THE CURRENT events in the Middle East, with the crisis threatening to engulf the whole region into a morass of turbulence have also affected the lives of a particular segment within our own society.
Anti-US government feelings have been hardening daily in this part of the world with the perceived notion of George W. Bush Jr. as a Dallas cheerleader waving an Israeli flag while he waffles and the region flounders with continued acts of atrocities against innocent people. And none feel this anger manifest itself as much as Americans currently living here.
There are approximately 30,000 of them in the Western Province, and they all come from different backgrounds. In talking to some of them, I sense their pain and frustration at being singled out as the symbol of US government policies at the hands of some of our ignorant own. They represent American policy to some, and that is totally unfair.
Carol C. is one of them. She has been living here with her husband for the past 13 years. Her husband, employed with the national airline, is not making any plans to move on and out. And neither is Carol. Both have developed some strong bonds to people locally, and their teenage boys have known no other childhood.
However, as Carol says, “the continued violence is very upsetting.”
“We wish somehow we could change our policy toward this region, but to be truthful, we have no voice.” Her husband adds, “I understand the frustrations in the Arab world when they see Western news media make such a big deal of Israeli casualties, yet continue to ignore the far bigger crimes being committed toward the Palestinian people. Unfortunately our own people Stateside tend to believe whatever is being shown to them at dinner. That is very sad.”
Carol adds, “Although I love my country, I can no longer go back there with a free and clear conscience, exposed as I have been to the lack of judgment my government has displayed so far. And yet here, I find myself continuously defending the USA for what it stands. Or at least what I thought it stood for. It is so confusing; I just don’t know where I stand!”
Jamila L., an American from Maryland is married to a Saudi. “Look, I am a mother of Saudis. If you want to know what ‘torn’ is, then look no further. While I am really upset and furious at what my government is doing or not doing to set things right, I also resent being subjected to statements made at gatherings about Americans by a few very stupid people!”
“I have written to my congressman, I have e-mailed all my friends presenting them with the other side of the picture, and I refuse to accept such asinine remarks that all Americans go to hell! My 68-year-old widowed mother lives in Baltimore. She is my children’s grandmother. She has taken no part in this awful tragedy that is going on against the innocent people in the region, nor would she condone it!”
“I accept that people back in the States just don’t know or want to know the truth. But you have to realize that in the big picture of things on their mind, such as eking out a living, paying off the mortgage, and keeping their kids away from drugs, the Middle East plays a minor role in their day-to-day living. Besides, they only see what the media there tells them and that too for a few minutes a day on their way to work, or back from it. I am so upset at everybody and everything, I just don’t know what! I feel so alienated.”
I must add that this reaction is not unique to these individuals. A sizeable number of people, and not necessarily just Americans, feel bewildered among these issues with a sense of divided loyalties. A Saudi student who glowingly spoke of his university days in Colorado and the good people he had met there, soon replaced that statement of admiration and gratitude with one of disgust when the talk shifted to US policies.
Let us all work to end this madness, of loss of innocent lives, be they Palestinians or Israelis. Let us purge the long-drawn hatred out of our systems, before it destroys all of us. It has gone on long enough. Let us recognize each other as being from within the same family, the family of humanity. And let us co-exist, side by side, peacefully and with security.
Let the United States government seize the moment now, once and for all, and inflict peace rather than uncertainty or pain in the region. A dignified peace with honor and justice for both sides. For without honor and justice, there would only be more bloodshed and much deeper wounds.
