Posted on 12/02/2002 2:06:17 PM PST by 1bigdictator
Extraordinary Candor
01 December 2002 Email this story Print this story
Not only Westerners have begun to notice the rising incidence of internecine violence and terrorism very often involving Moslems in disparate parts of the world. However, when Moslems relate to the phenomenon, it is inevitably to either explain, understand or defend the violence. But, ever once in a while, there is a clear voice of reason, pointing out an internal cultural flaw of the milieu in which it functions.
In an opinion piece that was published in an English-language Egyptian newspaper, al-Ahram Weekly, columnist Abdel Moneim Sa’id makes the charge that the Arab world is essentially in denial regarding the increasing number of conflicts and incidents between the Moslems and Arabs and the rest of the world. Sa’id remarks that “so few Arabs” are willing to admit to the outlaw and rogue nature of the Iraqi regime, to the fact that “Iraq is an example of the organisations, states and groups that have never operated by or recognised international legitimacy or the rules of the global order... During the last four years, in the absence of international inspections from Baghdad, its breaches of prohibitions against weapons of mass destruction increased.”
That being the case, the al-Ahram columnist writes, “[t]he West, and many other nations participating in the process of globalisation, were understandably puzzled by the Arab´s sudden enthusiasm for international legitimacy and law, especially coming from states that have experienced little in the way of legitimacy and rule of law domestically.” Sharpening the critique, Sa’id comtimues, “All the more mystifying was that many of those states were silent towards, if not complicit in, the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, and chose to look the other way when confronted with the plight of the southern Sudanese or the Iraqi regime´s gassing of Kurds.” Not only within the Arab world, writes the al-Ahram Weekly columnist, “More significantly, the Arabs paid little heed to the actions of radical Islamic groups in Chechnya and to their bombing of a housing complex in Moscow. As proud as we are about our relations with China, no one cared to consider the implications of the ‘Islamic’ separatist movement there. Nor was there particular concern over the attempt by Islamic terrorist groups to bomb the Indian parliament.”
Similarly, the opinion piece points to the denial factor regarding Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda, manifest in the fact that “Arabs also do not want to admit that Al-Qa´eda and similar organisations do not recognise or have the slightest inclination to abide by international law and international legitimacy.”
After delineating the litany of places in the world where Moslems or Arabs are involved in illegitimate violence against themselves or others, in a succinct and sharp summary statement, the author concludes, “Clearly, the Arabs no longer have a problem with the West, or even with the US and Zionism; their problem is with the world.”
What relations with China?
Hmmmm(Thinking)....
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.