Truly Muslim, fully American, completely obnoxious

About two months ago, the New York Times ran an embarassing piece of tripe in the form of an Op-Ed piece by Fatina Abdrabboh, describing, in painful detail, an encounter between herself and former vice-president Al Gore. It was poorly written, breathless prose, but that couldn't hide the fact that she had nothing to say, other than how much people should pity her because big, bad America is being mean to this poor little girl who wants nothing more than to not fit in.

Well, despite the fact that the article drew snickers from any and all sentient beings that dragged themselves through it, despite the fact that she only wants to fit in, she's at it again. The Christian Science Monitor has run another "opinion piece" from Ms. Abdrabboh, again lamenting the fact that she perceives people as reacting negatively to her attire in that hot-bed of right-wing reactionaries, Cambridge, Massachusetts. And, of course, she has spectacular evidence in support of contention that people are so narrow-minded about her appearance that "the only response [she] evoke[s] is anger."

Thinking through recent incidents, I try to assess the validity of my feelings - am I overreacting, or paranoid?

How about both?

Last month, while driving home from the airport, I managed to get lost in construction detours. I rolled down my window and asked a woman in the car next to me for directions: "Will this road take me into Cambridge?" I couldn't believe my eyes when she ignored my question and rolled up her window.

Horrors! She ignored the question and rolled up the window! A Massachusetts driver caught in a construction detour was rude to another driver caught in a construction detour! Off to the re-education camp with her!

It was broad daylight. I had not - before then - considered my appearance frightening or abnormal. Apparently she did.

Or you were interrupting a phone call. Or a song that she was trying to listen to. Or she was also lost and didn't want to admit it. Or she was just rude.

"Was it because I'm a lesbian?" Was it because I'm a muslim?

As if any Massachusetts driver ever needed some kind of excuse to be rude to another driver. I mean, we've had two separate "road rage" shootings in the past week alone, with 3 people shot, at least one of whom died. She had her question ignored - she should consider herself lucky...

Another incident: I recently participated in a phone-a-thon for a religious studies program at Harvard. A friend tapped my shoulder and said her caller wanted to speak with a Muslim. I took the phone. It turned out the man was a preacher from Texas and wanted to know when Muslims "were going to join the rest of the enlightened world and rid themselves of fanaticism." I tried to explain that the matter was far more complicated than simply blaming the beliefs of a billion people and that it was misguided to blame Islam for the actions of its fringe extremists.

Gosh, what a subtle, nuanced answer. How could anyone possibly wonder whether you condemn terrorism?

Why is my stance on terrorism my only defining feature? Casual conversations at the grocery store, the gym, the dry cleaner all seem laser-guided, by the way I look, to Islam and terrorism - and never to those everyday conversations that might revolve around other aspects of my life like how I like my Harvard classes, my training for the Boston Marathon, or my recent obsession with my stock portfolio.

"A fanatic is a person who can't change his mind and won't change the subject."
- Winston Churchill

Let me say that I'm more than just a little suspicious that, if her stance on terrorism keeps coming up in every conversation she has, she's the one steering the conversation that way. I've found that, if I keep discussing the same thing with everyone I meet, it's because I'm thinking about it and inclined to bring it up. Ms. Abdrabboh, j'accuse.

I believe the role we play should be characterized by positive rather than negative resonance. I've chosen to live by this philosophy: It's not my job to tell you what I am not, but rather what I am. I offer others not what I hate, but what I love, such as what America stands for, in principle. And most important, I choose not to tell but to show others what I represent as a Muslim. It is essential that our discussions as Americans break out of the skewed dialectic on Islam.

As I was just saying...

Really, you want to go out and spread the good word about Muslims, be my guest. But please stop this simpering whining about how everyone you see profiles you as a Muslim. If you didn't bring it up, it wouldn't come up. You do, it does, stop bitching about it.

I categorically condemn terrorism.

Woo-hoo. Aren't you special?

Now, will my fellow citizens in America hear more of what I have to say?

Apparently, we will. Not only are you obsessed with spreading your version of "America the prejudiced," you apparently fill quota slots for big newspapers, so you keep getting these immature pity-party pieces published...




(H/T to Michelle Malkin)

Others on it include James Chen and Ankle-biting pundits...