Word: emersonic
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Noah D. Oppenheim's piece (Op-Ed, Oct. 22), in its unconditional praise for Steven Emerson's documentary "Jihad in America," unwittingly conflates, Islam and political terrorism. There is a tendency in American society to view Middle Eastern politics solely within the context of Islam. One indication of the fact that people do not separate religion and politics is that people do not know the difference between an Arab and a Muslim. Indeed, in a conversation with me Wednesday night, Oppenheim asked me the difference between the Society of Arab Students and the Harvard Islamic Society. Arab is an ethnicity...
Oppenheim also fails to note that Emerson has been criticized by The Nation, The New York Times and the well respected media watchdog group FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting) for his racially biased reporting. FAIR's extensive article on Emerson's reporting history can be read at www.fair.org/extra/9901/emerson.html. Whenever an event that could potentially be construed as a terrorist attack occurs, Emerson is quick to point a finger at the Muslim community without any substantive evidence...
Oppenheim's piece has commendable elements, particularly in noting that Islam itself does not condone violence. The issue of terrorist threats posed by extremists deserves media attention. Terrorism persists as a reality in our world, and an investigation into its activities has a definite relevance and validity. However, Emerson does not make adequate efforts to highlight the political ideologies that compel these terrorists to act. So we are left to think that religion itself motivates terrorists...
...problem of extremism is one that should concern everyone on this campus regardless of faith, ethnicity or political agenda. It is a shame that those students who devoted themselves to executing the hatchet job on Steven Emerson could not find a more productive outlet for their energies...
...easy to see how peaceful Muslims might fear the dissemination of unflattering stereotypes. And, they have every right to guard against the development of a paranoia that might lead to an infringement on their civil liberties. However, Emerson is no bigot, nor is he a firebrand seeking to incite a panic. He is a talented journalist working to shed light on a threat all too well understood by women living under the Talisban regime in Afghanistan, by Israeli shopkeepers, schoolchildren and commuters, and--increasingly in the aftermath of the World Trade Center and African embassy bombings--by average American citizens...