[Humiliation as American experience]
US public diplomacy shattered at JFK Airport (1)
by
MEHMET KALYONCU*

The United States’ image abroad, especially in the Muslim world, is a problem much more critical than one that can be solved only with the nice words in President Obama’s famous inauguration and Cairo speeches or by the mere appointment of a so-called special representative to Muslim communities around the world and a special envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). Before anything else, US authorities, and especially the State Department, should recognize the damage inflicted upon the US image in the minds of the non-Americans by its very own consular and immigration officers, who successfully manage to do away with the remaining last bit of sympathy toward the United States.

America unloved

The United States has long been criticized and eventually hated, rightfully or wrongfully, for various reasons. Among many of them are its military presence in more than 40 countries, two military invasions in Afghanistan and Iraq, which led to the deaths of more than 4 million civilians and created less secure and less stable environments both in these countries and in their surrounding regions, American soldiers’ treatment of Afghan and Iraqi civilians, its disrespect for multilateralism and heedlessness to the concerns of the international community, its unwavering support to Israel that has time and again been condemned by almost the entire world community, its transgressions of international norms and laws under the pretext of the so-called American exceptionalism, and finally what has become common knowledge worldwide -- American arrogance.

In addition to Washington’s overall policies, the attitude of various civil society organizations, which claim to act in defense of American interests, toward Islam and its adherents has only further led to the deterioration of the United States’ image across the globe. The unique cases in point are the so-called Virginia Anti-Shariah Task Force, the Traditional Values Coalition and Act! for America. These three organizations have recently urged hundreds of Americans to boycott the Virginia House of Delegates for inviting Johari Abdul-Malik, a local imam, to offer the opening prayer at the daily session on the House floor. Earlier during an interview with the Australian Jewish News the head of Act! for America, Brigitte Gabriel, who The New York Times Magazine described as a radical Islamophobe, suggested that every practicing Muslim was a radical Muslim. When asked whether Americans should oppose Muslims who want to seek political office in the United States, Gabriel said: “Absolutely. If a Muslim is a practicing Muslim who believes the word of the Quran to be the word of Allah, who abides by Islam, who goes to mosque and prays every Friday, who prays five times a day and who believes in the teachings of the Koran, [he or she] cannot be a loyal citizen to the United States of America.” Along a similar line, in a Capitol Hill press conference on Oct. 14, 2009, Representatives Sue Myrick (R-NC), John Shadegg (R-AZ) and Trent Franks (R-AZ) publicly endorsed David Gaubatz’s book titled “The Muslim Mafia,” where he accuses Muslim congressional interns of being part of espionage and subversive jihad against the United States. To what extent these radical Islamophobes represent mainstream American people is, of course, questionable. Yet, the extent of their impact at the political and social level both inside and outside the United States is unquestionable.

Therefore, the list of reasons as to why non-Americans criticize or hate the United States goes on and on. For these very obvious reasons, the new administration in Washington with a star-like president and secretary of state made it a top priority on its agenda to reach out to the Muslim world in particular and the world communities in general in an attempt to revitalize America’s positive image, which has been shattered throughout the infamous eight years of the Bush administration. Immediately after taking the office of secretary of state, Hillary R. Clinton appointed American of Kashmiri origin Farah Pandith as a special representative to Muslim communities around the world. Although her job description is somewhat bleak and what she has accomplished so far in that capacity is unknown, the appointment itself was perceived as a show of the new administration’s willingness to reconnect with the Muslim world. Similarly, on Feb. 13, 2010 President Obama appointed Rashad Hussain, an American of Indian origin raised in Dallas, Texas, as a special envoy to the OIC. This appointment as well raised hopes and expectations for the Obama administration’s promise for change to materialize in both US-Muslim world relations and in the protection of the civil rights and dignity of Muslims both living in and visiting the United States.

However, there is one particular area that seems to remain outside the radar of the new administration as a source of international resentment against the United States. It is the contemptuous and humiliating treatment that non-Americans are exposed to at US consulates abroad while seeking a US visa and at the airport immigration offices in the United States while seeking entry into the country. These rather unusual and mostly unnoticed sources of resentment are actually causing more enduring damage to the American image abroad than Washington’s political preferences or some so-called patriotic American Islamophobes do because they directly and negatively affect individuals who would normally be instrumental in revitalizing America’s positive image abroad.