Amina Arraf, Fraud, and a Defense of Tom MacMaster

Yesterday the world discovered that Amina Arraf and her blog, “A Gay Girl in Damascus” were a hoax. In a post written by the blog’s sole author, Tom MacMaster, Amina’s followers and supporters were told that the entire blog, her abduction, everything was fiction. In his revelatory post, MacMaster writes, “This experience has sadly only confirmed my feelings regarding the often superficial coverage of the Middle East and the pervasiveness of new forms of liberal Orientalism.” This particular line struck a chord in me because Tom MacMaster, in his literary experiment gone wildly out-of-control, inadvertently accomplished something positive and that is illustrating the depth of liberal Orientalism’s influence on Western society.

When I first learned that the case of Amina Arraf was a hoax, I felt sick to my stomach. I was angry and disgusted that I not only let myself be drawn into the hoax but also because of MacMaster’s dismissal of his own guilt by accusing Westerners of being agents of liberal Orientalism. As I calmed down, I began to ask myself: why am I so angry? Is it because Amina’s case was a fraud? Because this takes attention away from the gross human rights violations of the Syrian regime? Indeed, those are all things that upset me, but what made me mad was that I was drawn in and I was a participant in liberal Orientalism. By posting the graphic of Amina, by joining Facebook support groups of Amina, by writing about her, I was drawn into the hoax and also became an agent of liberal Orientalism. Despite being fed a steady diet of Said for most of my intellectual career, I still could not escape the label of Orientalist or avoid participating in perpetuating a fetishization of the East by the West. That’s embarrassing and humiliating, but it’s also sobering. I mentioned some of these points on Jezebel, about my discomfort and that MacMaster makes a valid point:

Intellectually and emotionally this is really jarring. The unprofessional side of me wants to point the finger and say, “Wow, you have some balls, pal!” but I know that my own personal and professional uneasiness and anger with this whole situation does prove his point about “liberal Orientalism.” As someone who also promoted this story, it’s a hard pill to swallow that despite being intellectually raised on a steady died of Said, the knee-jerk reaction is still there to run out and save Eastern women from Eastern men and despotic rule! Tom MacMaster simply pointed this out when he revealed/admitted that his blog and its author, Amina, “A Gay Girl in Damascus,” is a hoax.

Drawing attention to the idea of a “liberal Orientalism” as being the cause? motivation? of his blog certainly doesn’t absolve him of what he did or his own participation in “liberal Orientalism” and I really think that by attempting to share and/or invert the guilt (right here, I feel guilty) he makes me even angrier (again, the truth hurts).

People  jumped on this cause because Amina Arraf was a novelty and the Western impulse is to SAVE, however destructive and quixotic that endeavor may be. In her lesbian identity, together with her Arab/Syrian identity, she became “trendy” because of her sexuality, because of her Arab identity, because she was deviant. Is that not why Orientalism exists? An utter fascination with the “deviancy” of the Arab World? Islam: Deviant. Polygamy: Deviant. Homosexuality: Deviant. When I pointed this out, that even the so-called “Jezzies” were participants in liberal Orientalism, I was essentially told that I was “wrong.” Commenters absolved themselves of responsibility by deleting “Arab,” which was critical to Amina Arraf’s identity and cause, and saying that it was not wrong to support the release of a woman who was demonstrating her right to free speech and was subsequently imprisoned by the regime. No one was willing to take responsibility or hold themselves accountable for what MacMaster very simply states in that there is an intense “pervasiveness of liberal Orientalism.” All of the commenters believe, as enlightened, indepedendent feminist women that they are not guilty of being Orientalists themselves, but in fact they are Orientalists. Simply removing an adjective does not absolve you from guilt or from the label.

