forum in utah

The forum I put together went quite well yesterday.  About 300 people
turned out, which filled the room, here at Weber State University in
Ogden, Utah, 45 minutes north of Salt Lake City.

The event was part of the Honors Issues Forum, a regular, institution-
alized series of educational events on campus.  The title was supposed to
be "U.S. Policy and the Islamic World," (and was changed by the
typesetter to "The World of Islam and U.S. Policy," which subtly
shifted the emphasis away from what I intended.)

I gave a short history of U.S. policy and explained why many in the
Islamic world (and Arab world) have reason to be angry at the U.S.,
stressing the CIA coup in Iran, U.S. support for Israel at the expense of
the Palestinians, and the sanctions against Iraq which are causing untold
suffering of the population.  Another professor spoke on Osama bin Laden
and his network, and an Imam from a mosque in SLC spoke on the nature of
Islam.

I took a position opposed to the U.S.-British bombing of Afghanistan,
while my colleague took a position supporting it.  (He called for more
balance in the U.S. position on Palestine, though, and also called for an
end to the sanctions against Iraq and a Marshall Plan for the Middle
East.)

There was none of the sort of angry reaction that I expected.  There was a
long Q&A session following, which was all over the place, but on a good
level, with a good tone.

If this is possible here in very conservative Utah, I expect that it could
be done anywhere, and probably much better in most places.

Peace, RH