Friday, June 24, 2005

Probably one of the bigger stories on the world front in recent weeks was the Newsweek publication of Koran desecration at GitMo. Unfortunately, the incident was a little bit more than a holy book being trashed. There have been a lot of times when I've seen people on the street handing out pocket bibles like they were flyers for the next reggae party, and some of them even wind up in the trash a few yards away. Now, if this doesn't provoke outrage here, why should its equivalent action do so in the Muslim world. First, it has to deal with the way in which it was allegedly desecrated and, probably, the more important, our feelings toward symbolic actions. The controversy is deeper than a simple act of desecration because it involves a convergence of many symbols that were spawned from the actions and emotions of the post/911 period. Everything is seen as a symbol to everyone and that's what people have to realize. GitMo is seen as as a base of torture that is an insult to Muslims. Our soldiers are probably seen as a intruders representing an aggressive, imperial power. To us, Saddam represented every authoritarian leader in the world that has to be replaced. The insurgent represents the minority trying to sabotage the good work of the US. It's like this anti-flag-burning bill that is likely to pass the Senate soon. The important thing to remember is not to generalize these symbols to the broader population. While someone might burn a US flag as an act of freedom of speech against the US, another one who criticizes the US will do so in more convincing ways. Symbols can be very telling but only if we interpret them correctly.