Morning Joe On The Entire Muslim World: 'They Hate Us Because of Their Religion

[Deep13]

31. Um, no.

I spent six weeks in the Kingdom of Jordan over the summer studying Arabic. Everyone there was super nice. The teachers at the school went out of their way to make sure they had a program for my beginner level. (That was a big deal. They were only set up for level 3 & 4 and my program did not bother telling them that they were sending a near-beginner.) Also, the towns people were very friendly, often asking in English where I was from and saying "welcome, welcome" when I said "America."

Suffice it to say, I did my best to be nice to them, which was not difficult considering how friendly and open they were. The Jordanians understood that Americans are not our government (even if we don't). Still, some were gratified when I said I did not vote for Bush and that I intended to vote for Obama again. Likewise, they seemed happy when I recognized the faces on their money and asked about specific aspects of their culture.

And that is the point. America has not been nice to Arab countries, being the successors to British imperialists. We have supported tyrants and overthrown liberal governments in the name of fighting communism and promoting oil export. Apparently those governments and their clerical supporters used these facts to support a propaganda claiming that America wants to undermine their culture--especially Islam. So, when North Africans or Middle East Muslims see something offensive to Islam coming from America, they take it as proof that the conspiracy theory is right.

To be clear, no movie can ever be justification for murderous violence. Some Muslims do hate the West because of their religion and they need to realize that the whole world does not revere Mohammed and has no duty to shut up about their lack of reverence. Having said that, it is important to remember our imperial past (and present) when speaking of Muslim anger.

So, the idea that Muslims hate us is a plain lie. Second, to the degree they do or are angry, it is as much about imperialism as it is about Islam.