Forum searches for 'Hope not Hate'

Forum searches for 'Hope not Hate'

by Halley Griffin
The Daily (University of Washington)
10/07/2004

Jeff Siddiqui, a Muslim activist, says he can illustrate his view of U.S. foreign policy with three hammers, as demonstrated Wednesday night during an open discussion about the U.S.-Islamic relationship.

"When all you have is a hammer, the whole world starts looking like a nail," he said, gesturing with the largest of three hammers, a sledgehammer, he lugged to the meeting.

The event was sponsored by the UW's new chapter of Americans for Informed Democracy (AID), as part of a series known as "Hope Not Hate," intended to facilitate discussions on U.S.-Islamic relations.

"[Through AID] we seek to promote America's image in the world and get Americans involved in international issues," said junior Lindsay Arbuckle, president of the UW chapter.

The evening featured Bill Center, a military advisor to KIRO-TV; Tarek Dawoud, a member of Muslims in Seattle; Robert Burrowes, a UW professor in the Jackson School of International Studies and Siddiqui, a member of American Muslims of Puget Sound.

The speakers each had an allotted time to speak about improving U.S.-Islamic relations. The discussion ranged from each speaker's plan for peace to the history of the situation in the Middle East.

Center spoke instead about the United States' image in other parts of the world, telling the audience that the rest of the world was not mad, but disappointed in the United States.

"Anyone outside of the United States would say that hope, opportunity and freedom are America's core values," he said, adding that most Americans would have no idea how to answer that question.

Center was adamant that the United States needs to begin taking responsibility, while Dawoud's plan for improving relations came in three parts. First, the U.S. government should apologize when it makes a mistake, he said.

"When the United States bombs and kills 20,000 Iraqis, they should apologize," said Dawoud. "Next, the U.S. should at least project an image that we care," he added; and finally, the U.S. should "stop portraying Muslims as not a part of this country."

Burrowes, who is also a scholar of Middle Eastern politics, said the United States needs to get out of Iraq.

"Somehow the U.S. has to take a lower profile," he said, adding that "we have to do what we said we were going to do in Afghanistan."

"Who should be the person who leads the peace process for the U.S.? Bill Clinton," he told the audience, to scattered applause.

Siddiqui, the final speaker, urged the audience to "do something."

"Vote -- don't just vote -- tell the people why you're voting."

After each speaker had a turn, the forum was opened up to questions from the audience. After a few questions about foreign policy, an audience member stood up and asked who had organized the event and suggested that the evening had been anti-Semitic in nature.

"This gentleman's attitude is representative of the problem," responded Siddiqui, to more applause.

UW AID members were generally pleased with the result of their first event, and with the turnout.

"It went really well," said John Lee, vice president of events for AID. "Nearly 200 people were here. We really fulfilled our goal."

Freshman Brock Sande, who came to the event after receiving an e-mail from the Young Democrats, a co-sponsor of the event, thought that the evening was "very informative," and particularly appreciated the fact that "even the speakers disagreed ... they didn't just push from one side."

Angela Ju, vice president of speakers for AID, was pleased that there were "people from all over the community," rather than just students.

One such attendee had different perspective on the meeting. Syed Shirazi arrived from Pakistan Wednesday morning for a two-week visit in the United States. Shirazi, who used to live in Seattle, said he came to the event to see what Americans think about the relationship.

His conclusion: "They don't have any idea."

"They're trying their best," he said of the speakers, "but they don't have any clue what's going on in the real world."

Arbuckle and Rob Mathis, vice president of media relations for AID, are planning to facilitate similar discussions later in the year.