The Dream Deferred contest: it stinks like rotten meat
December 23rd, 2006I almost entered this essay contest on civil rights in the Middle East last year sponsored by the Hands Across the Mideast Support Alliance. Looking over the first place essay, I’m glad I didn’t, and I’m almost certain I will not participate this year either. Responding to the question “Why should Americans like you help civil rights reformers in the Middle East?,” an American student named Mohammed Halawi wrote a piece worthy for publication in the California Patriot belittling the people of that region and advancing an imaginary, mythical image of America for the low price of $2,000.
The first sentence defines the submission: What will U.S.-sponsored freedom in the Middle East unleash? In a nutshell Halawi denies hundreds of millons of people, for whose welfare he claims to have great concern, any sense of agency and initiative. Freedom, for them, will not come as a result of their own struggles; instead, it will be “sponsored” by the U.S., who, as we all know, may threaten to take away that “freedom” whenever it disapproves. “Freedom,” after all, isn’t free but a service possible only with the support of that great liberator America. It might not be in the interests of the United States to “sponsor” freedom in the Middle East anyway because it’s not quite clear what happens when the blob of faceless people there and their uninformed and perhaps medieval opinions will do once “unleashed.” Later, Halawi writes that “freedom is not part of a ‘Western conspiracy’ or a ‘foreign imposition.’” This is true. Freedom is not an invention or an export of the West; however, “U.S.-sponsored freedom” is.
How could this essay, with all its serious flaws, have possibly won the approval and praise of the contest’s panel of notable judges who are true activists threatened by their environment but toiling daily for their goals nevertheless? That will remain a mystery to me, but I can look at other things that may explain how this essay was produced, let alone chosen.
The way the contest was designed, I think, was not conducive to realistic interpretations of current events. For example, the guidelines explicitly state the following when describing “mistakes to avoid” in submitted essays:
Do not focus on US government foreign policy. The essay should center around what ordinary citizens can do, particularly on the grassroots level. And do not focus primarily on regional geo-political challenges, like the Iraq War debate or the Arab-Israeli conflict. Your essay should focus on the struggle to protect individual rights within Middle Eastern societies. These include, but are not limited to, freedom of expression, women’s equality, minority rights, religious freedom, media freedom, economic liberty, artistic freedom, and freedom of association. You may discuss the impact of US and international diplomacy, but we caution you from making these issues the focus of your essay.
…but how can any dialog by Americans about civil rights in the Middle East be complete without reflection on the role that they, by the actions of their government, play in that regards? Isn’t anything that an American does relating to foreign places inherently related to foreign policy? The questions posed by HAMSA cannot be answered without considering foreign policy simply because these are foreign movements and foreign circumstances, and any independent initiative will inevitably clash with or be enhanced by those policies. Foreign policy of Western powers should not be used as an excuse for the lack of civil development (as it often is), but it cannot be completely ignored either and sometimes is a legitimate explanation of certain phenomena.
Given this reality, a question is raised: what exactly can Americans and others around the world do to support these movements from a distance? This is a difficult question to tackle and not one to which I can claim to have a solid answer, but it is not difficult to come up with certain standards defining the nature of any actions undertaken.
1) These movements should not be ‘American’ in the sense that they speak of exporting and/or promoting American values. Besides being somewhat delusional, it’s rather arrogant and indecent to claim ownership over liberty. There is nothing wrong with Americans supporting or taking leadership roles in this movement, but these positions must be grounded in something that has grown out of or come from something in the region in question. The driving force should be sympathy, not pity or ‘duty.’
2) These movements should not claim that “American interests” are inextricably linked to this or that. Admittedly and regretfully, in the past I have made statements to that effect under the illusion that it would be more effective in achieving the end by compromising the means. This was not the case and actually ended up weakening my position. Additionally, I think that a movement grounded in moral clarity and humanity should not be based in self-interest. I suppose the idea behind this tactic is that it is easier to win people over to your side when it is in their interests–but without instilling moral courage into people, what stops them from floating to the next persuasive argument that comes their way?
3) These movements should not frame themselves within current constructs, but ought to create new ones. Halawi in his essay romanticizes about long-standing American ideals (”The U.S. is not the most powerful nation in the world because of the future that is ahead of it, but because of the principles that are behind of it”–hooey) presumably because it’s easier for the audience to digest these sweets than something more sinister like, say, the truth. Let us be matter-of-fact and rhetorically consistent. We should not limit ourselves to ‘acceptable’ political discourse simply so that we appear as ‘moderates’ lest we perpetuate existing orders that may or may not always be aligned with the cause of justice and civil rights in the Middle East. A good part of our contribution to those brave people fighting against tyranny and injustice throughout the world has to do with the way we talk about them and our relationships with them.