This whole situation demonstrates that when someone points out, even in as in the case of Tom MacMaster, in an effort to assuage and absolve some of his guilt, that there is a pervasive liberal Orientalism in the West, that we learned nothing from Said, and we continue to believe that we are more evolved and as women we must save other women. It is horrifying, as an academic, to be caught-up in this hoax and to realise that I was also a participant after years and years of learning to push back against Orientalism, to identify and subvert it, it seems that even the most self-conscious academic, activist, woman can be led astray by a clever ruse. MacMaster successfully, if inadvertently, demonstrated that we are certainly not in a post-racial, post-Orientalist world. If anything, we are able to justify, rationalize, and re-package our Orientalism. Sadly, when confronted with the truth, it is much easier to deny, deny, deny and accuse each other rather than it is to accept the fact that we all had a hand in perpetuating Orientalism in this instance. People who say that their support of “Amina” was not relevant to her Syrian/Arab identity or that it meant anything at all, is a lie. Being candid with oneself and admitting that we “were had” will lead to much better discussions and self-consciousness when trying to understand deeper issues in the Middle East and the Arab World and how we, as a Western public form our approach.

Initially very angry with Tom MacMaster for his fraud, I am now grateful that his blog and the ruse helped me to re-evaluate my approach and my self-consciousness in working in gender and sexuality in Middle Eastern and Muslim-majority countries/communities. If anything, the results of the blog asks us to be more self-aware of our own Orientalism(s). It forced me to check myself and to own my own Orientalist tendencies, which although I think are inevitable given my privilege, being conscious of them and acknowledging them is important if we are ever to fully unpack and dissemble Orientalist structures and ways of knowing and viewing the “Other” in the “East.”

The Mystery of Amina Arraf (Draft from 06/09/2011)

Yesterday, news outlets around the world reported that Syrian-American blogger and author of the blog “A Gay Girl in Damascus”, Amina Arraf, was arrested in Damascus by the Syrian Security Forces. Since then, some journalists in the West are beginning to question her identity. As I began to read the links that were being posted to my Facebook wall, e-mailed to me, and appearing on news sites, the doubt started to creep. I remembered a few years ago the questions surrounding the authenticity of the Riverbend Blog. However, in spite of the doubt, I refuse to be swayed because there are several important factors about Amina Arraf’s case that point to its authenticity:

1. It was pointed out on Jezebel, by one commenter, that her idiomatic expressions and the way in which her viewpoints “dovetailed” neatly with American liberals was a indicative to them that Amina Arraf is a fraud. Amina herself identifies as “Syrian-American” and makes her hybrid identity public, in the interest of full-disclosure. As she openly identifies as American and Syrian, I believe negates that particular argument. Further, if Amina is indeed possessing two citizenships, then she is probably part of the Syrian bourgeois. It is entirely possible that she was educated at an American international school either in Syria or in Egypt, Lebanon, or Jordan. Indeed, her parentage may signal significant time spent abroad. Finally, just because she is Syrian does not mean that her ideals may or may not align with those of the American left. Americans do not have the monopoly on liberalism.

2. One year ago, she supposedly stole a London woman’s identity. If Amina is blogging inside Syria, she no doubt stole someone else’s identity as a way to protect her own identity. I am not excusing her, but it may be a necessary evil in order for her to create a false identity to be able to create the authenticity that she needed to get the attention of the West. This quest for authenticity goes two ways, hopefully in this case Amina’s pilfered avatar will be the least of her crimes.

3. The internet provides youth around the world and not just the Middle East with a means of subversion. Internet cafes and access to the world wide web give youth a freedom that they cannot otherwise aspire to either because of familial structure, social pressures or government censorship.

*I never finished this entry, saved it as a draft and am now posting it in the interest of transparency.

Knowing and the Death of Osama bin Laden

Last night, the American people learned of the death of Osama bin Laden, long heralded as the mastermind of the bombings of the U.S. embassies in Africa, of the U.S.S. Cole, and the September 11th attacks. In his remarks to the nation, President Obama’s words were underscored with caution that although the Special Forces had successfully assassinated the head of Al-Qaeda, the war was not yet won. Yet outside the gates of the White House and at Ground Zero in New York City, an impromptu celebration erupted as crowds gathered to celebrate the death of a man who was partially responsible for the deaths of thousands of Americans, including Muslims during his reign of terror. These celebrations were far more complex than just a moment where, after ten years of war and bloodshed, Americans could celebrate its exceptionalism, its ability to surmount all odds and obstacles, and its ability to see justice done at whatever the cost. The assassination of Osama bin Laden marked the closing of a decade-long chapter, it sutured wounds long open, and although should not be used to justify wars on two fronts, his death represents something much more significant than just the satiation of Americans’ blood lust.

