Between Representation and Reality:
A Moroccan Perspective on the Latest Gulf War

Tara Marie Dankel

As the second tower of the World Trade Center came crashing to the ground, I sat in the student lounge at Al-Akhawayn University in Morocco surrounded by Arabs and Americans united in horror at the images unfolding on the screen. When CNN cut to commentary, a friend turned to me with tortured eyes and asked, "Do you think your president will attack Iraq?" Her parents worked for the United Nations in the United Arab Emirates, she explained, and military action in Iraq would put them in danger. At the time, I found it difficult to make a connection between the devastating events of 9/11 and a renewed offensive against Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq. However, as another Gulf War finishes in the Middle East, her fears seem to have been well founded. Moreover, her concern highlights an obvious answer to the question of why Iraqis and other Arabs have shown such resistance to the "liberation" of Iraq from the clutches of the widely-anathemized Hussein. My experiences in Morocco indicate that, while Arabs condemn Hussein for his violent and oppressive regime, they also harbor intense suspicions regarding U.S. intentions in the region and unequivocally reject Western actions that they view as neo-imperialist, even if that means supporting the Iraqi dictator.

Like much of the world, Moroccans make a clear distinction between anti-Americanism and hatred of Americans…

Tara Marie Dankel is a student in the M.A. in Arab Studies program at Georgetown University.