The Ever Present Television

Here in Jordan, a television always seems to be turned on somewhere, tuned to the same Arabic news station, projecting images of death and destruction from Lebanon. From the largest department store in the more Western area of Amman, to the closet sized shops and falafel stands that are dotted all throughout the city, to the males only barber shop down the street from our apartment, televisions are on hand, set seemingly all day to coverage of crying parents, dead children and craters where neighborhoods once stood.

As an American living here, these televisions serve as uncomfortable, ever present reminders of the role that America is seen as having in yet another conflict in the region in which Arabs and Muslims suffer. America has already been viewed for years as being far too pro-Israel in the continuing struggle with the Palestinians, and then came the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Now there is the war in Lebanon, where nearly one million people have been displaced, about 900 civilians have been killed as of today, and where large portions of the country have been devastated by bombing. Because of the close relationship between Israel and America, many Jordanians probably see America as being nearly just as guilty as Israel is for this new destruction. Whenever people here are thinking of Israel, thoughts of America are never too far behind.

And so when we pass a shop in which the man behind the cash register is watching a recap of the battles of the day, we wonder what he is thinking about America, and as a result, us. When we stop at the barber shop to ask for directions to a certain part of town--as Israeli bombs are creating clouds of smoke on the television behind us--we wonder what the people inside the shop are thinking. When we ask a man in the aforementioned large department store intently watching the latest news on the war on a bank of television sets if there was anything new--and receive a barely audible answer--we wonder what he is thinking. And when we pass by a restaurant not far from our home, and all inside are turned towards one wall, with their heads tilted upwards, eyes wide open and attentive--seemingly transfixed--we wonder. Is there a TV on that wall? Are they tuned in to the war too?