FACULTY
URGE NATION TO UNDERSTAND MOTIVE BEHIND TERRORIST
ATTACKS
A
group of Barnard faculty urged deeper understanding
of the forces that motivated the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks on the United States -- and of the ways
that the nation may have contributed to support
for bin Laden.
The
comments were made on Friday, Sept. 21, at the
second of two forums "In Terrorism's Wake."
The forum, in Lehman Auditorium of Altschul
Hall, was attended by more than 100 students,
faculty and staff. President Judith Shapiro
introduced the panel.
"A
few years before in Afghanistan, we found, created,
armed and trained the Mujihadeen," said Alex
Cooley, assistant professor of political science.
"The resulting Taliban is part of the fruits
of our labor."
United
States policy that focuses only on short-term
goals without a vision of the long-term consequences
of our actions puts the nation at risk, he said.
"My
fear is that 5, 7 and 10 years down the line,
we will reap what we have sown," he said.
Cooley
also noted that reasons other than hatred of
the United States draw impoverished citizens
of the Middle East to support anti-U.S. movement,
including political repression at home, and
socioeconomic crises that are not dealt with
by governments.
"A
lot of the movements provide social services
that the governments can no longer provide,"
Cooley said, "and a lot of the legitimacy of
the Islamic fundamentalist parties comes from
the perception that they understand the needs
of ordinary people."
Jeffrey Friedman, assistant professor of political
science, urged that we avoid the term "evil"
when discussing the terrorists -- and instead
use the term "evil-doers."
"If
they're evil, we don't have to understand them
-- they are inexplicable force," he said. By
trying to understand motive, we can guard against
a dangerous overreaction and demonization of
an entire people. "There is great value," he
said, "in trying to exclude yourself form the
all-too-human tendency to be contemptuous of
people who have done wrong to you."
Linda
Beck, assistant professor of political science,
faulted the media for conveying a distorted
response to the attacks among Muslims. For example,
when showing a particular site where blood donations
were being given, a commentator omitted a key
fact: the site was a mosque. Beck said her worry
is that anti-Muslim feeling will lead Muslims
to think about "passing" as non-Muslims.
Alan Segal, Professor of Religion and Ingeborg
Rennert Professor Jewish Studies, argued against
dualism -- the division of the world into good
and evil -- saying that the United States risked
falling into the same logical trap with the
terrorists.
"I
am also suspicious of the President's language
where he implies that we are involved in a war
of good against evil and his rehearsal of a
dozen other banalities. The terrorists are indeed
a great threat to us but I resist using religiously
motivated dualistic terms to describe the battle
or we will wind up with a huge war against a
great part of the world whom we should be committed
to helping," Segal warned.
"Just
as we must avoid making the mistake of our attackers
in attacking the innocent population in the
United States, we must avoid doing the same
abroad. Instead we must support the moderate
Arab and Muslim states -- I think here for example
of Turkey, Jordan, and Egypt, among others --
because they are as much targets as we are and
because, imperfect instruments as they are,
they are our only hope in the Middle East. And
we must be careful not to stint on our support
of Israel, lest we demonstrate to the extremists
that attacking the United States is a way to
gain their objectives. That would be a costly
mistake for the US, as it would only encourage
more acts of violence against us."
Robert
Smith, assistant professor of sociology, agreed
with Cooley that the nation's response "has
to be a severe, stern response, but not one
that will make the situation worse."
And
he also argued for the need to understand U.S.
role in supporting bin Laden. "In many cases,
these are Frankensteinian monsters," he said,
of movements like his. For example, Afghans
feel abandoned by the United States following
the end of the Soviet-Afghan war, some saying
"you treated us like whores."
A
possible response, he suggested, might be a
Marshall plan for the region that would address
development.
In
an emotional moment, Smith broke down when describing
a National Science Foundation-funded project
in which he is involved that will document the
response to the tragedy among undocumented workers.
He
told of visiting family members who had lost
their relatives -- the only sign of them being
photocopied images of photographs. "It's terrible,"
he said. "They lived anonymously, and died anonymously."
Peter
Juviler, emeritus professor of political science
and a board member of the Center for the Study
of Human Rights at Columbia University, urged
the audience to remember that this was an international
tragedy and not just a domestic one. "America
is not the only country that has suffered from
this," he said.
And
Juviler also urged that academics find a way
to participate in the public debate about the
national response.
Jack
Hawley, professor of religion and a scholar
of Eastern religions, recalled that during a
discussion of lessons from the tragedy, a first-year
Barnard pointed to the Bhagavad Gita
with its three ways of yoga or discipline: a
yoga of knowing or insight, a yoga of action,
and a yoga of feeling.
"A
lot of people have asked how God could allow
this catastrophe to happen. Others go further:
How could God have caused such a thing to happen?
These questions are embedded in the Gita
too. Krishna reveals himself as death with a
capital D--kalosmi: death, that is, life-and-death.
But the text doesn't end on this note. It ends
with Krishna appealing to his human counterpart,
our hero, to be "me-minded," as he says (Bhagavad
Gita 18.65): to focus on the transcendental
"me" who is present everywhere. I got a glimpse
of that yesterday at Union Square, as hundreds
of people reached out to the lost ones who had
said to them, "it's me." They answered back,
"It's me." And in that place, at least, they
also reached out by begging for self-discipline
and restraint."
-- Lucas Bernays Held
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