Despite Tuesday marking the sixth anniversary of Sept 11, US policymakers and pundits continue to use the same misleading approach toward understanding the Arab world. When you pose a question about two disparate cultures and their intertwined relationship, common sense leads you to involve both parties. Yet, for the past six years, I have watched the DC circles fail to do just that. Each anniversary, I witness Americans asking Americans, discussing among other Americans, the topic of something none of them are — Arabs. Six years after the devastating attacks, Americans are still asking that ubiquitous question: “Why do they hate us?”

Efforts to answer this question have been prolific. But in the end they lack the necessary depth and rigor, failing to listen to Arab voices . Six years after the attacks, there is more prejudice, more fear, and, regrettably, more distance to overcome in order to adequately understand one another. Now, there are many things wrong with this infamous question, “Why do they hate us?” First, it leads one to assume that Arabs, in general, hate America — a mendacious statement at best.

Second, the word “us” suggests a misleading conflation of American policies and citizens. The phrasing implies that the alleged hatred from Arabs is directed toward the American people and not toward specific US institutions or policies. Although terrorists like Osama bin Laden have claimed that any American citizen is a target, the majority of Muslims oppose this attitude. US policies, more than anything, are the source of animosity toward America.

Finally, by identifying Arabs as “they,” the misleading notion that the Arab world is a monolithic, homogenous unit enjoying a single worldview is brought about. The question’s rationale poses Arab liberals and political Islamists, as well as “radical” and “moderate” Islamists, as Arabs sharing the same attitudes and feelings — not only a deceptive view of any eclectic society, but an ignorant one as well.

Part of the failure stems from the flawed question most often used by Americans in regards to the Arab world: “Why do they hate us?” Yet, if Americans insist on posing this question, I pose another. “Why don’t ‘you’ ask ‘them’?” Arab involvement, plain and simple, is key. As an Egyptian-American living in Washington, I am disturbed by the fact that Arabs have been largely neglected in this debate about the relationship between the two societies I consider home — America and the Arab world.

For Americans to understand the Arab world, they need to read what these indigenous Arabs write, understand what they watch, and listen to Arab academics rather than to heads of government. With an unprecedented rise in Arab discontent toward the US taking place, it is time for Washington to recognise the shortcomings of its public diplomacy efforts and try anew. Not until we seek out the voices of indigenous Arabs will all of us — that’s you and me, Americans and Arabs — be able to effectively communicate. — The Christian Science