Blue Owl Brewing
Correcting Myopic Anti-Muslim Assertions
RECEIVED Tue., July 13, 2004
Dear Editor,
Like Alan Moe Monserrat, I would not claim to be an expert on Arab culture ["Postmarks," July 2]. However, as a member of the Arab Students Association dance troupe and as a graduate student researching in Morocco, I, too, have some experience with Arab culture. Mine compels me to correct several aspects of Monserrat's letter.
First, he treats Arab and Muslim as synonymous. They are not. The Arab League is united by language, not religion. There are significant non-Muslim Arab communities – indeed, according to Zogby's 2000 census data, only 23% of Arab-Americans identify as Muslim. Of the 10 countries with the largest Muslim populations, only one (Egypt) is an Arab League country.
Secondly, he asserts that the Islamic religious beliefs and moral values are inherently in opposition to the American lifestyle and moral values. I can only guess at what he means by this, but it must be news to the millions of American Muslims who daily reconcile the two. If he means that Muslims must be opposed to freedom of speech and women's rights, then he needs to explain why Arab scholars would authorize a report for the United Nations calling for improvements in exactly those areas.
Most disturbing to me, he asserts that Muslims will never accept Jews. In fact, Islam holds both Jews and Christians in special esteem as People of the Book, and Muslim-ruled lands were sanctuaries for Jews during the Middle Ages when they were persecuted in Christian Europe. My personal experience in both the U.S. and Morocco testifies that this openness is not consigned to the dustbins of history but is a present day reality for the many Muslims and Jews who get along just fine.
Like Alan Moe Monserrat, I would not claim to be an expert on Arab culture ["Postmarks," July 2]. However, as a member of the Arab Students Association dance troupe and as a graduate student researching in Morocco, I, too, have some experience with Arab culture. Mine compels me to correct several aspects of Monserrat's letter.
First, he treats Arab and Muslim as synonymous. They are not. The Arab League is united by language, not religion. There are significant non-Muslim Arab communities – indeed, according to Zogby's 2000 census data, only 23% of Arab-Americans identify as Muslim. Of the 10 countries with the largest Muslim populations, only one (Egypt) is an Arab League country.
Secondly, he asserts that the Islamic religious beliefs and moral values are inherently in opposition to the American lifestyle and moral values. I can only guess at what he means by this, but it must be news to the millions of American Muslims who daily reconcile the two. If he means that Muslims must be opposed to freedom of speech and women's rights, then he needs to explain why Arab scholars would authorize a report for the United Nations calling for improvements in exactly those areas.
Most disturbing to me, he asserts that Muslims will never accept Jews. In fact, Islam holds both Jews and Christians in special esteem as People of the Book, and Muslim-ruled lands were sanctuaries for Jews during the Middle Ages when they were persecuted in Christian Europe. My personal experience in both the U.S. and Morocco testifies that this openness is not consigned to the dustbins of history but is a present day reality for the many Muslims and Jews who get along just fine.
Miriam Robinson Gould
