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From Afghanistan

A friend is travelling through Afghanistan as part of a circus (yes, a circus). One of his more recent emails: Salaam from Karte Seh, Kabul, I hope this finds you safe and in good spirits. I have a new telephone number and mailing address in the U.S., noted at the bottom of this email. Nearly one month ago, what little I knew of Afghanistan I knew by pictures and words, maybe a couple good books, like “Kite Runner” or “An Unexpected Light,” and sound bites from the Boston Globe or Washington Post. Even if I knew better, I still had…

Out of Context

One of the things that happens after a terrorist bombing committed by those who claim to be Muslim is that Islamophobes start quoting the Qur’an out of context saying that Islam is a violent religion dedicated to taking over the world and enslaving everyone else (yes, it is the Protocols of the Elders of Zion revisited). I’m waiting for the day when some Islamophobe says the proof that Islam is Judeophobic is that Muslims revere a prophet named Isa who entered a synagogue and flipped over tables and drove people out claiming that they were practicing a false religion. It…

Fort Hood and the invisibility of Arab Americans

The role Arab-Americans play in the military: Consider Navy SEAL Mike Monsoor who threw himself on a grenade in Iraq on September 29, 2006. The device had landed among SEALs and Iraqi soldiers, and Monsoor absorbed the blast with his body, saving everyone’s life but his own. For his act of self sacrifice, he was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor last year. Then there’s Lance Corporal Abraham al-Thaibani of New York who enlisted with the Marines after his city was attacked on 9/11. On the day the World Trade Center towers fell, al-Thaibani ran through the streets of…