4) These movements should not seek the endorsement of Western governments or other celebrities in order to win a sense of legitimacy because, considering those who do have the approval of the West, it’s not all that meritorious. Too many people are easily flustered and excited when they win an audience with The Officials and this can sometimes be inebriating and ultimately undermining. In some cases this eagerness to please officialdom can be downright self-deprecating. Focus on the goals, not the praise. Meetings and official puffery are not successes in and of themselves and nowadays might even be a sign of failure.
5) These movements should not resort to simple and deceptive platitudes like “Islam is the problem” or “Democracy is the answer.” Eliminating Islam or implementing democracy does not solve outstanding grievances and social problems. Just as the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood’s slogan “Islam is the solution” is empty, so are ones of this sort. Some believe that all problems in the Middle East are the product of problems inherent with Islam or with the Arab Mind but, besides being inaccurate, this failed explanation is an intellectual and moral cop out.
I am not claiming that HAMSA is guilty of these things, but I do think the winning essay is. The primary problem with the contest as designed by HAMSA is what I mentioned before: silence regarding American foreign policy. It seems that there is a new wave of well-intentioned progressives who, in their eagerness to win support for their cause, believe it is vital to separate (or create the image of separation between) their cause from that of “radicals” who criticize American foreign policy. This ties in to point #3: a lot of this tendency to ignore issues like Palestine and Iraq is because honestly tackling these topics might “blemish” an individual or organization in the eyes of key political elites. I would agree that it does leave a noticable blemish because it is a morally weak position, not because somebody in power will be disgruntled. It also perpetuates a belief that these issues are not, on some level, connected and interdependent and might lead to the oddly paradoxical belief that somehow it is possible to continue developing civic institutions under military occupation or the threat of war. Both perspectives are flawed and dangerous.
In short, we should not tolerate this brand of self-censorship and we should consider the environment in which we operate when we decide to act. It is not courageous to criticize American and Israeli foreign policy in Damascus, but it is cowardly not to while in a place where a proper critique may fall on ears with the ability to produce change and I can’t think of a more appropriate vehicle for such criticisms than the one offered by HAMSA.
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Despite agreeing with everything you say, I have to admit that I did enter the contest (even though my friend said it wasn’t a good idea to be involved with this, but her main problem was the sponsorship.) I won an honorable mention, although when my essay was published, many parts of it were removed, and this includes parts that I said this is something we, the people, should take care of, and no outside intereference will do the job for us. This was removed, as was my conclusion, where I said we need no pity and we need no outside (least of all ‘American’) efforts to “save us.”
I emphsaized the fact that we are very much capable of installing and ensuring our own freedoms, the last thing we want is for America to take credit for any democratic path we take.
Jesse Sage who leads the HAMSA initiatve is a dear friend of mine and he helped me organize a lot of my projects, and right now he is helping me organize a protest for our mutual friend Kareem who was imprisoned. Yes it’s a bad idea to look towards a U.S-based program for help, I always thought that this will limit my criticism of America because it is an American organization that helped support my ideas. But it’s much-needed help nonetheless, and I don’t think it’s Jesse’s goal to take credit for such efforts. He’s a hard worker, and he’s involved because he truly wants to be, it’s one of his many passions.
I’ve met Sage personally and he’s a great, young, well-intentioned gentleman. But I do have doubts about what ideas the initiative is trying to export, and you can find that trend in last year’s winning essays. However I never held it against HAMSA and its director, Jesse, personally. I think it has more to do with the people involved and yes, the judges also have a big say in this. Seems as though many of them are American-based.
Hmmmmm, interesting. A friend of mine who reads MEY asked me about about the support provided to ME faith once and immediately asked the question “so what is their agenda dude?”
Nothing is free in life. HAMSA defintely has their own agenda. Hell everybody to some extent has his/her own personal agenda. Even we at MEY have our agenda which is mentioned in the mission statement.
Agendas can have differences and similarities. As long as the majority of overlapping is in similar areas, it’s all good with me
Let your friend know that ME Faith is run entirely by us here at Mideast Youth. There’s no shame in asking for some money, and besides, Jesse and I worked really hard together in organizing ME Faith and that’s how the idea of having it be an aggregator came about (and was made possible by the great programmer Jina.)
In any case, Jesse and I are working on a contest for ME Faith, and the money is going to come through HAMSA & AIC. Judge panel will include prominent bloggers who support interfaith understanding within the region.
By the way, MEY is privately funded and if you read the latest intro on the mission statement we intend on keeping it that way just to avoid assumptions or any restrictions of any kind. If we get funding, we’ll be associated with the organization that funded us, no matter how much we differ, and I really don’t want that. This place is best when it’s run independently.
