Muslims, terror and collective memory

Muslims, terror and collective memory

Muhammad Qodari, Political Analyst, Centre for Strategic and
International Studies (CSIS), Jakarta, Qodari@csis.or.id

Although hundreds of events make headlines each year, only a
fraction will be remembered by people in subsequent years. What
factors contribute to making an enduring collective memory?
Empirical studies of political upheavals in the United States
indicate that we remember events that change the course of the
lives of a large segment of the population. Monuments are built
and movies are made at predictable times after the upheavals
occur, as written by James Pennebaker in his 1997 book on the
world's momentous upheavals.

The terrorist act of Sept. 11, 2001, was that kind of
upheaval. It has enormously changed the course of the lives of
virtually the entire U.S. population, as well as the country's
structure of government. The Department of Homeland Security will
consolidate 22 presently uncoordinated departments and will cost
the Department of the Treasury US$40 billion a year. The new
department aims to monitor 500 million people crossing the U.S.
border annually and track more than 11 million trucks taking
shipments into the country, 51,000 foreign ships and 2.2 million
railcars.

The events of Sept. 11 have become part of the global
collective memory, although people in different places may
remember them in different ways. The events are "easy" to be
remembered not only because of the massive damage they created,
but also because of the rapid and vivid transmission of news of
the attack.

What is important about collective memory is the influence it
can exert on many aspects of our lives, including international
politics. The collective memory of World War II, for instance,
has strongly influenced subsequent relationships between Japan
and countries such as the United States, China and South Korea.

These former enemies of Japan remember Japan's government and
people as war aggressors. Americans never forget Pearl Harbor
while China keeps mentioning Japan's cruelty in "the massacre of
Nanjing".

Kiichi Fujiwara, a professor from the University of Tokyo,
delivered a lecture this month at the University of Indonesia on
"memory as deterrence"; that the insistence by other nations that
Japan is the war aggressor keeps the memory alive. Japan's
maintenance of its war memory is considered important to suppress
future Japan military adventurism. Other nations accuse the
Japanese only of remembering Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where they
were the victims of atomic bombing.

The main theme of the collective memory in the heads of
Americans and westerners regarding Sept. 11 most likely is the
association of Islam with terrorism. The plane hijackers were
Muslims and so is Osama bin Laden, who is accused of being behind
the attack. The Taliban people who protected bin Laden in
Afghanistan also are Muslims. The Bali bombing suspects are
Muslims. While Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, the leader of Jamaah Islamiyah
who is accused of having links with the Bali bombing suspects, is
a Muslim cleric.

It is their identity as Muslims that Americans and Western
people remember most. Evidence of this can be found in media
reports about negative treatment received by a number of Muslims
and Arabs living in or visiting the United States and Australia.
There were stories about a number of Arabs who were cursed and
their houses vandalized after Sept. 11. In Australia, government
agents raided houses of Indonesians and Arab immigrants in the
course of investigating possible terrorist links.

The new U.S. government policy obliging Indonesian citizens
visiting or residing in America to report and register with the
Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) adds to the list of
proof of this collective memory associating Muslims with
terrorism.

There are 25 countries affected by this new U.S. government
immigration policy, including "axis of evil" member North Korea.
But Daniel Lev, the renowned professor from Washington
University, told the Jawa Pos on Jan. 21: "Even though the (U.S.)
government would claim the list policy has nothing to do with
Islam, the most affected would be Muslims."

The list serves to show that even though Islamic extremists
are largely held responsible for terrorism, Muslims (and Arabs)
everywhere have to bear the psychological and moral burden of
being seen as "potential" terrorists. Just like being Japanese is
thought to predispose one to being a war aggressor, being a
Muslim is seen as being predisposed to terror.

September 11 is not yet a distant memory, but it is a very
strong one that will live in people minds all over the world for
a long time. We do not know how long the war against terrorism
will last. But even after the war is over, the memory will still
be there and exert its influence on the relationship between
Muslims and people in other parts of the world, Americans in
particular.

My concern is based on Japan's experience. More than 50 years
after World War II ended their past identification as a war
aggressor has become their historical burden. I wonder if the
future of Muslims will similarly be affected, in Indonesia and
other parts of the world, for the next half century.

Moderate Muslims, who are the majority, are now struggling to
disassociate themselves and Islam from terrorism so that the
"true" Islam will eventually be understood. I just hope this
struggle will be victorious over the unfavorable collective
memory.