Summary in seconds: Alistair Cook and his “Letter from America”: the impact of “Letter from America” on Middle Eastern listeners, Alistair Cook’s messages versus mine, and what will we cover in our next article
On February 20th, 2004, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) aired the last episode of “Letter from America.” Alistair Cook1, the host of this weekly program, broadcast his first episode of “Letter from America” on March 24, 1946, and continued to do so for approximately 58 years. During the fifteen-minute program, Alistair Cook visited topical issues that preoccupied American society at the time. Alistair Cook connected these topical issues with threads from his observations and anecdotes about American society, often ending the letter with a humorous or poignant tone. These “Letters from America,” with their vivid and insightful interpretations of American history and culture, contributed to introducing the American people to British listeners.
After “The Six Day War”2, I became an avid follower of the BBC and grew to admire Alistair Cook’s “Letter from America.” At that time, available information about the outside world was limited to what the Egyptian’s government’s censorship would allow. The Egyptian media allowed only unfavorable news, not only about the American government but also about the American people. Alistair Cook’s 15-minute letters became my window to realize that Americans are not just a group of cowboys in a Western movie. Several years later, I moved to the United States and was able to experience American society in person.
I hope my letters will go beyond the Alistair Cook’s letters that introduced the American People and their culture to British listeners. I hope my “Letters from America” will open Arabs’ and Muslims’ eyes to recognize their own culture, values, and worldview. Remember, scientists went to the moon and beyond to better understand the Earth. Enlightened consciousness is based on recognizing and comparing opposites, not on repeating what we already know.
In the future, I would like to assemble these letters into a book that may help Arabs and Muslims living on the other side of the world to “understand the West, and the United States in particular.”
In the next article of this series, I will describe how lack of cross-cultural bridges can lead to misunderstandings that may cost loss of property or even lives.
References
1. Alistair Cook: (November 20, 1908-March 30, 2004), was a British-American writer, journalist, television personality, and a radio broadcaster.
2. The Six Day War: on the early morning hours of June 5th, 1967 the Israeli air force attacked Egypt (then known as the United Arab Republic) and the war lasted from 5to 10 June, 1967. Later on, Israel attacked other Arab countries: Jordan, Syria and Iraq.