Everything else is personally funded too. And ME Faith is run by our rules, our management, and the idea was made possible by AIC money, so I don’t see the harm. I should thank Jesse again for choosing to help out and giving me the idea, he thought the MEY team has what it takes to run such a project and it turns out he was right. He also recommends us to other workshop programs and contests, making this place more successful. Without him I wouldn’ve had the chance to meet some writers here and be able to sit through some of the most inspiring lectures in various different Arab countries. I learned a lot from HAMSA, it’s really great for youth empowerment and dialogue in the region.
I know about MEY being privately funded. I plan to start chipping in the future. He was interested in ME Faith instead and kept asking about “the agenda”.
He was cool when I calmed his fears about a “conspiracy”. Apparently that’s what he was worried about
Hey I emailed you!
Are podcast files okay?
I don’t think any of us here are dumb enough to fall for a ‘conspiracy,’ Jesse knows that we want to be independent and he appreciates that.
And I e-mailed you back.
Esra’a: I just want to clarify that my intention is not to vilify the personalities behind HAMSA. I do not know Jesse, but I’ve been talking to Ammar for a long time and he’s a top-notch and well-intentioned guy. I hope my confusion regarding the outcome of the contest was clear–I honestly do not understand how this essay was chosen, especially by a panel of such important people in the activist community. When I first came across HAMSA, I was very optimistic about it. But the essay contest was too much–I understand that the coordinators probably wanted people not to feel as if they had to ‘wait’ for foreign policy to change before something could be done. Of course not, America and Israel’s actions will never excuse the crimes of our regimes. Never. Analyzing their policies is not meant to smokescreen the civil and domestic issues, but it’s completely unrealistic to ignore them! Considering, for example, the momentum behind the “don’t talk to Syria lest the Assads be empowered” initiative in America right now, I’d say that these same people also recognize the importance of American foreign policy in shaping the future of the region.
Yaman, I just wanted you to know that I agree with you completely and I know you’re not trying to bash HAMSA’s intentions or anything like that, but I also wanted to make clear that I know they have biases hence why my essay was edited. Thus I agree with you that there must be some sort of force behind what essays get chosen and which ones get ignored.
Seconded. This is also a matter of opinion, and it wouldn’t be right to dismiss certain essays merely because they didn’t like the opinion of the author. I’m sure some of the best essays never made it to the top, for example, because it lacked a pro-America stance perhaps.
Great article though and I’m really glad someone said it. My friend Minoo from Iran who also writes here wrote a similar article about HAMSA and its sponsorship, it’s why she never took part in it.
I’m reading over the comments here and can’t believe how naive I was 2 years ago.
AIC had a non-existent role in anything related to MEY, and the only “funding” we got was them paying for the MeFaith.com domain name and its associated host way back in 2006, the amount of which is $65. It is actually due to their stubborness that we have lost complete access to MeFaith.com which they seem to be refusing to recover despite the site being a result of our hard and independent work, simply because we do not wish to be associated in any way to their highly political and overwhemingly self-important and biased organization.
I regret my involvement with them and their weird intentions, which is really far from actually “helping” Middle Eastern youth, as a matter of fact they seem to be taking advantage of them to further their own dangerous agenda. I fell into this trap and it’s hard to get out. I can only warn other young people who were equally naive not to commit this same mistake, and to hold on to their independence despite aggressive attempts by organizations like AIC to claim ownership over their material (and indeed over words like “freedom.”)
Because youth have the most potential, everyone is trying to co-opt us, Esra’a. Reading above my own comments I have my own renunciations to make, and that would be my assessment of Ammar and Tharwa Project. Like AIC, it has its own agenda, and it never shies away from working with American imperial interests–even violent ones–to serve it. It is better late, than never, I suppose!
This is the only attitude that guarantees any funding, so you can imagine how many “regional” (but US-based) organizations would jump at the opportunity, and as much as they claim to be “independent” it’s quite obvious that government-related sources are funding their efforts, either directly or indirectly. AIC has never once in its existence criticized U.S foreign policy in the Middle East, in fact they embrace and encourage it, and when I did imply this in my essay, they deleted it before offering an “honorable mention” which is hardly an honor for me, but rather an embarrassment as it suggests my incredibly brief involvement with their trash.
It’s funny when AIC talks about “interfaith,” they do so under the banner that even Muslims support US policies in the USA. When I confronted them about this, instead of refuting my concerns with factual information, they simply dropped all contact with me and are now refusing to hand over access to MeFaith.com, angered that I “attacked them.” So much for an organization that is pro-free speech, when we are denied the rights to our own, copyrighted work, simply for disagreeing to be associated with their US-sponsored organization.
