the flag to incite fear and panic in order for the eventual call to war to seem more credible. I am not downplaying the severity of the situation because it is devestaing, but the pointing of fingers against groups and culture based SOLELY on looks is ridiculous. I face some problems whenI first came to this country because I look like an Arab (barely) and people assumed I was form Iraq. I got some dirty looks and muttered slurs today, but you know what...I did not care. I felt more for those internationla students who are not as socialized as I am. Being hostile towards those people is pointless, I battled their ignorance in my classroom and in another famous Fadi editorial for the school newspaper. The students needed the discussion and they needed to understand some of the whats and whys of cultures, peoples, and countries outside of America. As horrible as this sounds, this is the wake up call that America needed. Ignorance is what is going ot make this situaion worse. I heard word that some of the Arab students were harrassed and some attacked. This is all ridiculous because the fingers are pointing to Afghanistan which is not even an Arab country or a part of the Middle East. People cannot discern between different cultures...everyone who is not an American is the "other" and the different. I truly hope they find the guilty for the plain fact that these attacks and hatred towards the other will get worse. If the comments I heard from students and friends last night are any indication Arabs and Arab-Americans and Muslims are in trouble. Bullshit....yes....expected....yes....surprised....not really.

What makes this all the more freakish is reading Nostradamus' predictions about WW3. These events are all playing into what he talked about. Rather freakish. I know prophecies should always be taken with a grain of salt, but if we can buy into the bible and its prophecies, we can buy into the others. However, using those and religion as ammunition and reasons to go to war is assinine. There is not need for more loss of innocent life...regardless of a cultural connection. I fear for what is to come and I fear for those students at USF.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 12, 2001 at 8:11 PM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.