1) What did you learn from the \u201cArab and Other Middle Eastern Americans\u201d article? Be specific and provide examples from the reading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The biggest thing I learned from the article is how not even secretly embedded in the systems of the United States is the oppression of Middle Eastern individuals through numerous methods that are blatantly supported by government statements. The article mentions a good few of these, such as the generalization of anybody from the ME being Arabic, obviously making Israel seem holier than the rest of the land, while excluding obvious exceptions such as the Persians, Assyrians, the genocide victim Armenians, Turks, Kurds, and many more. Such associations, and the lies portrayed by the United States post-9\/11 for the sole purpose of making money from invading Iraq, have made life very difficult in the US for people of both Middle Eastern descent and immigrants from the region.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 2) Discuss something you learned and\/ or can relate to from 1-2 of this week\u2019s videos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The largest thing I realized from the video is how even a 6-year-old is affected by the post 9\/11 propaganda that plagues the US about the middle east, and the pre-9\/11 propaganda that somehow to an extent is still believed (the myth of ME-Africa being primitive) and used to directly or non-intentionally by the propaganda receiver to harm its targets. I relate to this immensely as a queer individual who from the age of 5 I can remember it being made clear to me that I wasn\u2019t a girl\u2013as much as even then I felt some sort yearning to be a woman\u2013but society decided to follow the propaganda of gender in Abrahamic religion to say that there was no way I could be a woman, and made sure I was clearly told it.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 3) Discuss the article on \u201cLiteracy Reform in the Middle East.\u201d Provide examples from the reading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I think the largest thing I see in this article is making a bold assumption\u2013that literacy would solve many issues present in the Middle East, which is a factually absurd conclusion. Of course, literacy and education would be a great thing, however I don\u2019t thing the sole existence of literacy can solve problems such as colonial warfare in Israel, religious government in Afghanistan, general unrest in the region, added onto to having millions displaced. Literacy is good\u00ad and still should be a goal to achieve in the region\u2013 but it\u2019s presumptuous to believe that literacy alone could help solve these problems when the lack of it is a symptom of said problems.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 4) Share your source on this topic\u2013let us know what it is, why you selected it, and why it matters<\/p>\n\n\n\n