AIC claims it does not receive any funding from the U.S government, although I came across a source that states otherwise, and maybe I am misunderstanding something but:
Contributions: £290,843
Government Grants: £470,788
Program Services: £0
Investments: £0
Special Events: £0
Sales: £0
Other: £0
Total Revenue: £761,631
Nowhere in their own website is any of this transparent. Nowhere do they reveal where they get their money from despite having fulltime staff and offices in 3 countries.
With this much money, Zainab Al-Suwaij, AIC’s Executive Director, claims that $65 is “seed funding” for MeFaith.com which we (Mideast Youth) led entirely by ourselves, and another volunteer who helped by designing it, who was wary himself about our involvement with AIC, but I assured him that they were simplying trying to help. Al-Suwaij instructed her staff not to deal with me on this, and to basically ignore my many requests for help.
For many months we have been requesting access to our work (2 years worth of development and content) which they have aggressively refused, claiming that we did not respect their “funding” and “involvement” – despite the fact that they did absolutely nothing and in fact refused to fund the site’s design and development which we had created on our own.
In fact, read this from the same source I provided:
Paying 5 bucks for a domain and 65 for hosting is not SEED FUNDING and if the work within it is not their own, they shouldn’t claim that it is! I am working hard to remove this association entirely. If only they would stop ignoring our requests and start treating us professionally, we could’ve solved this within a day. But since they rely on OUR work, as they don’t actually contribute anything to human rights in the Middle East, besides hold some useless and irrelevant conferences where they recruit people to do the work for them (and for free), they can’t afford to make their funders aware of the fact that none of this was of their own doing.
I am disgusted with these organizations that seem to be multiplying like insects, any organization that is openly associated with AIC is either completely naive or equally corrupt and abusive. It was sad to see the Tharwa Project being really close to them, I immediately had to distance myself from them too. This is after helping AIC by designing and hosting FreeHaleh.org, free of charge, only because we believed in the case.
AIC requested that we join them instead of going through the “hardships” of starting our own NGO (which is actually a very simple process), we immediately refused knowing fully well that their growing interference would cause nothing but trouble and credibility issues. When we applied for grants and awards, Jesse Sage, an employee at AIC, claimed that it’s the “best and only option” to state that AIC is the overhead organization behind Mideast Youth. All AIC employees know that they had nothing to do with the creation of this site, and such an association is insulting to me personally when I invested my own resources and funds for years to make this site what it is today, and still entirely independent. For them to aggressively attempt to claim our work and our projects as their own is just unacceptable. I cannot believe that they continue to feel that they had a hand in MeFaith, we already offered to pay them back for the cheap hosting that they got us, even though we hosted THEIR work free of charge.
They also offered to pay for FreeKareem.org, in an effort to also claim the work as their own, thankfully that never happened. I am still personally paying for this site from my pocket and on behalf of Mideast Youth. Zainab is also angry that we never “credited” them for the site despite them doing NOTHING but creating a petition for it (of which we have 5 of, and their petition was actually poorly done and full of spam and having less signatures compared to the rest.) What credit do they expect us to give? They are shameless plagiarists.
Shame on AIC, who continue to take advance of young people for their disturbing goals, which are far from what they claim (US-sponsored political goals,) clearly embraced and funded by the current government which actually only contributes to human rights abuses in the Middle East and has made 0 efforts to tackle them.
Stick to what you’re good at AIC (cheating and lying to naive young Middle Easterners) and stay out of our way.
It’s been so interesting to read all of these comments. I was considering entering the American Hamsa contest and I was similarly bothered by the instructions to avoid talking about politics. The essay-writers are allowed to refer to the “tyrannical regimes” of the Middle East, without even mentioning a specific government or any examples of its actions, while praising America’s freedoms? big gag. The award winning essay from last year managed to skirt all of those political issues by concentrating on technology and communications, but it still makes sweeping generalizations by assuming that the “free speech” project wouldn’t encounter any resistance in the US. What happens when those “liberated” Middle Eastern authors, finally given a voice, start criticizing US foreign policy? How freedom of speech will they continue to enjoy in the US?
I like the idea of talking grassroots and action, instead of political rhetoric, but the fact of the matter remains this: the essay’s basic premise, that we in America have civil rights that Middle Easterners don’t, revolves around the fact that we have a say in policy through the “democratic” system, and the Middle Easterners don’t have that. So if I am supposed to write about what I can do for the Middle East as an American, aren’t I going to first think about ways that I can affect my government’s policy, since I am so freaking lucky to have that civil liberty? But the essay says NOoooo, I have to pretend like it’s ME who has no influence on my gov. and instead have to think of ways to work around them.
Anyways, yeah, this essay contest might have true intentions, but its outcome stinks.
by the way, if anyone is still reading this message board, what do you think of Seeds of Peace International Camp?
Re Seeds of Peace, see “The Middle East Peace Industry.”