When I was 20 years old I boarded a train for Auschwitz.

The year was 1992. Courtesy of 10 years at a predominantly Jewish summer camp in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, I was probably the only Arab child that ever grew up fearing the Holocaust. I took the initiative of seeing with my own eyes a place whose existence is held to be an absolute truth by some, so much so that its denial is punishable by law in some countries. Nonbelievers have told me that it didn't exist. Typically this debate is about heaven. What I saw was hell.

It was a dreary winter day. Having arrived in Berlin, I connected to Krakow where I took a cab to the camp. Walking around, I absorbed the unfathomable. That same winter I also visited Terezin in Czechoslovakia and Dachau in Germany trying to wrap my mind around what I had seen. I remember wishing I could go back to the days when the only Jewish camp I had ever set foot in was in New England.

Thirty years ago, I boarded a plane to Camp Robin Hood.

My parents wanted me to concentrate on strengthening my English. America was the future. I made friends at camp and I read and I wrote and I imagined. I became enamored with fiction and the endless possibilities on the pages of books. I learned about the duplicitous nature of stories. I learned that some of what I had been raised with as true was false. And I returned the favor. The most salient lesson I learned was the importance of perception in shaping how I am seen and how I see others. I would later solidify that knowledge in my education and training as a psychologist.

In 1996 I met my Manhattan optometrist, Dr. Koty, for the first time. He asked me where I was from. And when I told him I was from Kuwait, he asked if I knew what Koty was short for, replying rhetorically that Koty is short for Kuwaiti. My doctor, it seems, is a fourth generation Kuwaiti Jew born in New York. Small world. He could have been, he should have been, my optometrist in Kuwait.

It is easy to forget that for over 1000 years the only place to be Jewish and safe was among Arabs. The terrible history of persecution culminating in the Holocaust wrought on the Jews in Europe shamed the world and hastened international acknowledgment of the need to create a safe haven for the Jewish people. But one people's gain would soon become another's loss. There is no escaping the fact that the creation of a homeland for the survivors of one of history’s most terrible tragedies was in itself a tragedy for the existing inhabitants of that homeland, any more than we can escape the horrible reality of those who were gassed in concentration camps. These are mutual truths. One cannot accept one without accepting the other. To do so would be morally and intellectually dishonest. And frankly, would be the worst kind of fiction.

My children now attend Camp Robin Hood. I hope they grow up fearing the Holocaust as I did. And I hope their Jewish counterparts at camp grow up fearing the idea of waking up one day only to find that a group that had survived a terrible massacre was now being allowed to take over their home using a holy book as their deed. It is through this type of social interaction that real change can happen. Perhaps the fifth generation of Kotys will move back to Kuwait to open up their businesses. I will certainly raise my children to welcome such possibilities.

But it will take more than individual efforts based on idiosyncratic experiences to make a significant difference. It will require concentrated efforts from the educational as well as the entertainment industries in entities where prejudice has been institutionalized and fiction is routinely peddled as fact, and fact as fiction. Just as it took several positive portrayals of African-American presidents in NBC TV's "24" to pave the way for President Obama and his message of hope, so it will take a concentrated effort of established entertainment properties that represent various cultures to interact in a meaningful and exploratory way to pave the way for cross cultural communication through mass media.

When I created THE 99, I made sure that the heroes were from 99 countries to facilitate such interaction. I thought I would have to work alone. I was wrong.

THE 99 and DC's Justice League of America have joined forces. By working with their American counterparts such as Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, THE 99 will work hard to implement President Obama's recent message of cultural tolerance. THE 99 and the The Justice League heroes are never identified by religious orientation but it is clear what archetypes they are based on. Together, they will likely explore issues of trust, multiculturalism, and how people, real and super, perceive one another. Imagine the good that can come from a frank conversation between THE 99's burqa clad hero, Batina the Hidden, and JLA's Wonder Woman the, well, the not so hidden. If we can show how perceptions are unfairly formed, we can take great leaps in a single bound towards transforming them. And what better characters to explore such issues than Superman and Batman who were created by Jewish young men from New York and Cleveland at the height of anti-Semitism and THE 99 who were created by a Muslim during the height of Islamophobia (and who went to camp with a bunch of Jews from Cleveland and New York!).

When I was an undergraduate in the United States, the Middle East Club was celebrating the Independence Day of one of its countries. We took shifts at a table to distribute falafel with a big red sign behind us that read FREE FALAFEL in bold letters. Students wandered over, mingled, learned a little history and ate some falafel. The event ran smoothly until a woman left a meeting being hosted by Amnesty International, hurried toward us, dropped her bag on the floor, pointed up to the sign with both hands and exclaimed "Who's Falafel?!" We were confused until we realized that she actually wanted to free Mr. Falafel.

Sounds like a job for Superman (and THE 99)!

This article is as gay as it gets. The owners of this site need to start posting meaningful material to educate the masses or else they can expect a better website on the horizon to emerge. Especially when certain groups of individuals are allowed to post on this site who are the enemies of Islam. I can not stand Muslim sites that allow anti-Islamic commentaries under the banner of free speech, when other sites from other religions and groups don't give Muslims the same fair treatment. Interfaith groups typically get together to hug each other with crocodile teeth smiles, eat some watered down cultural foods, and sing kumbaya. After words they end up throwing bricks at one another till the next interfaith gathering. In my opinion such groups are a big waste of time because they never accomplish anything.

