Sunday, September 11, 2011

The 9/11 state of mind



Ten years later, 9/11 continues to condition our thinking, being, behaviour, and identity.

Larbi Sadiki
Al-Jazeera

".....
De-memorialisation and beyond

The tragic events of 9/11 affected Arabs in a big way. In the Arab world, the security agenda has interfered with Arab development and the creation of common markets, communities and networks of exchange. Arabs were unable to travel freely in a vast area of nearly 7 million square kilometres. 9/11 meant the closure of mosques outside prayer times. Prayer itself almost became a crime because of the constructed association with terrorism.

The Arabs must now reconcile themselves to moving beyond 9/11. The Arab Spring - not the war against terror - should be their beacon of hope and allow them to make choices according to the values of mutuality, dialogue, respect for life, and humanism. The abstract security mindset that has thus far served only to lock them into a spiral of violence and misunderstanding must be abandoned. The future of all should not be constrained by the rigid reproduction and memorialisation of 9/11."

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