Reflections from the Other Side of the Pond

Trump’s election was a shock. But it was not the first of its kind. Being based in London, the city I call home after twenty-two years, Brexit had already shaken me profoundly: “How could this happen? Why didn’t we see it coming?” Post-Brexit, many of us without British passports have felt less welcome, while we notice a rise in racism, Islamophobia, and xenophobia, particularly in relation to migrants and refugees. Increasingly apparent in the UK context, which I assume is similar in the United States, has been a sense of increased polarization of society and a strong feeling that, right before our eyes, the world as we knew it was crumbling.

Given my family name and mixed background, Trump’s executive order put me on the spoton a personallevel: do I have to makea case that Iam a secularfeminist in order to be let into the United States? It occurred to me that identifying as a feminist was probably not a good idea. What kind of credential would be needed to show that one is a “good Muslim,” or no Muslim at all, despite the family name? Should I refer to alcohol consumption, my views on homosexuality, or my book on secularism in the Middle East? I dismissed the various options after a short while. Maybe I should wear the hijab on my next trip to the States in an act of solidarity? But that seemed ludicrous as well, as it would just confirm the stereotype of what a Muslim should look like. Either way, the executive order made me feel, more than in any other historical moment or context, that I had become Muslim and Middle Eastern.

Of course, there is always the option to boycott the United States and avoid conferences or events taking place within its borders. Although several colleagues have argued in favor of that option, I personally do not think that we should boy-cott US academe and other relevant events and organizations. The fact is that our academic colleagues in the United States are under attack as well. According to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, all university faculty, “from adjunct professors to deans,” are guilty of brainwashing college students. In a speech given at the Conservative Political Action Conference, DeVos accused academics of tainting students with “liberal ideology” (Jaschick 2017). Rather than boycotting, I think we should provide solidarity and support to our colleagues by attending events and speaking out against Trump’s policies and attitude.

Having grown up as child and young adult in post–World War II antinationalist self-critical and reflexive Germany, I was educated and socialized to fear fascism and populism. My teachers in high school stressed that silence and standing by meant complicity during Nazi Germany. We learned that fascism and populism thrived on fabricated lies, conspiracies, fear, and paranoia. What makes the current situation particularly painful is that evidence, rational arguments, and logic no longer seem sufficient in this posttruth clash of civilizations. Clearly, we are at a historical juncture where individually and collectively we need to speak out; we need to mobilize, resist, and pursue truth while recognizing our different positionalities.

As feminist scholars of the Middle East, we are challenged to look out for each other in support and solidarity. In practice this might mean taking the time to listen to our colleagues’ fears and offering words of reassurance. It might mean providing information and legal advice, creating networks of people who have experienced similar situations. Now more than ever, we are challenged to pursue our teaching with passion and insight not only to educate our students in terms of confronting misconceptions about the Middle East but also to sensitize them to the intersectionalities of power and the importance of informed analytic thinking and questioning. As feminist scholars and activists, we are challenged to make connections between unequal power relations in relation to gender and sexuality and authoritarian politics, militarism, and neoliberal economics. As scholars of the Middle East, we must dispel the exceptionalism linked to the region we study, particularly when it comes to the breach of...