Mainstream US Media: How much I have changed in my attitudes toward the US media. When I was a graduate student, and even afterwards, I enjoyed doing all these mainstream US "news" shows, although I do not like watching myself or listening to myself in the media. But I later came to realize, that you have to express yourself within the set parameters of debate, unless you do not want to be back. After Sep. 11: I really came to realize how much you are a prop, used to make an already reached conclusion, to used to caricature "another" position, to bolster the conventional established position. Once (in my days when I thought it was important to speak through the US media after Sep. 11 to explain certain things to US public--that sounds arrogant, but I did not mean it, but I will not edit it out), a woman on Fox News, asked me: do you believe the US was the "great Satan?" What do you say to that? What do you say when you are somebody who does not believe in God or in Satan, and have to respond to such an idiotic question? How can you respond to that? I said to her, that you will never find me speaking this kind of language that is used by Iran and its supporters? And she came to say, but "did you not oppose the war in Afghanistan"? What kind of (il)logical leap is that? I said how did you go from here to there? She did not even see why I was shocked. I came to realize I was being invited to showcase "an angry Arab" so to speak. And that is the irony of the name of this site. As you can read by the story written on this site in a SF publication (it is cited in the bottom left hand side of the site, under the illustration of Mother Teresa), the name Angry Arab was given to me ("affectionately" by her) by a producer on the Newshour in the early 1990s. Another time, also after Sep. 11, an anchorman on MSNBC (he now is on Fox) asked me whether my reference to civilian casualties in Afghanistan did not coincide with Bin Laden's references to civilian casualties. I was so angry at the guy, that I expressed myself arrogantly and nastily on the air, whereby they ended the segment abruptly. I also took the attitude, that I have to go beyond the parameters of set debate, and that will guarantee that I do not get invited back. But why should I come back anyway? For what? A friend would tell me, you always come back angry from those interviews. She was right. I resolved then that I have to just stick to Arab media (the very small number that has me on), and the alternative media (and international media). I write this because I had a conversation with a producer on NBC Nightly News today. I first agreed to tape a segment for NBC Eevening News, but then I called him back to decline. There is no room for nuance in mainstream US media, especially in the visual media. I told the fellow, that I will tape a 20 minutes segment, and then a sound bite, one small sound bite, will be used, and it may very well misrepresent what I want to convey. One Lebanese fellow read something I said a few days ago in a UK or Seattle newspaper to the effect that things are not that rosy in Lebanon, and he wrote me back inquiring whether I am a Syrian puppet. What was I supposed to have said? Did I have to preface my remarks by pointing to my opposition to the Syrian regime, before I make my point, and will the newspaper print that anyway? That is why this site works for me. Here, there is no way that I can be misunderstood--I mean I can, but I cannot feel responsible for it, not in my mind at least, and I can explain myself and contextualize my views and offer explanations. I am responsible for my words here, and I cannot accuse myself of misquoting me, especially that I pretty much get along with myself, and rarely have disagreements with myself, except when I have to decide what to eat. I was just invited to do the MSNBC's show with Ron Reagan (he is a thoughtful guy by the way) but last (and only) time I was on Hardball, the host was so furious at me and at my attitude, that it was a weird experience. I also believe that I come across as nasty and mean on TV, and some people in Long Beach told me that my sense of humor (assuming I have a sense of humor of course) does not show in my media appearances. A Palestian friend once asked me to not do media because I do not come across as nice, and he said that there is a need for nice Arab guests on TV. He is right. If you want nice, go to Nice Arab News Service.
PS: I forgot to divide this passage into paragraphs. So please, kindly divide it into three or four or five equal sections, and call each section a paragraph. You may--if you must--designate the beginning of each paragraph by a flower or a smiling face or a picture of a volcano. Are you happy now?