On January 3, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot travelled to Damascus to meet with Syria’s interim leader Ahmad al-Sharaa. The visit came less than a month after the sudden downfall of one of the most violent regimes in the Arab world – the Baathist dictatorship of President Bashar al-Assad.
There are a myriad of issues on the agenda of Syrian-European relations, not least regional stability, economic recovery, post-war justice and reconciliation, the refugee crisis and so on.
And yet, Western media chose to focus on al-Sharaa’s decision to greet Baerbock with a nod and a smile instead of extending his hand to her, in observance of Muslim religious norms. Western media pundits characterised the incident as “a scandal” and a “snub”.
A Politico editorial went as far as suggesting that trivialities like shaking hands should become the new “litmus test” on how “moderate” a Muslim leader really is. In the name of inclusivity, the Politico piece implied that devout male Muslim leaders like al-Sharaa should be forced to shake women’s hands – regardless of what their religion instructs – or else, it should set off “alarm bells” in the West. The old adage “when in Rome, do as the Romans do” has become “when in Syria, do as the Germans and French do”.
As a Syrian American whose father was exiled from Syria for 46 years and whose family friends have been tortured and killed by the al-Assad regime, I find the Western “litmus test” of Arab leadership laden with contradictions and simply offensive.
I wonder where was media’s fury when the British royal, Prince Edward, explained he preferred non-physical contact with ordinary Brits trying to greet him? Should we offer grace when the motive is personal preference and anger when the motive is religious observance?
It is not surprising that Western media is trying to impose Western cultural values as the new litmus test for the “moderation” of Muslim Arab leaders. It has done so for decades.
As anthropologist Lila Abu-Lughod has argued in her book, Do Muslim Women Need Saving?, there is an assumption in the West “that liberal culture is the acultural norm and should be the universal standard by which to measure societies. Those who fall short