Reports from Amman Jordan
by Samah Sabawi
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III - Selling the US in Amman |
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Important Note
re: Part II - We Built Countries that are Not Our Own
August 19, 2004Please see explanation of Saudi comments Amman, Jordan I sat down in the waiting room of the doctor’s office and began to look around me for something to read. A fancy, glossy magazine titled "Hi" caught my eye. Although the magazine was in Arabic it contained nothing that would be remotely of interest to Arabs, especially Arabs in Amman who are located in between two active war zones: Iraq and Occupied Palestine. Inside the magazine were countless articles about the US. One of these was about people who have achieved their dreams in America and become successful, rich and famous. Another was about the beauty of the mountains in the US. There were some stories about Arab Americans and how fortunate they are. I looked inside the cover and found out that it is a US government funded magazine. It became clear to me that this was one of those patronizing quick fixes that the Bush administration dreamed up to combat “anti-US” sentiments in the Middle East. “Where did you get this from?”, I asked the young receptionist. She shrugged. “It is a free magazine that gets dropped off at offices and clinics. I never read it. It looks boring. No one seems to pay it any attention.” When she saw my smile she inquired what the magazine was about. I said “It is an advertisement for the US. They’re hoping you guys will stop hating them when you read it.” She laughed and said “You should see this one”, and she pulled out a magazine that was titled “Muslims in America”. I skimmed through it and I began to wish that I were a Muslim living in the states. Man, these guys have it good! A guy sitting next to me explained: “Every time the Arabs express their outrage at Israel’s brutality and the stupidity of the US foreign policy in the Middle East, Israel convinces the US that the Arabs hate them for who they are and not what they do. They tell the US what they simply need is to improve their PR in the Arab world.” I did a little research when I got home and found out that the US State Department had spent more than $4 million to launch this magazine in August 2003, and that they had initially hoped that young Arab readers would be willing to pay $2 for it. The magazine hit the newsstands from Morocco to Kuwait but obviously something had gone wrong since young Arabs didn't flock to buy it. How else can we explain that it is now distributed for free in waiting rooms across Jordan? It seems the US has failed once again to understand the Arab World. It is ironic that on the same day I saw the "Hi" magazine, the headlines in Jordan’s newspapers expressed outrage at the US shelling of Najaf and displayed graphic pictures of the Iraqi victims of that aggression, as well as articles about the unfortunate Palestinians who were stranded for days at the Rafah crossing – yet another example of US supported Israeli brutality. I’ve seen enough young Arabs and young Palestinians in Amman to know that they are in love with American culture; they don’t need a magazine to sell it to them. They despise the US government, however, for its aggression on Iraq and its support of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land. Selling the American dream here is easy; selling the actions of the current US administration – that is a tough sell. So, what did I do with the free propaganda magazines? The receptionist gave them to me as I left the doctor’s office and I put them in the nearest trash bin. Samah
Sabawi, originally from
Gaza
and whose permanent residence is now
Ottawa, is a writer, playwright and well-known activist. Her articles
appear in several popular online journals. Her Palestinian Diary
is exclusive to YayaCanada.
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