Cuisine Couture: Reflections on Boston

Although Cuisine Couture is predominantly a culinary blog, I would like to digress slightly and discuss what I have seen transpiring in Boston over the last week. Witnessing news coverage from a different country, one in the Middle East at that, has offered a very interesting vantage point.

First and foremost, I want to say how much my heart goes out to everyone affected by the tragedy: those injured, families in upheaval, Boston residents, and Americans at large. I am so grateful that the friends and family I have that were there on that day returned unharmed and wish that everyone had been so lucky. And I am sure I join many others when I thank the EMTs, police, and other special forces who helped respond on that day and ultimately track down the suspects.

I first heard about the marathon on Monday at the hotel. I rode the shoddy interwebs and watched European CNN to try to gain insight into what was unfolding. On Tuesday morning I picked up my copy of The Arab Times, the English newspaper here, expecting a full front page explanation of what had occurred. To my surprise, there was only a short article in the upper left hand corner devoted to the events. More space was devoted to recent suicide bombings in Baghdad; over 30 lives had been claimed in blasts across the country in anticipation of upcoming elections. That reminded me that the Middle East frequently encounters such upheaval and tragedy. At the risk of making light of such horrors, it almost seems as if bombings are commonplace- or more so than back home.

Then there was the embarrassment when I picked up The Arab Times this morning, Saturday. A large article announced that the remaining suspect had been captured, but the headline stated that the “turn” in the suspects’ origins “shocked” investigators. The ever-so-reliable New York Post had sounded the alarm that the perpetrator was a Saudi nationalist. I understand that September 11 forever altered the relationship between the United States and the Middle East, but at the same time it seems that we are quick to cast blame on this part of the world. Islamist extremists are a small minority, as Christian extremists and Zionists too constitute only a small portion of their respective groups. To stereotype a culture or religion based on a violent, outlying faction is a travesty. And to quickly allocate blame to one group of people amid a sea of suspects in deplorable.

Today in the car on the way here, my driver said, “They caught the last suspect, no?” “Yes,” I said. “Why they bomb?” he asked. “Why does anyone bomb?” I replied. “Bomb, bomb, bomb. Too much bomb. In India, they bomb. Problems, they bomb,” he muttered before fading back into silence.
Why do people bomb? Why do they shoot? Why do we stereotype? Violence is not unique to one culture, time period, or place. It is a problem that we all face and, quite frankly, I wonder where we go from here.