0 0 a AOL a 0 w w ThM -Wednesday,c 300 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. qtr 3 RK }y q sIS 1; >; Wensay cobr3, 07 - h icia Diy 3 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.