A Sacramento State professor recounts the events of Sept. 11, and gives insight to the Arab culture and how he feels the government should counteract terrorism. ——

-Ayad Al-Qazzaz, a Sac State sociology professor, who also teaches a class about the Middle East, remembers the shock that he felt one year ago as he turned on the televis——

-on to see the Twin Towers crumbling to the ground. “I couldn?t believe what I was watching. I thought it was a movie. It was unreal,” Al-Qazzaz said, “I was shocked.” ——

-Although he didn?t initially feel it was a terrorist attack, he was suspicious at how calculated and accurate the attacks were and now fears that another attack may occur one day. ——

-“It?s innocent people that get hurt the worst,” Al-Qazzaz said. ——

-Al-Qazzaz acknowledges the danger terrorism represents, but he fears that efforts to prevent it may be replacing some programs such as education and homeless programs, which could also use assistance from the government. ——

-“The society suffers as well when something like this happens,” Al-Qazzaz said. “Security begins to take away money from health care as well as other departments and everyone suffers.” ——

-With the impending one-year anniversary of Sept. 11th, Al-Qazzaz fears that President Bush is focusing too much on the symptoms terrorism is having on society and not paying enough attention to the causes of terrorism. ——

-“If Bush refuses to address the causes of terrorism, I can guarantee the problem is going to be with us for a very long time,” Al-Qazzaz said. ——

-One of the fears Al-Qazzaz has is the unclear definition of the word “terrorism” and the ways in which it could be used. ——

-“What I fear of Bush is that he will use the word for his own private agenda,” Al-Qazzaz said. “He needs to be more specific about his definition.” ——

-With the conditions surrounding the Middle East, Al-Qazzaz thinks it is important to keep an open mind and become educated about Arab people and the situation on the Middle East before jumping to conclusions. ——

-“The most important thing to do is to educate yourself and keep an open mind about Arab people and the situation in the Middle East,” Al-Qazzaz said. “I strongly suggest everyone should take at least one class to further educate themselves about the Middle East.” Al-Qazzaz said that it is important to remember that the Arab people do not hate Americans. ——

-“They just hate American foreign policy. From their perspective, it?s based on dictation, interference and supporting corrupt regimes, particularly the Israelis,” Al-Qazzaz said. ——

-He said that more than one million people have died from a lack of food, medicine and potable water because of sanctions that were placed on Iraq. ——

-“The sanctions are not hurting Saddam, they?re hurting innocent people,” Al-Qazzaz said. ——

-Despite these sanctions, Al-Qazzaz said that there is still a large amount of admiration for the people of the U.S. by those living in the Middle East. ——

-“If you gave the people of the Middle East a chance, they would love to come here and visit,” Al-Qazzaz said. “There is no hate, mostly admiration for the American people.”——

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