Before, I read Baghdad without a Map I had very little knowledge of what exactly the Middle East was. In fact, it wasn’t until September 11 that I realized just how different everything about the Middle East was from the United States and how much tension came from these differences. After September 11, the only words I heard associated with the Middle East was terrorists, dangerous, war zone, and other war related words. Sadly chapter three, Yemen: For You I Make a Special Deal, reminded me of the way I viewed the Middle East in fifth grade. It is shocking to read about how easy it is to buy weapons. If I hadn’t known that Tony Horwitz had experienced this first hand I wouldn’t have believed it. It is shocking that in this one country the average adult male owns an estimated two rifles and two daggers. The idea that Tony Horwitz was able to buy hand grenades, machine guns, rifles, daggers, tanks, and many other weapons with nothing but money is a very scary thought. Growing up in the United States the only possible reason I can think of why a person would want to own a weapon is for safety purposes, and even then I feel like nothing good can come from it. But, the fact that the Yemen people wear their daggers as a sign of dignity and pride is baffling. In this chapter a man, Ali, explained to Horwitz that all tribesmen visiting Saada had to check their bullet clips at roadblocks outside of town, but were able to carry their empty riffles seems almost comical. The fact that the idea of weapons is so common among the people of Yemen scares me.
“A boy of about ten was tearing pages from a magazine and pinning them to the mud wall of the old city. Then he and a middle-aged man took turns pumping lead into the pages with a huge automatic pistol. It was a touching scene, in a Yemeni sot of way; father and son, on a bright Sunday morning, out for target practice in Saada.” (pg.40)
This is the Yemen equivalent of a father taking his son out to play catch in the United States. It’s a scary thought to think how this ten year old boy feels towards guns and shooting. The fact that it is a normal and “touching” scene for a father and son to be target practicing in general, let alone when the boy is only ten years old is disturbing. But, at the same time I feel like this one scene demonstrates a lot about the Middle East and helps me to understand why it is the way it is.
-MLD
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3 comments:
Having written about a similar topic, I can understand the viewpoint of MLD. The Middle East is in fact portrayed as the center of out-of-control violence, especially since 9/11. It is, however, up to one’s self to explore the true culture of the Middle East. As mentioned in my blog post, carrying weapons and trading them in Yemen is a common thing, like wearing a baseball cap around the streets in America. It is part of their culture. This ‘culture’ may seem very threatening to outsiders, but as time goes on, even Horwitz, a relatively unwelcome outsider in the place, realizes that it is natural for them to protect themselves with tools. Yes, the scene where the boy and his father go on a shooting practice can be well compared to a boy and a father playing catch. But I feel that this should not disturb somebody who looks at the Yemenis; it should bring them to an understanding that this is natural aspect of their culture caused by the instability of their daily lives, and that they are not savages who are hostile enough to shoot anyone.
SL
How can you compare shooting a gun to throwing a baseball. A baseball is harmeless and fun while a gun is tool of death. How can the Middle East not be portrayed in a bad way, when you have radicals like Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Huessain coming from these areas. On top of that acts of hatred or terrorism cast out onto other countries. The Fact that you use their culture for the reasoning why they take innocent lives is ridicoulous. At a certain point the blame directly goes to the people and not to the culture. The culture acts as a scapecoat. For infact it is the people physically commiting these acts not the culture. It is not like the culture takes over someone and forces them to strap a bomb to themselves and killing themself and other innovcent lives. No, it is the person who makes the decison to commit the act. They may not be savages but becasue of the lifestyle they live and way they choose to conduct themselves they will be held to those standards.
above atrticle by GT
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