Middle-Eastern student organizations, peace groups press on after Sept. 11

In the face of the extreme patriotism that has swept the nation since Sept. 11, Middle-Eastern student groups and local peace organizations have held steadfast in their activities.

Sally El-Sadek '02, president of the Arab Society, said that any backlash that began Sept. 11 has by now faded away.

"As far as backlash and problems, at this point it's more like personal problems that people might have," she said.

She added that she is not aware of Arab students being particularly discriminated against simply on the basis of being Arab. She did, however, recall an incident in which professors "expressed their general belief that the Arab culture and Islam are inherently flawed based on the belief that the cultures encourage violence."

"It's difficult at all to support Palestinians, and its been a heightened problem since Sept. 11, simply because most Americans do not really have a comprehensive understanding of the conflict and basically believe that Palestinians are terrorists," El-Sadek said.

Whether it is conflict in the Middle East or a terrorist attack in this country, El-Sadek said, "There's always something that makes [supporting Palestinians] more difficult."

Persian Society President Nancy Saedi '03 said that she was not aware of any conflicts her group had encountered. The group, however, does not generally hold many events, she said.

Karen Bauer GS, a member of the Princeton Committee on Palestine, said that although there is tension, it is probably not anything new.

At a forum about a month ago, Bauer said there were members of the audience who voiced their disagreement with the speaker. "My sense is that there will be, in speaker series and in films on Palestine and Israel, there will always be the opposite side," Bauer said.

The group, Bauer added, was not very active last semester, and although she had not been a member the semester previous, she said she believed it was more active then. She did not think, however, that the decrease in activity was a result of the post-Sept. 11 climate.

More events, including movies and speakers, are being planned for the rest of semester, Bauer said.

The Princeton Peace Network co-sponsored the Vigil for Peace in South Asia last Saturday, in which approximately 30 attendees stood together in Palmer Square, facing Nassau Street, to show their support for peace in the growing conflict between India and Pakistan.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

PPN member and University researcher Zia Mian, who attended the event, was impressed by the turnout. "There were people from India, people from Pakistan, people from the United States all standing together," he said.

Ramana Mani, a research staff member in the Program in Science in Global Security, has been working to remove nuclear weapons from India. He is also a member of the PPN.

"It's a very low intensity war," he said about the current situation.

Mani said that India has been following the United States's lead in dealing with threats from across the border. He added, however, that he does not consider bombing a solution to the problem.

According to Mani, the United States "has set a very bad example."

Despite opposing the United States's response to the terrorist attack, however, PPN has faced no hostility from patriotic Americans. The group supports finding a peaceful solution to the conflict in Afghanistan, according to Mani.

PPN member Maya Yajnik, who attended the vigil, said that there has been a global change since Sept. 11.

"People are generally a little more paranoid now than they used to be," she said. "India leveraged that fear to get U.S. support."