Height Of Terror
THEY WALK IN SHADOWS, have long black beards, a dark complexion and are of Middle Eastern appearance. They hijack planes and bomb innocent people. Who you ask? Muslims. Terrorists. Arabs. The fundamentalist demons of the 21st century of which we have all become so afraid. And why are we so afraid? Because they pose a threat to our established views, ethics and beliefs. With all this talk of terrorism and the 'other' in our world, I am beginning to feel a sense of Deja vu. There seems to be a reiteration of an established pattern, repeated over and over again throughout history. It is almost as if we have been catapulted back in time, into the Puritan mentality of Salem 1692. We now have modern day witch-hunts, extended incarcerations without trial and torture instead of hangings. Anyone and everyone who fits the desired description of the dangerous 'other' is suspected of terrorism, whether they have committed a crime or not. This issue was detailed in Arthur Miller's The Crucible. There was mass hysteria about witchcraft and the 'devil' being rampant in their society. When it spread beyond control people whom the dominant members of society disliked, and saw as different, or 'other' were targeted and branded as wit
It is especially evident in the situation in Iraq, the aftermath of September 11 and in the case of Mamdou Habib. He is part of the minority, which is condemned by the wider society every single day. He one of the victims in our witch-hunt for terrorists. This bears an uncanny resemblance to the witch-hunts in The Crucible, which deprived individuals of the right to be deemed innocent before proven guilty. He has been labelled a terrorist, we 'rescue' people and even entire countries from terrorism. Articles such as Rathnesar's 'Face of Terror' (Time, 03/01/05) use words like 'ghoulish', '"dead-enders", "die-hards" and "terrorists" to demonise these people. They are deprived of the right to be innocent before proven guilty. ' Language is just as dangerous as any weapons of mass destruction, or any war as it infects our minds and until we realise this, these patterns will repeat forever. We use language to label the 'other' in derogatory ways and though it is not consciously seen or realised immediately the effects are catastrophic. And most importantly, he is part of the 'other,' the enemy, whom we are so petrified of that we try to eradicate them in any way possible. We are positioned to view Mamdou Habib as a binary opposite by the media. Another recurring pattern observed is that which also occurred in the 1950's during the McCarthy era. He is Muslim, we fear anything Muslim. The Australian government more or less keeps communicating their belief that he is a terrorist and a threat to Australian national security, according to past suspicions of his links with 'extreme elements of the Islamic Community.
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