Thanks for this; I'm going to use it in a course I'm teaching. Go salon.com!

I found it interesting that the parents of some Arab Muslim youth do not adequately teach their children about the history of US-Arab relations. Those relations turned very negative after the 1967 war. Yet some of these youth seem taken completely off guard by the way 9/11 was used to launch a propaganda campaign against Arabs and Muslims. But a lot of that propaganda existed prior to 9/11--i.e. that Arabs and Palestinians in particular had no real identity except as thwarters of Israel. The Arab leaders of the oil states were seen not as politicians but as oil sheiks. I remember when they tried to use oil to politically pressure the US to get Israel to withdraw from the Golan Heights, the Sinai, E. Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza. The word in the US was how DARE they! And the image was that they were so backward they didn't deserve that oil, which really should be "our's."

It sounds like the parents or adult figures of some of these Arab youth didn't tell them about that history, so they wouldn't be so naive about America. I sense this goes on, because when at least Palestinians come to the US they often don't want their kids involved in politics, because they're afraid they'll get in trouble--and that is especially true after 9/11. I work with Arab American students, and I know that their parents fear for them speaking out. They are immigrants, and they want their children to succeed here. So, I think that info. gets passed on, but then it's meaning is repressed or not fully understood by the youth.

I have Arab American students come to me often and tell me that they don't know how to defend themselves, they don't know how to defend the Palestinians, etc. This strikes me as poignant and ironic, since if they knew how to do so, they would still have to struggle here but they would ultimately gain respect from non-Arabs and non-Muslims. Because one of the things that native born Americans like is people who stand up for themselves and what they believe in.

I guess there is a catch-22 for many Arab American youth. I'm just happy that salon.com felt the topic was important enough to interview this thoughtful author.

I look forward to teaching the interview.

For everything everywhere at all times.

Now that is done ...

It is quite preposterous to liken the problem of being an Arab or Muslim in the US to being a black person. I'm not black but even my white ass knows that the hostility blacks had faced in this country was the result of they and their ancestors being FORCIBLY brought here and then kept as slaves BY FORCE. To justify this morally abhorrent practice, the ideology of racial inferiority was invented. There was forced labor, lynching, raping, taking children away from their parents, institutionalized disdain and contempt. FYI, Moustafa, blacks did nothing to deserve that fate. They did nothing to generate hostility against them and they did not volunteer to come here.

FF to our times and you see a different picture. It is like during WW2 when residents of the US who belonged in nationalities that were hostile to the US faced hard times. It has nothing to do specifically to the uniquely intolerant nature of the Americans (which is the subtle message here, after all this is Salon), it has everything to do with the basic human nature to feel protective towards one's own group, including one's own country, when being threatened.

A threatened person or group is not a nice person or group so don't threaten people and if you do, prepare for the consequences. Sometimes innocent persons will get swept away by the forces unleashed - sad but understandable, understandable yet sad.

It is an issue that deserves to be talked about and dealt with in a reasonable manner but is it like racism towards blacks?

It is quite disgusting, actually, to walk into a pre-made victim status and claim equal victimhood, fishing most likely for its emotional and legal payoffs.

That is my opinion, put it in your hookah and smoke it.

Ah, and one more thing: when people voluntarily sign up for military service, by what line of reasoning does Moustafa come to the conclusion that none of them expect to see military conflict? My question to the interviewer, no response is expected of course: why do you let such blatant lies go unchallenged?

This is far from the main point of this interesting article, but I think it warrants being addressed.

Obviously for those in or going to basic training when 911 occurred the probability of their going to an actual hot war skyrocketed, and it had a profound affect on the future of their lives that it is hard for us to understand. However the words "All the soldiers knew that this was not what they had signed up for." is patently ridiculous. Being a Marine is a difficult and dangerous job, even in peace time, and it would take profound ignorance to enlist in the military with confidence that you'd never have to do anything. The military largely exists for that worst case scenario. In particular enlisting in the Marine Corps, an expeditionary force that is often forward deployed to respond quickly to conflicts, usually carries with it the assumption that you're going to be the first to go in the event of conflict.

It's likewise naive to enlist in the military thinking you're government can do no wrong, or you'll agree with any war you're ordered to participate in. Whether or not you can accept that is something each person has to decide for themselves, and if you haven't asked yourself those tough questions you'd better not enlist.

And one other thing while I'm on my soap box, what's with calling Marines "soldiers". This is something that's endemic to the media. Aren't you people supposed to be informed, or at least inform yourselves, about what you're reporting on? In the US military "soldier" is only used to refer to a member of the Army, and trust me Marines in particular do not take kindly to being referred to by anything other than "Marine". This is so widespread in the media I think it really speaks to how ignorant civilians in the US are about their military, despite how much they spend on it and hastily call to employ it. I can't help but think that a citizenry better informed about its military might help avoid its abuse and casual use.