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OPINION
HERALD NEWS
Stoning your own glass house
Sunday, December 4, 2005
By AREF ASSAF
SPECIAL TO THE HERALD NEWS
It is a fact that more suicide bombings by Muslim terrorists have killed more
Muslims than non-Muslims. It is this realization, I believe, that may soon
emerge as the rallying point for most Muslims who oppose suicide bombings. It
should also send a wake-up call not only to Christians, but also to Muslims
worldwide that the extremism of al-Qaida is an equal opportunity murderer. To
them, if an innocent Muslim dies in these horrific attacks, he dies a martyr; if
a Christian dies, he dies an infidel not worthy of sorrow or compassion.
While the entire world must respond to suicide bombings, Muslims must
particularly confront it not only because they are its primary victims, but
because their entire cultural and religious traditions are being castigated.
It is no longer terrorism or suicide bombings, but Islamic terrorism and Islamic
suicide bombings. The association, deliberate or haphazard, puts Islam and true
Muslims on the defensive as they attempt to disavow and disassociate themselves
from the wrath of terrorism. Consequently, it remains unacceptable that Muslims
should rest until there emerges a new and all-encompassing movement, which
teaches and enforces the sanctity of life and does not glorify and legitimize
suicide bombings or any method used to inflict harm and bring death onto
innocent people. This movement must be matched by a concrete effort to deal with
the challenges of poverty, democracy and modernity.
It must also not underestimate the illegality and immorality of occupation,
corruption and denial of human rights. Resistance to these fronts is enshrined
in all human laws, covenants and religions. The ultimate question for all to ask
is whether an immoral act as deliberate and systematic as the Israeli occupation
of Palestine or the American occupation of Iraq must be met with similarly
immoral acts in the form of suicide bombings that also needlessly take the lives
of innocent people and force the hollow argument of moral equivalency between
victim and victimizer.
But why do Muslims commit suicide bombings? It is important to note first that
suicide, whether for political or psychological reasons, is strictly forbidden
in Islam. Additionally, many religious authorities have repeatedly issued
religious rulings, or fatwa, which unambiguously disallow and forbid suicide
bombings for any reason.
Muslims cannot claim to have invented modern suicide bombings. It is also
important to note that there are many different forms of Islam, and as such, no
one specific remedy can be prescribed to cure the economic and political ills of
the diverse cultures and unique experience of the different Muslim countries.
Violence in the name of Islam cannot be attributed to one single, unambiguous
root cause. Causes, motives and objectives are plural and constantly shifting.
This kind of terrorism stands, I believe, at the nexus of four sociopolitical
and psychological factors whose role and influence varies in each case.
Combined, the emotional consequences of these factors form a highly combustible
mix of despair, anger, frustration and shame. Identifying the root causes of
terrorism is by no means an attempt to justify it. But if we truly desire to end
terrorism, then we must address and find appropriate responses to the causes,
even though we do not have to accept the justifications for such acts.
The first factor, the breakdown of traditional religious culture, leads to an
existential malaise, which leaves the individual desperately searching for
meaning in life and susceptible to extremist ideologies that can appear an
eruption of truth into a psychological wilderness. The multifarious and
fragmentary religious revival of recent decades is at once an attempt to
overcome this spiritual disintegration and a consequence of that same process.
The second factor, western and particularly U.S. foreign policies, have caused
deep anger in the Middle East: in particular, the United States' almost
unconditional support for Israel, its long-term support for autocratic stability
over the potential risks of democracy, and its misconceived invasion and
subsequent occupation of Iraq.
History has repeatedly shown that an external threat and foreign occupation can
transform a peaceful, moderate Islamic tradition into the confrontational
"jihadist" alternative.
The third factor, repression of political dissent and stifling of economic
opportunity by rulers in the region itself, is provoking levels of anger and
frustration that for many people approach boiling point.
Osama bin Laden's own statements clearly show his immense feelings of disgust
and betrayal of what he sees as a fatally corrupt and self-serving Saudi ruling
family. The rallying cry of a radical religious reformism provides a further
tool to mobilize the disenchanted and marginalized.
The fourth factor in the rise of Islamist extremism and violence is the cultural
dimension, which includes influences like the strong tradition of honor,
especially in the Middle East.
For many people, simply being host to foreign forces on home soil is an
intolerable affront to their integrity and must be resisted by any means
necessary.
Another aspect of this is the frustration generated by the persistence of
traditional customs regarding sex and marriage in a globalized world where the
alternative approaches to these issues are so evident on satellite TV and the
Internet.
All these factors provide a convincing argument that terrorism by Muslims indeed
has more to do with political aspirations than with religion.
Islam and the West can coexist and their survival is mutually inclusive. As
Muslims begin to fervently reassess their moral and practical stands vis-à-vis
terrorism, the West must offer all its help to these feeble efforts and embark
on a campaign to address the outstanding issues that preclude a more harmonious
relationship between the followers of Islam and other religions.
The process of reassessment may have just started. The release of the
award-winning movie "Paradise Now" is thrusting the entire issue of terrorism
versus legitimate resistance center stage amongst many Arab and Muslim
intellectuals, community leaders and average people. The Palestinian movie
masterfully enjoins the audience into the mindset of those about to engage in a
suicide attack only to conclude that life is worth preserving and no good cause
can justify suicide bombings.
Although uttered in an entirely different context, the words of the Rev. Martin
Luther King seem eerily prescient as the world attempts to understand and
respond to the curse of suicide bombings: "If you succumb to the temptation of
using violence in the struggle, unborn generations will be the recipients of a
long and desolate night of bitterness, and your chief legacy to the future will
be an endless reign of meaningless chaos."
Aref Assaf is president of American Arab Forum, based in Paterson. Reach him at
www.americanarabforum.org
6828815
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