Muslims, terror and collective memory<\/p>\n
Muhammad Qodari, Political Analyst, Centre for Strategic and
\nInternational Studies (CSIS), Jakarta, Qodari@csis.or.id<\/p>\n
Although hundreds of events make headlines each year, only a
\nfraction will be remembered by people in subsequent years. What
\nfactors contribute to making an enduring collective memory?
\nEmpirical studies of political upheavals in the United States
\nindicate that we remember events that change the course of the
\nlives of a large segment of the population. Monuments are built
\nand movies are made at predictable times after the upheavals
\noccur, as written by James Pennebaker in his 1997 book on the
\nworld's momentous upheavals.<\/p>\n
The terrorist act of Sept. 11, 2001, was that kind of
\nupheaval. It has enormously changed the course of the lives of
\nvirtually the entire U.S. population, as well as the country's
\nstructure of government. The Department of Homeland Security will
\nconsolidate 22 presently uncoordinated departments and will cost
\nthe Department of the Treasury US$40 billion a year. The new
\ndepartment aims to monitor 500 million people crossing the U.S.
\nborder annually and track more than 11 million trucks taking
\nshipments into the country, 51,000 foreign ships and 2.2 million
\nrailcars.<\/p>\n
The events of Sept. 11 have become part of the global
\ncollective memory, although people in different places may
\nremember them in different ways. The events are \"easy\" to be
\nremembered not only because of the massive damage they created,
\nbut also because of the rapid and vivid transmission of news of
\nthe attack.<\/p>\n
What is important about collective memory is the influence it
\ncan exert on many aspects of our lives, including international
\npolitics. The collective memory of World War II, for instance,
\nhas strongly influenced subsequent relationships between Japan
\nand countries such as the United States, China and South Korea.<\/p>\n
These former enemies of Japan remember Japan's government and
\npeople as war aggressors. Americans never forget Pearl Harbor
\nwhile China keeps mentioning Japan's cruelty in \"the massacre of
\nNanjing\".<\/p>\n
Kiichi Fujiwara, a professor from the University of Tokyo,
\ndelivered a lecture this month at the University of Indonesia on
\n\"memory as deterrence\"; that the insistence by other nations that
\nJapan is the war aggressor keeps the memory alive. Japan's
\nmaintenance of its war memory is considered important to suppress
\nfuture Japan military adventurism. Other nations accuse the
\nJapanese only of remembering Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where they
\nwere the victims of atomic bombing.<\/p>\n
The main theme of the collective memory in the heads of
\nAmericans and westerners regarding Sept. 11 most likely is the
\nassociation of Islam with terrorism. The plane hijackers were
\nMuslims and so is Osama bin Laden, who is accused of being behind
\nthe attack. The Taliban people who protected bin Laden in
\nAfghanistan also are Muslims. The Bali bombing suspects are
\nMuslims. While Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, the leader of Jamaah Islamiyah
\nwho is accused of having links with the Bali bombing suspects, is
\na Muslim cleric.<\/p>\n
It is their identity as Muslims that Americans and Western
\npeople remember most. Evidence of this can be found in media
\nreports about negative treatment received by a number of Muslims
\nand Arabs living in or visiting the United States and Australia.
\nThere were stories about a number of Arabs who were cursed and
\ntheir houses vandalized after Sept. 11. In Australia, government
\nagents raided houses of Indonesians and Arab immigrants in the
\ncourse of investigating possible terrorist links.<\/p>\n
The new U.S. government policy obliging Indonesian citizens
\nvisiting or residing in America to report and register with the
\nImmigration and Naturalization Service (INS) adds to the list of
\nproof of this collective memory associating Muslims with
\nterrorism.<\/p>\n
There are 25 countries affected by this new U.S. government
\nimmigration policy, including \"axis of evil\" member North Korea.
\nBut Daniel Lev, the renowned professor from Washington
\nUniversity, told the Jawa Pos on Jan. 21: \"Even though the (U.S.)
\ngovernment would claim the list policy has nothing to do with
\nIslam, the most affected would be Muslims.\"<\/p>\n
The list serves to show that even though Islamic extremists
\nare largely held responsible for terrorism, Muslims (and Arabs)
\neverywhere have to bear the psychological and moral burden of
\nbeing seen as \"potential\" terrorists. Just like being Japanese is
\nthought to predispose one to being a war aggressor, being a
\nMuslim is seen as being predisposed to terror.<\/p>\n
September 11 is not yet a distant memory, but it is a very
\nstrong one that will live in people minds all over the world for
\na long time. We do not know how long the war against terrorism
\nwill last. But even after the war is over, the memory will still
\nbe there and exert its influence on the relationship between
\nMuslims and people in other parts of the world, Americans in
\nparticular.<\/p>\n
My concern is based on Japan's experience. More than 50 years
\nafter World War II ended their past identification as a war
\naggressor has become their historical burden. I wonder if the
\nfuture of Muslims will similarly be affected, in Indonesia and
\nother parts of the world, for the next half century.<\/p>\n
Moderate Muslims, who are the majority, are now struggling to
\ndisassociate themselves and Islam from terrorism so that the
\n\"true\" Islam will eventually be understood. I just hope this
\nstruggle will be victorious over the unfavorable collective
\nmemory.<\/p>",
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