Xenophobia itu Ada di Mana Saja

Apa boleh buat, liyan (the others) masih saja dianggap sebagai sesuatu yang harus diwaspadai karena dianggap sebagai ancaman. Atau malah dijadiin musuh. Atau, bila perlu, dilenyapkan. Maka, begitu pula yang terjadi di negeri tercinta bernama Indonesia ini.

Kalau ada orang berbeda jalan, dan dianggap tersesat, maka tidak ada cara lain selain dikuamplengi alias dicak-cak. Aduh, kasihan bener. Inilah nasib mereka yang memilih jalan bernama Ahmadiyah. Selalu saja dikuyo-kuyo, dianggap sesat dan harus kembali ke jalan yang benar.

Padahal, salah benar itu kemudian larinya pada jumlah.

Tapi ah, itu toh tidak hanya di negeri ini. Di negeri bernama Amerika Serikat yang amat ternama sebagai jagoan kebebasan itu pun ternyata liyan juga harus dilenyapkan. Maka, meski hanya karena modelnya menggunakan kafiyeh (dan itu dianggap sebagai simbol teroris) maka iklan Dunkin Donuts pun harus dibatalkan.

Here’s the background:

Dunkin’ Donuts has capitulated and withdrawn an advertisement for its products following the allegation by a right-wing hack, Michelle Malkin, that the spokeswoman in the ad was pictured wearing a kaffiyeh, a scarf which is a staple of clothing traditionally worn by Palestinian men.

The scarf pictured in the ad is not actually a kaffiyeh. But the anti-Arab racism of the right-wing, pro-Bush ideologues like Malkin is so extreme that they launched their campaign because they “thought” the scarf was this traditional Arab garment. Dunkin’ Donuts pulled their ad apologizing that the scarf might even resemble a kaffiyeh.

In Malkin’s twisted world anything “Arab,” even a scarf, is “terrorist.” This is the same line of thinking promoted by the Bush administration in the wake of 9/11, when thousands of Middle Eastern men living in the United States were rounded up and falsely imprisoned. Some were even tried on phony “terrorism” charges. It is the same line of thinking that was used to promote the racist war drive against Afghanistan and then Iraq.

The fact that a giant corporation like Dunkin’ Donuts quickly pulled the advertisement is a sign that the pervasive racism, chauvinism and xenophobia peddled by right-wing bigots is a real danger. This is a classic tactic of fascist intimidation and demonization of an entire population.

We demand that Dunkin’ Donuts immediately apologize to the Arab-American community for this disgraceful surrender to racism. Until that apology is issued we will refuse to shop or buy any products marketed by the Dunkin’ Donuts Corporation.

Please lend your name to the boycott by clicking this link and send a letter to Dunkin’ Donuts. Be sure to circulate this call to your friends on list serves and social networking sites. [sumber: ANSWER]

But, hehe. Di Bali pun saat ini tidak jauh berbeda. Menjelang Pemilihan Gubernur begini, isu agama pun ikut dipakai. Salah satu calon, I Gde Winasa, dipojokkan dengan black magic, eh, black campaign. “Katanya kalau Winasa jadi gubernur, akan banyak ***** (sensor karena bilang rumah ibadah agama X) dibangun di Bali. Jadi, aku pilih Pastika saja,” kata ibu mertuaku.

Tidak hanya mertuaku. Hasil survei kecil salah satu temanku pun tidak jauh berbeda. Pada awalnya satu desa miskin di Bali timur sebagian besar memilih Winasa ketika ditanya. Eh, pas disurvei lagi, mereka semua sudah berpindah pilihan ke Pastika. Alasannya, sama dengan mertuaku: soal agama.

Weleh-weleh.. Memang paling susah kalau agama selalu dikait-kaitkan dengan politik.