>This article is as gay as it gets.<

LoL, it is rather lame in its attempts to take political correctness and shallow mindedness to the extreme. I've read some of Naif's other articles and they sucked out loud just like the "99"(trying to attribute the 99 names of Allah(swt) to super powers wielded by humans stinks of Shirk) which read like a really bad X-men or Gen13 rip off. Almost as bad as the Indian and Japanese attempts at Spider-man.
The "super-hero" is a uniquely American concept, and one which found it moment to shine during the second World war. Good story telling died by the end of the 1980s. Please refrain further degrading an art form past its prime.

>Just as it took several positive portrayals of African-American presidents in NBC TV's "24" to pave the way for President Obama and his message of hope<

Uh, no "24" didn't help "pave" the way for Obama. It is one of the most racist shows on TV which portraying Arab-Americans as the terrorists next door. I think somebody spiked your humus, Naif.


>I hope they grow up fearing the Holocaust as I did. <

"Fear"?! How pathetic. Its one thing to learn but to indoctrinate children as if the Holocaust is the be all end all event of human suffering is ignorance. It is used as a propaganda tool to brainwash people and silence critics of zionism. Make comic books about reality and see what happens. Do you know the hell Joe Sacco had to go through to get his Palestine graphic novel published?
I understand you're trying to make a buck, Naif but people just aren't that naive anymore. Perhaps you ought to start peddling DVDs of Gerndizer on ebay. Better yet make a comic book about the "Kuwaiti resistance" of 1990. Yeah I know they didn't exist(vacationing in Europe at the time) but think of it as comedic work of fiction.

Good story telling died by the end of the 1980s>>>

Maybe in western/American corporate produced pop crapture which has castrated and hamstrung and put through the meatgrinder of reductionary mediocrity. But storytelling is alive and well among people outside that lame box. Tahir Shah is a sublime example of storytelling with all the necessary bells and whistles. As is Orhan Pamuk. Even those consigned to reading only in English will find many excellent works in translation through Interlinks publishers. And just wait until MY novel comes out and tell me storytelling is dead! :)

>>just wait until MY novel comes out and tell me storytelling is dead!<<

Let me guess, "The Mummy Returns to New York" or how about "The Mummy Embraces Islam", LOL. No seriously what is the title of your new book?

Let me guess, "The Mummy Returns to New York" or how about "The Mummy Embraces Islam", >>>

"Mummy Dearest"

>>we realized that she actually wanted to free Mr. Falafel.

ROFL! Allah bless her innocent soul...

>>> a woman left a meeting being hosted by Amnesty International, hurried toward us, dropped her bag on the floor, pointed up to the sign with both hands and exclaimed "Who's Falafel?!" We were confused until we realized that she actually wanted to free Mr. Falafel.

Lol. That's hilarious! Best of luck to your endeavours. Its a medium considered by many, to cross many boundaries. But I'm for anything that doesn't harm the soul and improves the condition of others. And the reality is that even our society is deeply entrenched in non-Muslims mediums. Its like the argument against old-age homes. Yes, Old age homes shouldn't exist in a uniformly Islamic society. But if we don't have them right now, aged Muslims will live in terrible conditions by themselves and suffer servere negligence.

Why do I get the distinct feeling that if somebody is dumb enough to respond to the above post he will be directed to a web site that says ... Dozens of Beautiful Russian Women Waiting for Your Call Now!

My first time to this site after being told by a friend that this is a good site for articles and discussions on Islam in America and Europe.

If nonsense, fluff pieces like this are the extent of intellectual discourse here, then I'm going to have a few words with my friend.

Al_Refai...

This article is a little fluffier than most, but the scope of the articles tends to be journalistic and popular in nature. That is true. As far as intellectual discussions of quality, they're like beautiful sunny days. They happen but are often few and far between. But we try, we try.

And now we are getting hit with dating spam ... sigh .... I wonder how amenable the editors would be to me becoming a moderator here to clear out the garbage?

Al_Refai >>> If nonsense, fluff pieces like this are the extent of intellectual discourse here, then I'm going to have a few words with my friend.

Maybe it is a "fluff" piece because it attempts to engage with the subject matter on a casual feel-good kind of way, but its definitely not nonsensical. Archetypes present in fiction (and in non-fiction too) serve as ideological goalposts for many people. I think many people can be grounded in their culture by the archetypes that make up their identity.

>If nonsense, fluff pieces like this are the extent of intellectual discourse here, then I'm going to have a few words with my friend.<

Think of it as bad comedy. I still can't believe anyone would dumb enough to think that "24 paved the way Obama's rise to power."

DrM >>> Think of it as bad comedy. I still can't believe anyone would dumb enough to think that "24 paved the way Obama's rise to power."

Maybe its a case of Life imitating art? I don't think the author implied that seeing a black president in "24" made people vote for Obama as president. I think he's just hitting on the idea that when the broader popular culture is comfortable digesting different perspectives of people in media, they become more comfortable with those notions of people in real life.

So many positive portrayals of females or non-whites in the public sphere, may well have made the road easier for those who followed in the trail-blazers footsteps when confronting prejudice? Maybe seeing you as doctor makes it easier for young immigrant Muslims to approach higher learning positively. They may never speak to you and may even have completely naive view of you, but it becomes that extra image that turns the tide of their idea of themselves?

Maybe seeing Muslims openly expressing their identity on campus, makes it easier for the public to accept Muslims in the public sphere, and the space easier to occupy for the generations that follow. Maybe seeing that the positive portrayal of Islam in the media, encourages that one extra citizen to take the shahadat without fear of reproachment. Maybe?

>I don't think the author implied that seeing a black president in "24" made people vote for Obama as president.<

Reread the article. Might as well declare that Morgan Freeman playing US president in a late 90s movie has the same effect. The author clearly has no understanding of America beyond shallow pop culture and media contortions.