Like the rest of the America, I was disheartened and shocked by Thursday’s events in which a U.S. serviceman, identified as Nidal Malik Hasan, perpetrated a terrible act upon his fellow servicemen. My frustrations were exacerbated, both by some of the news coverage and by the Muslim community’s reactions and knee-jerk condemnations.
It can no longer be claimed that abusive ‘interrogation techniques’ and assaults on detainees have not been either approved or perpetrated by our servicemen and contractors. This is the second reason that U.S. treatment of Aafia Siddiqui is the central issue of this case; it is directly related to our values as Americans.
This idea that Obama was chosen for his efforts as President seems ridiculous due to the brevity (nine months) of his administration. So does the more accurate and definitely more outlandish nomination which happened in, count them folks, eleven days!
Respect MP George Galloway made time to answer Muslim Matters readers’ questions and to offer advice for activists in the US and the UK.
This article is not a discussion of the case’s legal merits or its moral implications. Rather, the purpose is to explore constructive ways to respond to such issues, so that the American Muslim community is neither used for an agenda that it does not support nor relegated to an ineffective role that promotes feelings of resentment, disenfranchisement or detachment from society.
As counter-intuitive as it may seem, the prescription for effective community based PR starts with embracing the truth that we (American Muslims) disagree and are fairly divided among ourselves on many issues. Confidence in our unique positions, tempered by tolerance, will allow for us to increase our community’s maturity by formulating councils for internal discussions and issue resolution.
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