Judge Me Not in Haste

Author: 
Tariq A. Al-Maeena, [email protected]
Publication Date: 
Sat, 2005-06-25 03:00

A news item recently carried by the Associated Press brought up the case of a Saudi couple who were accused and arrested in Colorado on charges of turning their live-in housemaid, a young Indonesian woman, into “a virtual slave, forcing her to clean, cook and care for their children while she was threatened and sexually assaulted.” The woman was controlled by “a climate of fear and intimidation” that included sexual abuse and the belief that she would “suffer serious harm” if she did not perform her tasks, the indictment said. While the matter is still under US Federal and State investigations, and the guilt or innocence of this couple has yet to be established, a young lady from California sent me her take on the subject.

She writes: “Surely you must see the logic that these two people came from a society where this sort of semi-slavery is the norm, so they wouldn’t see anything wrong with importing it to America. Because everyone around them does it in Saudi (Arabia). But then, what else can you expect when you’re dealing with Saudis/Arabs/Muslims.”

Everyone? I cannot really fault this lady’s reasoning because most of it is based on what she reads and hears. And by and large, in the aftermath of Sept. 11, the US press has not been very favorable to Saudis. Years of existing as a closed society to foreigners with very little inter-cultural exchange have led to an atmosphere of ignorance and distrust. And flawed as her judgment may be, this lady’s perception of Saudis can be excused.

I suppose if I flipped her comments around to what happens in the United States, I would be just as culpable. If Christian priests are arrested for making advances on or molesting young boys, does that mean they are all pedophiles? When mothers drown their little ones in bathtubs or lakes, is every mother in America gifted with such a barbaric action? If teenagers go berserk in schools and attack and gun down their classmates, would it be right in assuming that all school children in America are homicidal? When white extremists slaughter blacks or others of color, should I look over my shoulder when followed by every white American?

When a murder occurs every 22 minutes or a rape every 5 minutes within the borders of the United States, should I look upon the entire American citizenry as a gang of rapists and assassins? When a few hundred of their men in uniform are accused of torturing Iraqi or Afghani prisoners, would it be correct to assume that they are all a bunch of sadists? If 25 of the most notorious serial killers have emerged from within the United States, should that give me a cause of alarm?

The answer is obviously “no”! Because for each one of those criminals, there are millions of God-fearing Americans who would not perpetuate or condone such barbaric behavior. It would smack of great prejudice to presume otherwise.

Here in the Kingdom we do have our share of deviates, criminals and what not. But they do not make up the entire country. And more often than not it is they who capture the headlines, not because it is the norm, but because they are the aberrant ones. They are not everyone. Good news invariably fails to garner an audience. Neither our religion nor our culture condones the harming or abuse of others. Nor do we, the greater part of God-fearing Saudis. But we will not deny that it exists within small pockets of our society. A few terrorists do not constitute the make-up of a nation, nor do the few Saudis who indulge in the practice of abusing hired help.

With imported domestic labor estimated at over two million in this country, sadly there will exist a number who will be abused, tortured, or discriminated against. But rest assured, the majority do not excuse and condone such behavior. And when such cases come to light, the call from all quarters of this society is for swift and harsh punishment against the perpetrators, whoever they may be. Judge me not in haste, America. For I do not stand alone against such crimes and conduct.

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