EAST VS. WEST? MOVING AWAY FROM POLEMICS AND TAKING A STAND FOR DIALOGUE – THE PHOENIX SOUNDS OFF

Loyola Phoenix, IL
Staff Editorial
Phoenix Discourse
Oct 17 2007

The U.S. House of Representatives foreign committee was presented
with a bill this past week that would recognize the killing and
deportation of 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks – 90 years
ago – as genocide. It’s common knowledge that genocide is not a word
to be used lightly, and yet the U.S. is practically on the brink of
pulling what France did just this past year: adopting a bill that would
literally make it a crime to deny the Turkish massacre of Armenians as
"genocide."

While passing this bill would encourage respect and recognition of
those killed by Ottoman Turks, there is a much larger issue at hand.

Understandably, Turkey is less than thrilled to be targeted as the
"slaughterers from the East" that the "humane Western" (U.S. and
France, as well as Greece and Russia) have indirectly asserted with
similar bills. No one denies that thousands of Armenians – and Turks
alike – were killed in the Ottoman Turkish Empire. Why must the
U.S. government be stepping in, thereby continuing power divisions
and discontinuing any discourse on the issue? Following through with
this bill only more strongly builds a rigid wall in the center of
an arena where dialogue is desperately needed; it further detriments
relations and, henceforth, communication between Americans and Turks,
Armenians and Turks, French and Turks. In short, Turkey is being pushed
down in the greater scheme of global power relations that divide the
"East" and "West."

The very use of "East-West" language is the result of European
cultural history, which initially developed it as a way to denote the
separation between the "Christendom" – the notion of Christianity as
a geographical phenomenon – of Europe and the exotic, alien cultures
beyond it. Drawing a direct parallel to the concept of Orientalism
– Westerners looking at the Eastern "other" as alien, borne from
the view of imperialism – this behavior is increasingly feeding the
Eurocentric ideology and hegemony of global debate. It seems ironic
that the U.S. of all places is so concerned with considering this, a
horrible act carried out by Eastern forces, as genocide, while still
so quick to avoid the discussion of, say, nigh genocide committed by
its own precious government against American Indians.

C’mon, humanity: Aren’t we over this already? We preach equality and
freedom as if we actually mean it, and then we repeatedly reinforce
and accept the notion of the "other" by refusing any balanced dialogue
on topics such as these.

Of course, the whole world isn’t out of its collective mind. Take,
interestingly, the progressive work among cultural and ethnic clubs
at Loyola: Hillel and Muslim Students Association work closely
together to co-sponsor events throughout the year, including regular
discussions on the Palestinian debate; Turkish Intercultural Club’s
motto begins with "Come, come, whoever you are," a clear sign of their
openness; the S.T.A.R.S. (Stars Together Are Reaching for Success)
mentoring program on campus aims "to foster cross-cultural learning
and identity development" to its participants. (And this is just
to name a few.) Academic programs such as Islamic World Studies,
Latin American Studies, Peace Studies, Asian Studies and Black World
Studies actively incite open debate and further understanding with
classes and events year-round.

While we’re not so na’ve as to ask for world peace, we do want
to move away from polemics and toward dialogue in the interest of
better understanding. In an effort to kick start that understanding,
all of the columnists this week have dedicated themselves to Middle
East issues and the relations and various relationships between the
U.S. and countries of the region.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress