This term, our ASTU class will be focused around 9/11 and the war on terror. As we had a lot of discussion last term about memory and its role in various aspects of modern life, I’d like to start off this term with some discussion about memory in the context of terrorism. There are many ways you could connect these two topics, but for this blog I’d like to focus on the question: what happens to memory when terror strikes? We have already discussed heavily in class 9/11 and many of the outcomes including the sense of unity that arose between the American people following the attack. However, this unity did not include Muslim Americans, those citizens who by merely practicing their first amendment rights (freedom of religion) were grouped with the extremists responsible for the attacks on September 11th. And according to an article by The Daily Beast, the “anti-muslim bigotry” initially sparked by the attacks, has only grown steadily over recent years. Dean Obeidallah notes in this article, “Today… only 27% of Americans have a favourable view of Muslim-Americans.” Even when we spent time in class discussing what came to mind when we thought about the phrase, “9/11”, no one mentioned the anti-Arab sentiment that has become character of much of the western world. This goes to show that terror may have a dangerous effect not only on our immediate emotions, but also on our lasting memory.

Another example of looking at terrorism interfering with memory can be found in the recent Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris, where extremists killed 12 journalists. In the aftermath of this attack, social media sites have been covered in the newly-iconic “Je suis Charlie” picture, which online users share or like to show their support of the “freedom of speech” that was attacked on January 7th.

However good these intentions of protecting “free speech” may be, many users who share this photo are horribly unaware of the free speech that they are supporting. The Charlie Hebdo magazine is, as Sara Flounders puts it, “notorious for its racist, anti-muslim caricatures.” Most notably, the satirical magazine is known for depicting the prophet Muhammad in “grossly obscene” ways (Flounders). In another response to the outcry of this attack, Huffington Post UK journalist Mehdi Hasan says, “Lampooning racism by reproducing brazenly racist imagery is a pretty dubious satirical tactic,” criticizing this “satirical” magazine on the principles of their content. The Charlie Hebdo attack has shown how much grey area there is in the often black and white, clash of civilizations-esque concept of terrorism. Both through 9/11 and the recent attack in Paris, we can see how when terror strikes, memory is often blinded causing us to create these black and white ideas of what is happening around us.

Sources

Flounders, Sara. “Charlie Hebdo, the Free Press and Racism.” Workers World. N.p., 13 Jan. 2015. Web. 14 Jan. 2015.

Hasan, Mehdi. “As a Muslim, I’m Fed Up With the Hypocrisy of the Free Speech Fundamentalists.” The Huffington Post UK. AOL, 13 Jan. 2015. Web. 14 Jan. 2015.

Obeidallah, Dean. “13 Years After 9/11, Anti-Muslim Bigotry Is Worse Than Ever.” The Daily Beast. Newsweek/Daily Beast, 11 Sept. 2014. Web. 14 Jan. 2015.