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A TIP FOR DEVELOPING YOUR John Maxwell Coetzee: A South African Nobel
Prize-winning author so publicity-averse he didn't
COCKTAIL PARTY VERNACULAR show up to collect his two Booker Prizes in person
BOOK From page 8B
were presumed' guilty unless
they distanced themselves from
Islamic militancy. Muslims could
theoretically be accepted as indi-
viduals if they proved by words
and expressions of patriotism to
be "moderate" Muslims rather
than "radical." But even then,
there were limits. Leaders were
repeatedly subjected to accusa-
tory statements such as, "Why do
you (or 'they') not renounce ter-
rorism?" This question doubles as
a non-falsifiable accusation with-
out an acceptable answer. One
high-profile Muslim group that
organized a mass petition against
terrorism entitled "Not in the
name of Islam" and put together
a coalition of religious leaders to
issue a fatwa (religious opinion)
declaring attacks on civilians to
be a violation of Islamic law was
still continually attacked for not
renouncing terrorism. The tech-
nique was disturbingly reminis-
cent of the McCarthy-era query,
"Are you now or have you ever
been a Communist?" Such ques-
tions are designed to besmirch.
They also imply that the person
askingthemhas knowledgeofmis-
conduct and the moral authority
to demand an answer. Any answer
- an affirmation of innocence or a
contemptuous refusal to respond
- will be considered evidence of
guilt or deceit.
But even when individuals are
accepted, the community is still at
risk. As Suleiman put it, "Arabs are
doing fine as individuals, but not
as a community. The whole com-
munity is suspect." Suleiman's
observation echoed what Sartre
wrote about the French Jews. The
view of Jewish rights dating to
the French Revolution had always
been "everything for the Jew as an
individual, nothingfor the Jews as
a community." This put Jews into
a dilemma of being accepted only
if they were not Jews: "The per-
petual obligation to prove that he
is French puts the Jew in a situa-
tion of guilt. If on every occasion
he does not do more than every-
body else, much more than any-
body else, he is guilty, he is a dirty
Jew - and one might say, parody-
ing the words of Beaumarchais: To
judge by the qualities we demand
of a Jew if he is to be assimilated
as a 'true' Frenchman, how many
Frenchmen would be found wor-
thy of being Jews in their own
country?" A similar predicament
is pressing upon Arab Americans
today, especially Muslims.
In the United States, most
Arab Americans also see the idea
of a Clash of Civilizations as a
threatening ideology that could
compromise their position in soci-
ety. If the general public came to
believe there was a fundamental
clash of civilizations, that would
be dangerous for those with an
Arab world heritage, even the 58
percent who are Christians. The
rhetoric around this doctrine
has more to do with mobilizing
popular support for controver-
sial foreign policies than with an
analysis of international conflict.
While the idea is often presented
as a description of how they see
us, it is more accurately a descrip-
tion of how we see them, and how
we plan to treat those who resist
our politics. For this reason, it is
ultimately a domestic political
debate over influence and status.
As such, most Arab Americans,
especially Muslims, see it as com-
ing from elements not friendly to
their interests and welfare and are
made very uneasy by it.
The data illustrate the complex-
ity of the Arab-American popula-
tion and the difficulty of making
The patriotism
litmus test is
different for
Arab Americans.
generalizations about it. For any
pattern there is an exception.
What stands out, however, is the
remarkable way in which foreign
policy attitudes have a clear civil
liberties dimension. Foreign pol-
icy issues are not simply an array
of topics on which people can
adopt and freely debate multiple
points of view. For some Ameri-
cans, particular issues of foreign
policy become difficult tests of
citizenship, and certain points of
view cannot be fully or frankly
debated. The post-9/11 crisis has
challenged American society in
diverse ways; it has challenged
Arab Americans by making their
political views central to the way
others view them both as mem-
bers of American society and as
potential threats to it.
dimension.Foreign policyissues
are notsimply an array of topics on
which people can adopt and freely
debate multiple points of view. For
some Americans, particular issues
of foreign policy become difficult
tests of citizenship, and certain
points of view cannot be fully or
frankly debated. The post-9/11
crisis has challenged American
society in diverse ways; it has chal-
lenged Arab Americans by making
their political views central to
the way others view them both as
members of American society and
as potential threats to it.
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QUOTES OF THE WEEK
My father was paid a fee for
me, and I was brought down
with 40 other children."
- A 10-YEAR-OLD BOY, who works in a factory in
India that produces Gap Inc. products, on how his
employer's bought him as slave labor
"I'm so excited. Cristina is
going to pull us out of poverty!"
- MARIA ISABEL FRANCIA, an Argentinian street
merchant, expressing her joy about the election of
Argentina's first woman president, Cristina Fernandez
TALKING
POINTS
Three things you can talk about this week:
1. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
2. Nicolas Sarkozy on the rebound
3. Robert Goulet
And three things you can't:
1. "The Darjeeling Limited"
2. Fake press conferences
3. Housing for next year
"If I were one of
the people who
started the fires,
I would not sleep
soundly right now,
because we're right
behind you."
- ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER
saying that the Californian authori-
ties are following leads to find
arsonists responsible for the forest
fires that ravaged the state.
YOUTU BE
VIDEO OF
THE WEEK
Anchorwoman's
dubious slip
In a live take from a Channel
7 news report, an anchorwoman
tells viewers that after the break
she'll be interviewing a man who
climbed the tallest mountain in
the world. But that's not all! Put-
ting a finger up in the get-ready-
for-this fashion, she announces
the disability that was astound-
ingly overcome, "But he's GAY!"
The slightly ruffled anchor-
woman corrects herself, however,
revealing that she meant to say
blind, not gay. What was on the
anchorwoman's mind when she
made the slip? How did she con-
nect blindness and gayness? Will
she ever work in television news
again? Who's to say?
Hopefully the channel will run
another news segment with inter-
views from other gay people who
can do all sorts of things like run
for public office, read books and
brush their teeth.
- LISA HAIDOSTIAN
See this and other
YouTube videos ofthe week at
youtube.com/user/michigandaily
BY THE NUMBERS
Number of paranormal investigation teams in the United Kingdom
Number of allegedly haunted houses in Scotland
Yeara home-decor magazine wrote, "To be the owner of a haunted
house is, as all the world knows, the high ambition of everyone who
has at last succeeded in establishing a name"
source: ste.com
THEME PARTY SUGGESTION
Costume party - Duh.
Throwing this party? Let us know. TheStatement@umich.edu
WIKIPEDIA ARTICLE
OF THE WEEK
Captain Paul Watson
Faul Watson is the founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Soci-
ety and is a significant, albeit controversial, figure in the environmen-
tal movement and the movement for animal rights.
Sea Shepherd has established itself as one of the more controversial
environmental groups, known for provocative direct action tactics in
addition to more conventional protests. These tactics have included, at
times, ramming whaling ships at sea, and the scuttling of two ships in
an Icelandic harbor.
Faul Watson has been denounced as an ecoterrorist. Some former
colleagues in Greenpeace have likewise distanced themselves from
him. lo an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Jim Bohlen, one of
the founders of Greenpeace, said: "I've known the guy [Watson] for 15
years, and he's absolutely insane, out of his mind."
Thus far, all attempts at prosecuting Watson for his activities with
Sea Shepherd have failed. Watson himself defends his actions as fall-
ing within international law and Sea Shepherd's right to enforce mari-
time regulations against illegal whalers and seaters. Watson claims to
have been told to leave Iceland after having turned himself in to the
Icelandic police after disabling two ships in harbor.