International Studies

While at Notre Dame, I met the new Henry Luce Professor of Islamic Studies–the successor to the aborted appointment of Tariq Ramadan. The Ramadan case was instructive in itself; his work visa was summarily revoked because he had once (pre-9/11) made donations to an organization that is NOW (but was not then) on a list of groups that support terrorism (in this case, Hamas). Ramadan pointed out the contradiction that the State Department expected HE should have known about the connection when he made his donation–although the State Department itself didn’t know at that time!

My new acquaintance stated matter-of-factly that all his mail is opened before he receives it. Why, I wondered? Apparently just because of his Arab name. My jaw dropped; my own country is behaving the way East Germany behaved (remember, part of the Evil Empire?)! A scholar friend of mine who was researching in E. Germany in the 80s reported the same experience; usually they steamed open the envelopes, but once they glued several post-it notes back onto a clipping after “investigating.” We expected that from East Germany–but the United States of America? In E. Germany, terrorizing the observees was as important as any information that was gathered; opened mail was just a reminder that “we’re watching you, so be careful!” Is that how our government wants Arabs in this country to feel?

Last night at a local cafe, I ran into a Lebanese student I’ve known for a while. Every time I see this fellow, he makes some sort of light-hearted joke about being a terrorist. But is it really light-hearted; or is it evidence that he, too, has been terrorized? Right now he’s considering studying in Austria, and asked me whether he would be OK there. Maybe he could pretend to be an American, he thought, since his English is good. Sure, I said; but what kind of life is that when you have to “pass” with another identity in order to feel accepted, or even safe?

I feel for my Arab friends, and other non-Arab Muslims (Afghan, Pakistani) who are being profiled and stereotyped every day. I apologize to them all for this country’s failure to uphold its ideals of equality before the law. The only way forward I can see is continued dialogue and education; unfortunately, that burden falls disproportionately on the “suspects.”