Posted on 09/09/2004 11:54:58 PM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
CAIRO – The revulsion felt across the globe after the murder of some 335 people by Chechen separatists didn't bypass the Arab world. Condemnation has rung out from Arab governments and editorial pages. The attack on schoolchildren has created space for a rare debate over what Muslims can do to clean up what many see as a small and dirty corner of their own house.
"It is a certain fact that not all Muslims are terrorists, but it is equally certain, and exceptionally painful, that almost all terrorists are Muslims,'' wrote Abdel Rahman al-Rashed, the general manager of Al-Arabiya, one of the Arab world's two major satellite news channels. In an article published Sept. 5 in a leading Middle Eastern daily, he lists several recent attacks on civilians. "What an abominable 'achievement.' Does all this tell us anything about ourselves, our societies, and our culture?"
Three years after the Sept. 11 attacks - when disgust at the violence was tempered by a sense among many that the US got what it deserved - Muslim ambivalence is being replaced in a few influential corners by self-examination and demands for clerics to take a tougher stance against the killers.
While unlikely to reach the hard-core terrorists, the shifting climate could alter public opinion in the longer term, say Arab analysts. Many point to the suicide bombings in Iraq and an Al Qaeda-linked attack in Saudi Arabia last November that left 17 people dead, most of them Arab, as turning points, too.
"I don't think the shock just begins with the Chechnya thing. It's been building, with the multiple attacks in Iraq. People can't square the killing of Iraqis standing in line to get bread with legitimate grievances,'' says Youssef Ibrahim, a Dubai-based political analyst who wrote a piece condemning the attacks for the Gulf News. "At first, there was a certain glee that Americans were getting a black eye in Iraq, but since, there's been some serious questioning about where Islam the religion ends and where the Islam of the political extreme begins."
There's also a growing sense among Arab opinion leaders that such events play into the Western stereotypes about Islam, and that the sins of the few are harming the interests of the majority.
Mr. Rashed's opinion piece in the daily Al-Sharq al-Awsat is part of that discussion. Rashed, a Saudi national, also attacked the influential Egyptian cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who is often described as a moderate but recently condoned the use of suicide bombers in Israel and the killing of civilians in Iraq.
"How can we believe him when he tells us that Islam is the religion of mercy and peace while he is turning it into a religion of blood and slaughter?'' wrote Mr. Rashed. "It would be easy to cure ourselves if we realize the seriousness of our sickness. Self-cure starts with self-realization and confession. We should then run after our terrorist sons, in the full knowledge that they are the sour grapes of a deformed culture."
An Egyptian Islamist writer, Fahmy Howeidi says that Sheikh Qaradawi was misquoted, and that he doesn't support attacks on US civilians. Mr. Ibrahim says a growing number of Arab writers are ridiculing fatwas (religious edicts) that condone violence, and points to a recent program on Al-Arabiya, where an Islamist cleric faced off in a debate with a secular Lebanese who challenged the cleric again and again. "This is a new phenomenon,'' says Mr. Ibrahim. "The traditional Islamic religious establishment which used to have total impunity no longer has that impunity. It is now being seriously questioned."
There are other signs of self-examination. Anwar Ibrahim, the former deputy prime minister of Malaysia, told The New York Times this week, that Muslims don't take enough responsibility for their problems. "This is the single biggest failure of Muslims at present," he said. "You don't have credible leaders. You don't have a real voice of conscience." When things go wrong, he says, leaders blame "the Americans and the Jews and the Christians.... we are still in a state of denial."
Still, there are many Arab commentators who disagree. "It is not acceptable to fight in this way, the Koran is very clear. If you kill one innocent person, it's like you've killed the whole world,'' says Mr. Howeidi, a leading Egyptian Islamist. "But this crime [in Beslan] came after the Russians did far worse. I've been to Grozny, and I saw what the Russians did, so I can understand why this happened. This didn't happen because they're Muslims. But because they've been driven mad."
Howeidi wrote an article in Al-Sharq al-Awsat in response to Rashed's piece. "Yes, there are many terrorists among Muslims, but we should remember that the Muslims are the most oppressed people in the world," he says. "Non-Muslims would react in the same way to such oppression." He says it's unfair to expect Muslims to rein in such "un-Islamic" activity when, for instance, Russian troops have committed atrocities in Chechnya, the Palestine-Israel peace process has fallen apart, and 140,000 American troops are in Iraq.
