Today, we are remembering the 25th anniversary of one of the most horrific terrorist attacks in human history, which occurred on September 11, 2001, and basically made the world upside down in every respect. I strongly believe that one of the most affected areas of 9/11 is the ongoing distrust among people and decaying mutual respect. Specifically, the international and intercultural relationship between the West and East, and perceptions about Islam and Muslim people/culture in Western societies have dramatically shifted with the barbaric terrorist attacks on 9/11. Every time I fly and must go through the nearly stripping security checks protocol, I hate those people who are responsible for 9/11, which killed 3000 innocent people on that day.
As a young Muslim man, I grew up, and my journalism career evolved right after 9/11. I still remember the day as a young sub-editor working in the international desk of the Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) and watching the planes crash into the Twin Towers in New York City on television. Initially, we thought that was merely an accident, and we did not have any clue how this event would reshape world politics and how Muslim people around the world would go through a hell-like experience because of mistrust and misperception about the Muslim community and Islam. The media covered the attacks on Muslim people in Western countries because of stereotyped perceptions, thinking that all Muslims are terrorists.
I experienced this type of hatred firsthand when I came to America as a graduate student in Carbondale, Illinois, in 2008, seven years after the 9/11 attacks. One day, I went to Walmart, carrying my laptop bag. A man approached me and asked whether I was carrying any explosives. Even after nearly two decades since 9/11, a student came to me and asked whether people in Bangladesh were the same as ISIS people in Syria. That was not an innocent question, and I strongly believe my student asked me a loaded question because of my Arabic name. She did not know anything about my personal beliefs and ideology. Many times, people looked at me with a weird stare when they had to call my previous first name, Mohammad. After so many embarrassing moments, eventually I decided to use my middle name as my first name and change the spelling of my first name to Delaware to sound like something more American.
As I worked in the Deep South, I had many conservative friends, some very influential in the current administration. As a student of journalism, I also actively follow conservative media and see a plethora of hatred toward Muslim people and Islam in the rhetoric of that media and social media. I do not think that all Muslims are perfect, and there are many bad people like those in Al-Qaeda. However, it is not fair to have stereotyped views about Muslim people all over the world.
Hypothetically, even if there are problems in Muslim cultures and some Islamic practices, Western countries, including the United States, must work with Muslim countries and communities to rebuild trust and thus make a better world. All of us know about the very close-knit relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia. If so, why do we not strive to make this kind of relationship with other Muslim countries too? It is great to see that the current administration has started working with the Syrian government led by former ISIS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa and lifted all sanctions against Syria.
The United States might have come up with this decision to work with Syria for the greater good or for the sake of regional and global peace. As an ordinary American, I would highly appreciate the effort of the current administration to build more bridges instead of burning bridges.
In line with these types of strategic steps, the conservative media and social media outlets also need to change their narratives against Muslim people and stop stereotyping about Islam. This step will help to rebuild trust and relationships and public perceptions of Muslims in the United States and Western societies.
The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author
The writer is the Director of Journalism, Canisius University, New York. E-mail: [email protected]
