Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Can America and Islam coexist? Thoughts on the Image of John or Hamza Walker Lindh
I don't usually read Esquire magazine, but Sunday evening as I
puruzed the magazine section of Loblaws the title of an article in the current July issue caught my eye: "Innocent: Can America and Islam and Coexist?" In this article Tom Junod profiles the life a man you might remember named John Walker Lindh, an American citizen U.S. Forces caught fighting for the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001. Pictures of him blindfolded naked and bound in ducktape on a stretcher appeared on television news around the globe. After U.S. Forces captured him, he was interrogated and eventually returned to the U.S. where he stood trial for treason and conspiring to kill Americans. The government eventually dropped eight of the ten charges against him and he is currently serving a twenty-five year sentence at a medium security federal prison in Northern California. Junod argues that Hamza ( a name he adopted once he began his prison term) has come to embody the challenge of Islam to America, and that the challenge is this: "In response to what America has done to him, Hamza has become more Islamic-more himself, and a better Muslim. And in response to what Hamza has done to it, America has become less properly Christian, and ever less democratic, and ever so much less than itself. " Junod provides a very interesting narrative and exploration of the life of John Walker Lindh from the time he was a teenager to his current life in prison, and while he discusses, briefly, the challenge Hamza poses to the United States, he does not explore the significance of the image of John Walker Lindh.
I think that the image of John Walker Lindh is a paticularly threatening one to the U.S. because he is a white American from a fairly wealthy upper middle class family who probably had every opportunity to pursue the' American dream,' yet he choose to convert to Islam, learn Arabic, and fight with the Taliban in the Afghan civil war. In Mitchell's terms one could ask what is it that the image of Hamza wants from the U.S. ? Perhaps the image of Hamza wants to explore why America and Islam are seeming so diametrically opposed to one another. I suppose one could say he is us and our enemy in the same person and for this reason incredibly troubling to the American psyche. When his story first broke, many commentators speculated that he was just a stary eyed American kid, almost a Lawrence of Arabia type figure, who had 'become enchanted with Islam and 'just gotten in over his head.' They thought once he returned to the States he would 'straighten out.' However, the portrait of Hamza that emerged during his trial was one of a rational, intelligent, studious, and devout young man, who spoke Arabic fluently, had memorized the Koran, and refused to renounce his Islamic faith. He was not a brainwashed fanatic or a terrorist, but an exceptionally pious Muslim, who knew suicide bombing to be against the true tenants of his faith. Unlike the many Muslim terrorist Zizek argues are anti-Western, but not necessarily pro- Islamic, Hamza is not a terrorist and is an incredibly pious Muslim. Junod describes Hamza as 'a better human person than you or I...[and] if you happen to be a Muslim:Well, he's a better Muslim than you are too.' Ultimately the case of the United States government did not hold up, but he was still committed to twenty five years in prison. Is this because he is a Muslim? I would contend this is because he is a figure whose image is so incompatible with the contruction and perception of Islam in the United States, and the political agendas that construction serves, that the only way for the U.S. to deal with him is to "exnominate" him, as it were, to federal prison until this whole War on Terror thing passes over.
I think that Junod is going a little too far to say that the answer to whether Islam and the U.S. can co-exist or not lies in the person of Hamza Walker Lindh; nevertheless, I think the image of Hamza raises important questions about the way Islam is treated in the U.S. and certainly leaves much to ponder about the creation of any sort of alternative to get us out of this terribly poloarized mess.
I will ponder this while I study for the exam. If you are interested in the reading the article in its entirety it is available on the Esquire website.
puruzed the magazine section of Loblaws the title of an article in the current July issue caught my eye: "Innocent: Can America and Islam and Coexist?" In this article Tom Junod profiles the life a man you might remember named John Walker Lindh, an American citizen U.S. Forces caught fighting for the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001. Pictures of him blindfolded naked and bound in ducktape on a stretcher appeared on television news around the globe. After U.S. Forces captured him, he was interrogated and eventually returned to the U.S. where he stood trial for treason and conspiring to kill Americans. The government eventually dropped eight of the ten charges against him and he is currently serving a twenty-five year sentence at a medium security federal prison in Northern California. Junod argues that Hamza ( a name he adopted once he began his prison term) has come to embody the challenge of Islam to America, and that the challenge is this: "In response to what America has done to him, Hamza has become more Islamic-more himself, and a better Muslim. And in response to what Hamza has done to it, America has become less properly Christian, and ever less democratic, and ever so much less than itself. " Junod provides a very interesting narrative and exploration of the life of John Walker Lindh from the time he was a teenager to his current life in prison, and while he discusses, briefly, the challenge Hamza poses to the United States, he does not explore the significance of the image of John Walker Lindh.
I think that the image of John Walker Lindh is a paticularly threatening one to the U.S. because he is a white American from a fairly wealthy upper middle class family who probably had every opportunity to pursue the' American dream,' yet he choose to convert to Islam, learn Arabic, and fight with the Taliban in the Afghan civil war. In Mitchell's terms one could ask what is it that the image of Hamza wants from the U.S. ? Perhaps the image of Hamza wants to explore why America and Islam are seeming so diametrically opposed to one another. I suppose one could say he is us and our enemy in the same person and for this reason incredibly troubling to the American psyche. When his story first broke, many commentators speculated that he was just a stary eyed American kid, almost a Lawrence of Arabia type figure, who had 'become enchanted with Islam and 'just gotten in over his head.' They thought once he returned to the States he would 'straighten out.' However, the portrait of Hamza that emerged during his trial was one of a rational, intelligent, studious, and devout young man, who spoke Arabic fluently, had memorized the Koran, and refused to renounce his Islamic faith. He was not a brainwashed fanatic or a terrorist, but an exceptionally pious Muslim, who knew suicide bombing to be against the true tenants of his faith. Unlike the many Muslim terrorist Zizek argues are anti-Western, but not necessarily pro- Islamic, Hamza is not a terrorist and is an incredibly pious Muslim. Junod describes Hamza as 'a better human person than you or I...[and] if you happen to be a Muslim:Well, he's a better Muslim than you are too.' Ultimately the case of the United States government did not hold up, but he was still committed to twenty five years in prison. Is this because he is a Muslim? I would contend this is because he is a figure whose image is so incompatible with the contruction and perception of Islam in the United States, and the political agendas that construction serves, that the only way for the U.S. to deal with him is to "exnominate" him, as it were, to federal prison until this whole War on Terror thing passes over.
I think that Junod is going a little too far to say that the answer to whether Islam and the U.S. can co-exist or not lies in the person of Hamza Walker Lindh; nevertheless, I think the image of Hamza raises important questions about the way Islam is treated in the U.S. and certainly leaves much to ponder about the creation of any sort of alternative to get us out of this terribly poloarized mess.
I will ponder this while I study for the exam. If you are interested in the reading the article in its entirety it is available on the Esquire website.
# posted by Anonymous @ 1:56 PM 