"The answer to reducing fanaticism should be a two-pronged approach that sees the Arab leadership engaging its citizens and owning up to their responsibilities as leaders, whilst the US plays the role of an honest broker," says Massoud Derhally, a journalist and political analyst based in Dubai. "You'll always have the crazy 1 percent that can't be reached, you have them even in America,'' says Ibrahim, the Dubai analyst. "But can we reach the majority, the silent majority? I think we can and we are beginning to reach them."
Do not be deceived.
They are afraid of the backlash on this,that the West's gloves will finally come off
If they are really serious about ending terrorism they could stop it by fighting it instead of exporting it.
They see some serious heat coming islam's way.
Could just be a call to "tone it down for a bit or we're gonna get annhilated" kinda thing.
At the end of their "debate" they will just come to the conclusion that they were right all along. This is like the media examining itself for bias.
you saw through their deception...very perceptive.
why is it deception?
because you never hear this "debate" when they blow up Jewish kids ... or the World Trade Centers ... and passengers on airplanes ... or the Pentagon ...
the song remains the same.
Need is to take action , doesn't make nonsense.
No, indeed, the CrusadersTM are nothing but the mirror image of the terrorists they claim to fight against. Just as Osama and his ilk will not be satisfied until Western Civilization is destroyed, the "nuke Mecca" crowd will not be satisfied until Islam is destroyed.
And we wonder why the Islamic extremists find it easy to recruit new fighters...
This is JohnFn Kerry talkin! How dare you question my patriotism!! /sarcasm =)
Actions speak louder than words.
Let's see what follows.
"How can we believe him when he tells us that Islam is the religion of mercy and peace while he is turning it into a religion of blood and slaughter?'' wrote Mr. Rashed. "It would be easy to cure ourselves if we realize the seriousness of our sickness. Self-cure starts with self-realization and confession. We should then run after our terrorist sons, in the full knowledge that they are the sour grapes of a deformed culture."
>>>
YOU *SHOULD*? Yes, run, hang them up, show the rest and LEAVE YOUR SATANIC DEATH CULT TEXTS BEHIND...
No this is a very real debate about shooting schoolchildren.
It’s a hot topic, whether to shoot them in the head, chest, back or legs. The general consensus now is: in the back as they run away.
Some are completely opposed to it altogether, they say that decapitation is the way to go.
There is also the lesser contentious issues, like if an elementary school or daycare center should be targeted. Both have their pros and cons.
Then there is of course the issue of collateral damage, when they take out military personnel when they are trying to murder women and children. Or when they can’t strike women and children so they go to Iraq and attack US troops instead.
Then there is the human shield issue: should you shoot them first so that the west is blamed or do you keep them alive so that you can have wounded women and children on CNN?
Make no mistake these are pressing issues.
Howeidi wrote an article in Al-Sharq al-Awsat in response to Rashed's piece. "Yes, there are many terrorists among Muslims, but we should remember that the Muslims are the most oppressed people in the world," he says.
>>>
I'm gonna freaking puke...you HAVE NOT FELT OPPRESSION YET MUHAMMADAN...I wonder WHY you're oppressed you moon-god Death Cult lunatic.
Your 'prophet' was a murdering, slimey, opportunist, pedophile, con-artist that TO THIS DAY manipulates you folks straight from the pit of hell.
Wake up already to your demonic cult and the text you revere...the Koran is an Arabic "Mein Kampf".
will not be satisfied until Islam is destroyed.
>>>
Not until then Geek...not many things I hate more than apologists for Death Cults and Communists.
Well, they are largely responsible for that. They should have been speaking up sooner.
It's a beginning, but they need to make up for lost time to have credibility.
They see some serious heat coming islam's way.
Could just be a call to "tone it down for a bit or we're gonna get annhilated" kinda thing.
>>>
The Muhammadan playbook hasn't changed...look back through the centuries. Muhammadanism by it's own word is a Death Cult and dead end for its adherents. It's a CURSE on ONE BILLION PEOPLE in this world and has sent UNTOLD NUMBERS to hell, thinking they were going to heaven....
Oh, that's right. Someone killed an innocent in the name of Islam. I guess it's OK then to kill all Muslims. Funny, but group guilt went out with kindergarden.
BTTT
"At the end of their "debate" they will just come to the conclusion that they were right all along. This is like the media examining itself for bias."
Exactly.
As if murdering hundreds of children should be a matter of debate!
Moreover, these fiends not only murder other peoples children, but they murder their own!
As one Jewish leader said,
'we do not hate you for killing out children, but for making us kill yours'
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.