Fear drives our emotional response to Reem murder

I can honestly say I had dismissed any idea that a new kind of “fear” had emerged until I witnessed it with my own eyes.

I didn’t even bat an eyelid as a short, sturdy niqab-wearing woman walked past me in a mall. But as she went past, I saw how a few women scrambled to get out of her way while apprehensively looking her up and down.

Then, a child and a man who was probably the niqab-wearer’s husband joined her and no one bothered giving her a second look any more.

So fear is very specific and, in this case, the completely covered woman has to be alone to be feared. I can imagine it would be even worse if this woman happened to enter a public toilet.

As we are about to bid farewell to 2014, a year that has delivered great pain to many countries, with negative news dominating headlines and with just a few patches of goodness here and there, the UAE hasn’t been spared this time around: fear interrupted our tranquillity with the murder of the American teacher on Reem Island.

Following any form of tragedy it is common to feel a sense of apprehension at anything related to it.

When a plane crashes, most of us develop a temporary fear of flying that soon subsides. Whenever there is a tragedy involving issues of race, like the ongoing backlash in Ferguson, Missouri following the shooting of an unarmed black teenager by a white police officer, it triggers fierce debate. Similarly, just a month ago when Ebola was the big story, people feared anyone who had recently arrived from Africa.

It is this kind of knee-jerk reaction that comes about from fear where one to tries to distance oneself from an incident that may have had a profound effect on society. Immediately after the Reem Island suspect was apprehended, that person was renounced as “not being originally Emirati”. Rumours began to circulate about her being Egyptian and then Yemeni. Why is this even an issue? Family trees tend to be mixed as most of our Arab ancestors moved around a lot.

We only have to recall the September 11 attacks and how every Muslim was subsequently viewed with suspicion in North America. Many lives continue to be destroyed because of the fear and paranoia that followed. Fear allows room for mistreatment, as has been highlighted this week by the report on the interrogation and torture of terror suspects by the CIA.

This is what fear does. It creates isolation and points of difference. We all want to be able to isolate and identify the source of fear to avoid it.

We need to know the reasons why someone does something in order to understand them and ease our fears. This is why I hope the Reem Island killer gets her day in court and is allowed to explain her motives. It doesn’t make the crime any less horrific, it just puts it into perspective, which is what is needed given the irrational yet understandable fear of anyone covered that has recently developed.

Fear is one of the oldest sensations felt by all living creatures. It is founded on the need to survive. So we all do this sometimes and fall back on our own prejudices – often superficial ones – when we are stressed out or cornered.

Is there a way to combat this? One interesting way is “mindfulness”, which is almost like meditating, where you maintain a moment-by-moment awareness of your thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations and surrounding environment. One ends up experiencing the present moment rather than rehashing the past or imagining the future.

The fear of the niqab will pass, but one thing the murder highlighted is the need to improve security in public places and for all of us not to take anything for granted.

rghazal@thenational.ae

Twitter:@arabianmau

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