Misinterpreting Geography: Mutual fears of bombs in the US and Yemen
I hadn't heard the news when the phone started ringing off the hook again. My phone had gone crazy last December when the young underwear bomber attacked the airliner in Detroit and now the phone was similarly demanding my attention. Journalists from news organizations from all over the world wanted to know what was going on. So did I. This time it was two bombs addressed to two medieval Crusader figures known for their brutality towards Muslim populations found in air cargo planes bound for Chicago. The origin of the packages was Yemen and that was why my phone was ringing off the hook. People wanted me to tell them about Yemen and the meaning of these two bombs. Did it mean that more bombs were coming? Is Yemen the new Afghanistan? People were frightened and the veil of exotic otherness that Yemen wears only exacerbated people's fears. . . (Read more ...)
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