Amid Tensions in the Middle East, Reject all Voices of Extremism

This article, written by Nathan Lean, appeared on The Washington Post on September 14,2012

This is a sad time for Americans and global citizens who desire a more peaceful and tolerant world. The events of the past two days in Libya, Egypt, and now in Yemen, have tarnished the prospects for political stability in a region on the brink of realizing a brighter future.

The tragic death of the U.S. Ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, an unnecessary and heartbreaking consequence of unbridled anger and hatred, came amidst a wave of violence directed at U.S. diplomatic outposts in the Middle East, sparked, at least in part, by an amateurish anti-Muslim film depicting prophet Muhammad as a desert-wandering imbecile, preoccupied with homosexuality and pedophilia.

But ordinary Libyans should not be swept under the rug with the terrorists, which carefully planned and carried out the Benghazi attack.And to smear Libyans as the “usual suspects” — freedom-hating, anti-American, violent-prone Muslim extremists — is to ignore that reality and buy into the cosmic war narrative that the Islamophobes and terrorists alike hoped to spread in the first place.

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*Photo Credit: Zeinab Mohamed