In a Hostile Land
An Interview with a Palestinian-American
Sometime after all the wars started, I interviewed a friend of mine who is Palestinian-American. I was curious about what it was like for her after 9/11, the wars, and her impressions of the way Arabs have been treated in the press. I was also curious about her personal experiences as a mother during these times relating the world to her child, as well as her family still in Palestine. Although she’s pretty outspoken on many issues, including Palestine, she asked to remain anonymous for this interview, saying that her concerns are the same as most Palestinians and similar to most Arabs in the America.
What do you think of the portrayal of Arabs in the media?
I believe that the portrayal of Arabs in western media is generally negative and distorted. Whether it’s the nightly news or a feature film at the theatre, Arabs are shown as either dirty, bumbling idiots or calculating villains. And Arab women are simply non-existent.
I know it’s been a while, but what was September 11th like for you as a Palestinian-American?
I spent a few hours throughout the day on September 11th viewing television coverage, and it started looking rather ignorant and racist when they began showing footage of Palestinians celebrating in some village. As if this was truly all of their response to receiving word of the devastation in New York. I felt that the pictures were old footage and that someone in the media was starting big trouble for Palestine.
Did you have any trouble yourself? Harassment, that kind of stuff?
No. Not this time. I dealt with a lot during the first Gulf war, though. It was hell. I was still in high school then and I was dealing with a lot of hostility from students and teachers alike. There wasn’t a lot of diversity at Pensacola “Christian” High. Most of the students (and all of the teachers) were white. There were 3 blacks in the whole school and I was the only one “in between.” But now, thankfully, I’m only subjected to that kind of ignorance when I travel outside of my neighborhood. Like driving down the streets, I saw a car painted with “FUCK THE MIDDLE EAST, NUKE ‘EM.” The biggest reason why I’m not dealing with aggression being directed at me now is that those racist types have no clue what a Palestinian looks like. I get strange looks from people and comments about how unusual my name is. I never fill in the blanks of forms that ask my race unless I know it’s safe. Otherwise, I feel pretty safe within the sub-culture and other ethnic communities here.
You have a young child. How do you talk to him about these kinds of issues-racism, war, etc.
I’m trying to keep it really simple, fair, and honest. I don’t want to propagandize to him. He’s only 4. So far, I’ve been waiting until he asks the questions. A couple of weeks ago he asked me “Mommy, is someone trying to destroy our world?” I responded by asking him what it was that made him ask that question. He said he saw it in the newspaper, but he doesn’t read yet and doesn’t really have access to newspapers anyway. I don’t know how he figured out what was going on. I told him yes, some people are trying to destroy our world. Mean people who don’t know how to share, people who don’t care about other people’s feelings, mean people who like using guns. It was really hard for him to understand this. When he asked why, I told him that I couldn’t really figure it out either. Maybe they just feel so bad inside that they want to make lots of other people feel bad and awful, too. It made me feel really sad to see him so upset and to see the confusion on his beautiful little face. This past Saturday he got to participate in an anti-war demonstration, and I think it made him feel a lot better, being able to express himself by standing with other demonstrators, holding his “No War” sign.
Do you still have family in Palestine?
Yes, I still have family there. I haven’t been able to communicate with any of them because their town, my family’s hometown, is being shelled right now. I’m sure they’re devastated. Devastated.