Simultaneous to the announcement, as emotions ran from elation to fear to relief to confusion, my Facebook newsfeed erupted with two reactions to Osama’s demise: elation and condemnation. My reaction was one of elation, then fear, national pride and then, when the President began to speak, I began to sob. Last night was not a moment for celebration, but it was a moment of tremendous relief and release. Osama bin Laden was symbolic in the burden that he presented to the American people. Last night, as people cried and screamed and chanted, they were not celebrating the death of bin Laden. The celebrations were not that simple: to Americans, Osama bin Laden was the bogeyman, Big Foot, a specter who was at our fingertips and who always managed to slip away into the darkness. For the last ten years, Americans clung to the myth of Osama bin Laden, to the idea of al-Qaeda, and the notion that with the death of al-Qaeda’s leader, the “War on Terror” would be dealt a devastating blow.

In the wake of President Obama’s speech and during the day following the announcement of bin Laden’s demise, not one single person has asked me what I think about it. Articulating this is, of course, symptomatic of my own arrogance as a trained-Islamicist, but also of the arrogance of Americans themselves. Information about Islam, Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda: it is all filtered through political blogs, news programs, neighbours, and long-held assumptions about the Islamic World. In an effort to not have to confront the realities and complexities of bin Laden’s death, two approaches were adopted, both of which are wholly American in spirit and execution, and testimony to Americans’ self-righteousness in the face of the so-called “War on Terror.” The first reaction is Biblical, calling-out in the wilderness for peace and brotherhood, for no more blood to be shed, and for the beating of the swords into plowshares.  The second is one that yet again draws-upon the Abrahamic, the Judeo-Christian impulse to turn the other cheek, to seize this moment as we failed to do in the days following September 11th and react to bin Laden’s death with poise, dignity, and due reverence. After all, it was still a human life that was lost, and at the cost of thousands of lives before the night of May 1st, 2011. Both of these approaches denote a sense of American exceptionalism: “We killed him. We are awesome.” “This is not right, we are better than this. We should be better than they are.” In both cases, Americans establish themselves as superior, as exceptional, as better than their “enemy” a sophisticated network of soldiers interested in the establishment of a Utopian society, a caliphate in which justice would finally be divinely executed. A sophisticated process of othering takes place that no one is immune from in their commentary on the events of last night.

I will admit that clearly my moral compass is clearly not as evolved as my colleagues on Facebook whose updates called for calm, introspection, and calls for peace: I did not turn any religious book or cite a verse, although I had trouble articulating that I wished bin Laden to be condemned to hell, my tongue stumbled over the words. Writing to my friend this morning at Baghdad University, I wrote: “This is a bittersweet ending. I don’t know how to feel exactly. It was still a human life that was taken and many were taken in order to get to that place. In the end, it is for God to decide. God’s verdict is greater and more just than any of us could render .” I admire my friends and colleagues who are not so embroiled in the Islamic world and its contradictions, can employ their Christian, “secular,” and otherwise intellectualized empathy to the situation. Unfortunately, I cannot see this event or critique it in the same manner. For me, as an Islamicist, I am too deep to be able to look from the outside in, to read blogs and watch political pundits banter about the significance of bin Laden’s death.

From the perspective of an Islamicist, I believe that the Qur’an justifies the killing of Osama bin Laden. In Sura 17, it is written: “You shall not kill any person – for God has made life sacred – except in the course of justice. If one is killed unjustly, then we give his heir authority to enforce justice. Thus, he shall not exceed the limits in avenging the murder, he will be helped.” The United States acted well within the Shari’a in its assassination of Osama bin Laden. Perhaps it was not the best decision, nor perhaps, as I wrote to my friend at Baghdad University, it was not our right to exact justice or to define the parameters of earthly justice, even if God has given us the tools with which to do that. For me, as an Islamicist, it is a bittersweet turn of events. Not only has the United States taken off the head of the beast, but the nation has also made itself vulnerable through its sense of exceptionalism and the smugness with which bin Laden’s death was simultaneously celebrated and condemned. Americans demonstrated once-again last night that their greatest enemy is themselves and their own ignorance of a world that they keep at an arm’s length and refuse to understand. It is not Islam that will be the downfall of this country, it is Americans’ and their willful ignorance that will be our undoing.

