The terrorist attacks in Jordan on November 9th were apparently supposed to be a reminder of the 9-11 attacks, because November 9th is written "9.11." in many parts of the world. While 9-11 has shaped US foreign policy and national identity significantly, 9.11. (aka November 9th) has been "Germany's Day of Destiny" according to the Deutsche Welle (Article is in English) and shaped German identity and foreign policy even more than 9-11 did in the US.

 
On November 9th, 1848 Germany's first revolutionary dreams were killed. Nov 9th 1918 marked the proclamation of the Weimar Republic. Nov 9th 1923 Hitler first attempted to take over the government. Nov 9th 1938 the so-called Reichskristallnacht increased the brutal persecution of Jews that would end in the murder of millions of people. And on Nov 9th 1989 the Berlin Wall fell.

Prof. Joshua Landis works as a Fulbright Scholar in Damaskus. His frequently updated blog Syria Comment is one of the most read English news sources about Syrian politics and related US policy and his often quoted in the US mass media.

Raphael Cohen-Almagor, Israeli Fulbright Alumnus and Professor at The University of Haifa, writes about "events in the Middle East in general and in Israel in particular." The latest of his monthly posts covers the attack on Hadera, opinion polls in Israel, the UN report on the Hariri assassination, and other issues.

Curiousity in a Kingdom is a new group blog by three American Fulbrighters "sharing their experiences, ideas and tips on Jordanian life." The three also run their individual websites: Jim Korpi, Elisabeth Page and Will Raynolds. Another US Fulbrighter, Brendan Geary, moved to Qatar recently and writes once a month about his life as a Fulbright Scholar at Tales from Qatar.

UPDATE 11/10/05: Prof. Marcy Newman is a Fulbright Scholar in Jordan and informed us of her blog body on the line by commenting on this post. She attended a solidarity march for the victims of the terrorist attacks and wrote in her Amman's 9/11 entry:

Steven and I offered our condolences to people we met in the march. One very sweet woman, who teaches autistic children, began crying while I spoke to her. After she learned I was American she told her children and relatives that these Americans were here to join them in solidarity. To me, this is what Fulbright is all about. Isn't this the epitome of cross-cultural exchange? If you're not going to put yourself out there to connect with people when they are at their worst then when will you do it? I even told people, who asked, that I am also Jewish. Equally important, I think, for Jordanians to understand that a Jewish American woman stands in solidarity with them at this moment.

 
If you want to see how beautiful, smart, serious and funny Fulbrighters from around the world look like, go to http://fulbright.smugmug.com/ or directly to the photo gallery from the Islamic Civilization Enrichment Seminar in Tunisia.

Keith Reinhard, president of Business for Diplomatic Action, told the NY Times (republished by Eccentric Star Public Diplomacy Weblog) that the bad US image hurts the economy and offered various strategies to improve the image: "We're working with a group called Young Arab Leaders that has identified 500 Arab and Muslim youth who we think should be brought into the United States and into U.S. companies. Think of it as the Fulbright for the private sector."

One of the goals of the Fulbright exchange programs is to promote empathy and mutual understanding by sending students, teachers and scholars abroad to see the world as others see it. Academy Award Nominee Morgan Spurlock ("Super Size Me") applies a more extreme concept to America's social environments in his new FX Networks documentary series "30 Days", writes Neille Ilel in the The Queens Chronicle:

Spurlock follows a volunteer fish-out-of-water while he or she spends 30 days in a world completely different from their own. In the first episode Spurlock and his fiance, New York City intellectuals, spend a month living on minimum wage in Columbus, Ohio. In another, a 43-year-old mom binge-drinks like her college-freshman daughter, both to try and stop it and to understand it. In other episodes, a consumerist couple from the Big Apple goes "off the grid" and a straight ex-military man lives with a gay marketing executive in San Francisco's notorious Castro district.

In another episode a devout Christian from red-state West Virginia lives with a Muslim family in Dearborn, Michigan, reads the Koran daily, grows a beard, bonds with his guest family and gets stopped at the airport. Seattle Times' TV critic Kay McFadden concludes:

Like most documentary efforts, "30 Days" is an advocacy piece rather than an effort to be impartial. But the unmistakably liberal tilt is far outweighed by a greater goal: To open our minds just a bit to the world beyond our living room walls.

Brian Knowlton writes in the The International Herald Tribune about the success of exchange programs. Some prejudices are overcome, while others remain instead of being questioned as well:

Bush administration efforts to improve attitudes toward the United States among Muslims around the world have met with sharp, bipartisan criticism here as inadequate, even naïve. But student-exchange programs have provided a notable exception. The State Department-sponsored Youth Exchange and Study Program, started in response to the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, appears to have had positive results.

(...) "Before, I thought the Americans were like the Europeans - no religion, no moral values, taking drugs, having sex, drinking all the time," said Sirine, an earnest 17-year-old Tunisian who stayed with an Atlanta-area family. "But my opinion changed. I found people going to church a lot, and some are really conservative."

Pretty good news for the Fulbright program: Yesterday, the House of Representatives approved legislation to fund the public diplomacy and exchange programs of the Department of State for the fiscal year 2006:

"The bill, H.R. 2862, includes $410.4 million for the Department’s educational and cultural exchange programs, an increase of $54.468 million above the FY 2005 level, but $20 million below the President’s budget request. As previously reported by the Alliance, the Senate has not yet scheduled a mark-up session for its version of the State Department funding bill."

This quote and further information from the Alliance for International Educational and Cultural Exchange can be found the US Fulbright Association's homepage.

"The Fulbright U.S. Student Program aims to accurately reflect ethnic distribution in American higher education by striving to diversify its applicant pool":

"One of the greatest myths that must be shattered is that education abroad is not for students of color. Students of color sometimes assume that racism abroad is far more overwhelming than racism at home or that there is no value-added in an international experience. There is an inclination, then, to remain at “home” where our understanding of the political and economic climate makes us feel more comfortable and secure. But, we must remember that definitions of “home” are transient in the first place, as our ancestry exists beyond US borders, and that, despite our own opinions, when studying abroad we are often treated as American first, and Black, Latino, Asian or Native American second."