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Who Should We Believe?
By Wafa Sultan
After President Obama's Cairo speech, many of my Middle Eastern Arab readers
reacted with bewilderment. As one of them expressed; "Who should we believe,
Obama or you?" – in particular his statement that "America and Islam overlap
and share common principles, the principles of justice, tolerance and
dignity for human beings".
True, reading the Arab press's reaction to his speech it is clear that many
Muslims now love Obama. After all, he introduced to them a narrative that
affirms their conspiracy theories and their identity as victims of the West.
Hence, the Arab media expressed their confidence that the speech will
provide a "new stance towards Islam and the Muslims, after centuries of
aggression and hostility."
More than anything, I am reminded of a story by Nizar Qubbani, the famous
Syrian poet. His young son was a physician and suffered from an acute heart
problem. When Nizar asked his son about his heart condition, the son drew a
red heart. Being a poet, the father interpreted the drawing as a sign of a
vibrant and healthy heart and took great comfort in believing this to be a
sign of recovery. After his son's passing, Nizar wrote a poem describing his
feelings as a heartbroken father. He felt unbearably saddened as he realized
he had misinterpreted the drawing. Obviously, the son's sketch of a red
heart was meant to convey no hope for his profusely bleeding heart, while
the father's understanding of the symbol as a hopeful one was wrong.
The poet and the physician perceived reality in totally different ways;
similar to the dichotomy between President Obama's view of the Islamic world
and mine. The truth is, however, that only one reality exists.
Mr. Obama is a politician, and a very astute one. However, his speech
revealed that his view is unduly influenced by naïve desire. His perception
of Islam and the reality of Islam need to be synchronized. I am a physician
and a realist who has lived and experienced the effect of my Arab culture
and Islamic religion since childhood.
The president pandered to Muslims: praised their accomplishments,
commiserated with their grievances, and apologized for injustices done to
them by centuries of colonialism – without once mentioning the history of
rampant and violent Arab colonialism. He avoided any mention of Jihadi
tenets, or of the Islamic political ideology of supremacy over non Muslims
– principles embedded in Sharia law. These are taught and sanctioned openly
by Al-Azhar, the university that hosted him, the foremost center of Sharia
studies. Obama underscored the supposed American mistreatment of terrorists
and apologized for torture in Guantanamo, forgetting that Islamic regimes
are brutal to their own people. The president also repudiated significant
U.S. contributions in both the lives of its soldiers and humanitarian aid to
Muslims across the globe made throughout history – despite Muslim attacks
against America and Americans. In short, parts of his speech sounded like a
new Pan-Arab messiah come to usher the Arab world back into its rightful
world dominion.
Most disturbing was the president's call to defend Muslims against negative
stereotypes. A dangerous precedent is set when freedom of speech is silenced
and ideological criticism forbidden. This, again, is the stuff of nightmarish
totalitarian regimes. The beauty of the US Constitution is its balance, and the
wisdom it embraces by distinguishing between that which should be protected
and defended and that which should be prosecuted and decried. Encouraging
laws to make criticism of Islam an offense punishable by law is troubling.
Since arriving in the US, I have enjoyed the freedom to educate my Arab
brothers and sisters in the Middle East, who yearn for real freedom – and I
have seen successes. Mr. Obama calls these very successes into question
rather than championing freedom.
As the president embarks on his new task to defend Muslims "against negative
stereotypes," does this mean he will somehow interfere and undermine that
message? Or, perhaps it means he may join with the Organization of Islamic
Conference, the 57 Muslim countries that work relentlessly to promote a
United Nations resolution to suppress voices of dissent against Islam? I am
confident we would all come to regret this.
Obama sidesteps the acute state of affairs in the Islamic world with
flattery, failing to encourage accountability for rhetoric, practices and
the behavior that feed stereotypes.
I did not hear an exhortation to the Islamic world to open itself to diversity,
to accept women as equal citizenswith the same rights and protection under
law as men.
I did not hear a challenge to the Muslim world to accept other religions and their ability to practice openly within the Islamic world – where the practice of
Christianity, Judaism and other religions could cost an individual his or
her life.
I did not hear a call to erase for all time, Dhimmi racism – the
Sharia law-based dictate that Christians and Jews are inferior and should be
suppressed.
Are these "…the principles of justice, tolerance and dignity
for human beings"?
In contrast, I see my people's heart bleeding and know the pressing need for
self-correction and honest examination for the sake of urgent repair. Obama
dangles the carrot but shies away from the imperative issues boiling beneath
the surface.
Obama's reality makes my work and that of others who speak up against
intolerant Islamic doctrines more challenging. He undermines this mission
by placating abusive, xenophobic policies and enabling those within the
Islamic world to subjugate others, to coerce others to its beliefs, and to
continue these pursuits with his blessing.
The president failed to join freedom-loving individuals, liberated Arabs
like myself. He failed to lead the Muslim world into modernization and vital
reform.
Rather than calling out, "The house is on fire." Obama smiles and tells us
how beautiful the house is as it burns out of control and threatens to
destroy us.
To the question I received on my e-mail; "Who should we believe, Obama or
you?" I elaborated to my Moroccan reader that Obama is a politician who
wishes to use sweet talk and to whitewash reality to make amends with
Muslims.
I, on the other hand am a pragmatic Arab woman who escaped the prison of
Islam to the free world and now devotes her life to expressing views freely
and pressing for a genuine difference in Islam. We cannot have it both ways.
Intolerance never tolerates freedom.