An Easter Jihad

One of my favourite surahs from the Qur’an reads: “Surely those who believe, and those who are Jews, and the Christians, and the Sabians — whoever believes in God and the Last Day and does good, they shall have their reward from their Lord. And there will be no fear for them, nor shall they grieve (2:62).” Yet, as Christians around the world participate in the annual ritual of grieving the death of Christ and then celebrating his resurrection on Easter Sunday, there are other Christians who are grieving for our Muslim brothers and sisters. Many Christians do not realise that Muslims also believe in the holiness of Jesus, who is called Isa in the Qur’an or that his mother, Mary, called Maryam, has an entire chapter of the Qur’an dedicated to her. Jesus retains a special place in Islam and Muslim belief and this mutual affection for this man who Christians believe was the Messiah and who Muslims regard as the most important Prophet before Muhammad. As people like Pastor Terry Jones travel to Dearborn to symbolically burn the Qur’an during the holiest week of the Christian year, it is should be our duty, not merely as Christians, but as citizens of this country, to take-up an Easter Jihad.

Jihad is categorized as a “Greater Jihad” and a “Lesser Jihad.” The “Greater Jihad” being the struggle within oneself to live a righteous and faithful life. Sunni Muslims even go so far as to define subcategories of jihad: of the heart, by the tongue, by the hand, and finally, by the sword. The Prophet Muhammad emphasised the jihad of the heart as the “Greater Jihad.” Before Muslims take-up arms, they are asked to take-up arms within themselves and within their souls to struggle against the devil and exercise caution against his duplicitous ways. This Holy Week as we walk as penitents, we should challenge ourselves to reach across the lines that divide us from our Muslim neighbours. Muslims are our neighbours, both on our streets and sharing a kinship, through Abraham, in our faith. As uncomfortable as it may make some, faith should never come easily nor should belief. As we witness the brutal execution of Christ and as we bear witness to him cry out, “Father, why have you forsaken me?” let us bear witness and make a greater jihad toward our own faith. This Easter, let us commence an Easter Jihad and share with our Muslim kin a mutual love of Christ/Isa through our efforts toward a better ecumenical dialogue, toward combating Islamophobia, and extinguishing the fires of the likes of Terry Jones and the willfully ignorant.

Christians are afraid and during this Holy Week, we are particularly vulnerable as for a few days our faith is veiled in darkness as we lose Christ to his crucifixion. However, we are reassured through the witnessing of his resurrection, reassured of our faith and that God has not abandoned us. Let us not abandon Christ’s mission to bring justice and peace, let us not abandon Christ’s jihad in favour of the kind of jihad of the likes of Terry Jones and other zealots. Let us not allow them to take Christianity away from us, like our Muslim brethren who fight against the radicalisation of Islam, together we are engaged in a jihad for both faiths from extremism, hatred, mistrust, and a collective, willful ignorance. Let us not give into the temptation to turn away from injustice or abuse. We as Christians may not accept Islam as our way of believing,  but we should accept Muslims who walk together with us toward God, together we can work together to remain, matching our strides along the path toward God.

In closing, I refer to the Book of Common Prayer and one of my favourite benedictions as the cry for our Easter Jihad:

“And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” 

I can think of no other way to seek redemption than through loving thy neighbour as thyself and protecting each other from our grief. God’s peace truly does pass all understanding, and for more than just this Easter, let us open our hearts to that peace. Let us truly engage in our own “Jihad of the heart” this Easter.

Ten Best Novels and Short Stories by Muslim Women

1. The Story of Zahra (Hanan al-Shaykh)

2. Women of Algiers in their Apartments (Assia Djebar)

3. Brick Lane (Monica Ali)

4. Zanouba (Out El-Kouloub)

5. The Almond (Nedjma)

6. Sabriya: Damascus Bittersweet (Ulfat Idilbi)

7. Girl in the Tangerine Scarf (Mohja Kahf)

8. Fatma (Raja Alem)

9. Year of the Elephant (Leila Abouzeid)

10. “Apple” in I Sweep the Sun Off Rooftops (Hanan al-Shaykh)

This is my own listing of the Ten Best Novels and Short Stories by Muslim Women. Suggestions? Additions? Favourites you would like to share? Comment to let me know!