If you’ve been following the international news recently, you know that there have been widespread protests against U.S. institutions in Muslim nations. These protests, often violent, are allegedly in response to an anti-Islam video posted on the internet by some idiot who seems to be the very embodiment of sketchiness.
Although there have been protests in Iraq, they are mostly happening outside of Kurdistan. Really, no one in Suli is too bothered by any of this. It’s business as usual here.
As for me, I’m skeptical that such a crude, low-key film has really sparked these protests. This all seemed to begin in the attack earlier this week on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, where 4 U.S. officials were killed including the U.S. Ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens. But Libyan president Mohamed al-Magarief said recently that the attack “was pre-planned…it’s a dirty act of revenge that has nothing to do with religion.” In other words, the film was an excuse to cover up the real motives for the attack.
This justification for the attack, the video, seems to be the spark for these other protests around the world. But the gunpowder has already been laid down. Just as some outspoken Americans believe the hijab to be a declaration of terrorism, some outspoken Muslims believe Americans to be assailants against Islam. One person can’t speak for a nation, whatever his birth. But it’s so much easier to conceptualize foreign affairs when we generalize.
In Mutual Weirdness 