He discussed how the Arab world is full of diverse religious views, because religious authority is diffused in Islam. The recent terrorist attack, he said, was one made on the moral responsibility of individual opinions—not by a collective Arab voice.

In the question-and-answer session that followed the speakers, moderator Richard Parker, a lecturer in public policy at the Kennedy School of Government, got a laugh when he asked the speakers to discuss “oil and Israel, the two words that haven’t come up.”

Armstrong called Israel the Muslims’ symbolic problem, comparing it to abortion and evolution in the U.S.

Asani said that the importance of oil to foreign policy in the Middle East causes the U.S. to prop up corrupt regimes, such as that in Saudi Arabia. Mottahedeh added that oil makes Arabs think that the whole Arabian peninsula, and not just Mecca, is sacred.

Graham said that the retaliatory strikes in Afghanistan will not help the U.S. work out a peace agreement in the long term. But he commended the U.S. government for refraining from attacking for a few weeks.

Asani said that the bombings raise many ethical and moral questions in Muslim countries, because the attacks put Afghan civilians in danger.

The forum ended without a definitive conclusion on what the U.S. should be doing.

“The forum didn’t answer what U.S. policy should be, but I guess it’s a start,” said audience member Rene Shen ’05.