There is no justification for the events that happened Tuesday, no matter what your opinions of American foreign policy may be. Even our so-called enemies have come out in protest of the event, including the majority of Palestinians -- something the media has yet to deal with. As long as the media seems to only be concerned with emotion and manipulation, we will never get a clear picture of what is going on without the alternative press. Certainly, I have disagreed with Noam Chomsky's remarks in the past, but his main point in all of this is that this attack was -- at least in part -- the result of our own prejudiced, uneducated dealings with the Middle East. We must be willing to look at our own mistakes to make sure we learn from them. Far from being restrained, as many members of the media feel President Bush to be, I think his remarks are intended to create the sort of mentality Chomsky and others like him have warned us about for thirty years -- that those who attack or disagree with us are inhuman monsters, not human beings, and therefore, easier to kill. It has resulted in the prejudice that is currently brewing up in the nation, that anyone who is Muslim, or looks Muslim, or seems to act Muslim (which makes the group that is to be hated much larger) is the enemy, or at least supports the enemy. At OU, an emergency meeting of campus security and our Middle Eastern faculty members has led to armed escorts for these teachers. A colleague in the English Department told me over beer that he had been told by the Dean of the College that he could "disappear" for a couple of weeks without any problems, if he felt the need to "lay low." I asked him if he felt scared. He pointed out that I was wearing a T-shirt reading "Free All Political Prisoners", and that I was probably in as much trouble. I recall a moment in 1979, when I was working at a welding shop during the summer, helping out with some scrap metal. The man I directly worked under had fled Iran during the 1978 revolution, and happily answered any questions I had about Iran, the hostages, and Islam. One day, he missed work, and the next, he came in with cuts and bruises and stitches. He explained that a group of men had beaten him up after he admitted to being from Iran. Even though he left to avoid the Ayatollah, he was still Iranian, and, therefore, the enemy. This mentality is beginning to develop today, in no small part due to the media's excitement over not having to cover shark attacks and Gary Condit. Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson have tried to tie their own prejudices into the attack, by claiming that the attacks were, in part, a result of the American people's tolerance of homosexuality, the political left, abortion, and feminism. In essence, they are trying to extend the circle of hatred to include more than just Muslims, which makes them the most inclusive idiots of the bunch. Falwell and Robertson have continually shown that their hatred, no matter how often they may try to hide it with softer words, is so powerful that, even in this time when all Americans should pull together, that there are still some that should be left out -- and those left out are against the will of God. If there is a hell, their rooms will be right across from whomever perpetrated these attacks.
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