Stereotypes and language

I recently read a newspaper headline about a report written by MI5 on stereotyping terror suspects in the UK (http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/aug/20/uksecurity.terrorism1) . It discussed the inaccurate profiling of the typical terrorists who is a single mad man from Asian background who’s in his 20’s. They stressed that terror suspects can come from diverse backgrounds and they’re not madder than the average population.

People who get involved in extremist activities, according to this report, may be married with children. They could be not that committed to Islam. They could come from White British, British African, or British Caribbean backgrounds.

I have been stressing out about how the media, the government and society in general create these generalised images of terror suspects, which I believe could lead to more intolerance of the Muslim communities in the UK.

I always stress out but rarely do something about my destress. I wait, often very long time, until someone else challenges these stereotypes. My surprise was that it was a governmental body that did it. I am yet to see this translated into action.

Language can manipulate our thoughts and beliefs in ways we are not necessarily aware of. The language, used by media outlets, on the Israel – Palestine conflict is one good example.

A journalist called Seth Freedman:(http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/aug/21/israelandthepalestinians.middleeast ) , who had served in the Israeli Army, was recently describing a visit to a Palestinian family in the West Bank town of Nilin. This town together with others have been leading the way in peaceful protests lead by civil organisations against the apartheid wall.

Freedman was watching the Al Aqsa (aliened to Hamas) channel reporting on the violence of some illegal settlers against the Palestinian population, which included firing a rocket into a Palestinian town. He was reflecting on how the report’s language was so different than what we are used to in the Western media.

The use of words such as colonisers (instead of settlers), the occupied forces (instead of the Israeli Defence Forces) and apartheid wall (instead of the security barrier) which depict a more accurate picture of what is happening in historic Palestine, is so controversial here in the West.

Some Jewish organisations complain that the BBC is more sympathetic to the Palestinian cause, despite its use of language that is used by the Israeli government to descise the facts on the ground.

That’s another thing I used to stress about all the time but never did anything about. And here comes this journalist and describes the topicin a fair way. Who knows? Maybe through this blog I will start some attempts to challenge language used by the mainstream media, which could lead to people being misinformed .

Introduction to Yalo

Yalo – 21/08/2008

The idea of this blog started one evening after a therapy session. I was wondering what I should do to improve my tolerance to difference, and contribute to a world that tolerates difference better.

As someone who felt not at home wherever I went because of the differences I have from the cultures around me, my “life is all about reconciling differences “ (as my therapist put it).

Through this blog I would like to be able to reflect on my thoughts and feelings on many topics I feel inspired by. This will be for self-reflection as well as sharing my thoughts with others.

I am hoping to be commenting on news items, cultural events, books, films, arts and some personal events.

To write in a blog is like writing a letter and placing it on a worldwide town square where it could sit there and decay forever. A passer by who had some time to spare could come across it, and she/ he could be inspired, appalled or just entertained by what she /he sees. She / he could post a comment to me to share her feelings and thoughts about what I write.

How will a blog reconcile difference?

Information, I believe, is the engine of tolerance, while ignorance or misinformation is the fuel to fear and the excluding of the ‘other’.

In this blog, I will attempt to reflect on things around me to expand my knowledge of my ‘self’ (own identities, internal world, and social groups I identify with) and the ‘other’ (people that may be different to me in their culture, race, sexuality, age...etc). I will try to inform the readers of events and opinions which they may not encounter in many other places.

I decided to call it Yalo after the main character in the novel, with the same name, by Elias Khoury.

He was a very different person living in Beirut, the mother of cities where differences between residents are often seen as extremely hard to reconcile.