By Tessa Lighty, Kernel columnist

It is hard to remember a time when the Middle East wasn’t featured in the news. As Americans, we are so focused on our own society that we often forget that other cultures have different portrayals of right and wrong, which is really what it all breaks down to. We do not understand Islam and Islam does not understand us.

It all started with a movie — a movie made to start fights, which is exactly what it did. To the Middle East, one person’s view reflects everyone’s view. So in their culture, that one person who made the movie reflects how we as a society view them.

After Islamic extremists killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya — only the sixth ambassador to be killed on duty — the threat continued, this time closer to home. Bomb threats sprung up in schools all across the United States. Once again, to Americans, this does not make sense.

Americans do not feel that they should be persecuted for one person’s intended harm. Now the question is, why do Americans blame all of Islam for one extremist group’s actions? If Americans are asking to not be blamed for the movie, then they should not blame all of the Middle East for killing the ambassador.

There has always been tension between the U.S. and the Middle East, and the tension will continue to heighten if neither side takes the time to think about who is being blamed and who should be blamed.

Americans cannot expect the Middle East to throw out their preconceived notions of “Americans = bad.” The older generation of people in the Middle East will still think the United States is narrow-minded and should be more accepting of the Islamic culture. To a certain extent, they are right.

If Americans could look beyond past events that have caused animosity between the U.S. and Islam, we could start to overlook the differences in culture and reach an understanding.

Once again the question needs to be asked, who should be punished for these actions? In American culture, with free speech and freedom of expression, our law dictates that no punishment is necessary. In Islam, it is a large offense to insult their religion, and someone must be punished. The extremists looked to the U.S. to blame.

Still, it all comes back to a lack of understanding. That is one thing over the years that has not changed between America and the Middle East. They will continue to be perplexed by our insensitivity to religion and our lack of punishment for the lawless, just as we will be baffled by their strict moral code and seemingly harsh punishment system.