Its Western policies that feed Muslim extremism BY ALI KAZAK , Head of the General Palestinian Delegation to Australia & New Zealand and Palestinian ambassador to Vanuatu & East Timor
14 July 2005 THE attacks against Muslim minorities and their mosques and schools in the US, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Germany, Italy and elsewhere, every time there is a terrorist attack in the West, illustrates the dangerous level of hatred and racism that exists in these countries against the Arab and Muslim people, and is nothing to be proud of. Arabs and Muslims have been subjected in their own countries, and still are, to many invasions, aggressions, occupations, oppressions and state acts of terrorism from Christian and Jewish regimes and groups. This has resulted in hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of victims, whether in the recent past in Palestine, Egypt, Sudan and the Arab Gulf countries under the British occupation, or Lebanon, Algeria, Syria, Tunisia and Morocco under the French or Libya under the Italians, or at present in Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan. For example, during the Great uprising against the British occupation in Palestine in 1936, 20 per cent or one-fifth of the Palestinian people were killed, wounded or arrested. But until now we didnt hear Britain expressing regrets nor apologising for giving our country away to the European Zionist Jewish settlers and creating the Palestine/Israel conflict. And in the last four years alone 4,036 Palestinians have been killed, including over 620 children, more than 40,000 have been wounded, 8,000 arrested and 7,500 houses demolished. Not to mention the over 100,000 Iraqis killed. Of course all of these victims had names, faces and loved ones who grieve and mourn their loss. But never did we hear of Christian and Jewish minorities in Arab and Muslim countries being attacked, nor their churches, synagogues and schools being torched and vandalised by the local populations; nor should they be. Yes, there have been disturbances between Christians, Jews and Muslims and even between Muslims and Muslims from time to time, but these are sectarian conflicts and they are a new phenomenon caused by the religious tensions created around the world. The claim by some Western leaders that these attacks by "Islamic terrorists" are a war directed against the people of the West because of "who we are" and because of "our way of life, civilisation and democracy" is another big lie and needs to be condemned. It is designed to inflame prejudice and hatred of Arabs and Muslims, and to appear as if the West is defending itself which brings false moral comfort and gives justification for its unjust war. One wonders how long it is going to take those few Western leaders to admit that these terrorist attacks are politically-motivated and are in retaliation against their Middle East policies and blind unconditional support for Israels occupation, aggression and racial discrimination. No wonder then we find all those bigots, racists and reactionaries who lack the minimum knowledge of the Islamic religion and Muslim cultures, launching their crusade against the first mosque, school or Muslim they come face to face with in their neighbourhood or streets. Given what they hear from their leaders they look at Muslims as strangers within their ranks, rather than part and parcel of their society, who have the same rights as all others. Islam is the biggest religious community after Christianity in Australia and Australian Muslims are one of the biggest minorities in Australia. This is also the case in France, Britain, Germany and many other Western countries. It is not enough that these leaders sometimes say that Muslims and Islam should not be held responsible for these terrorist acts and at the same time label it, together with the media, as "Islamic terrorism" directed against us because of "who we are" etc. We never heard these leaders and the media refer to Christian Catholic terrorism or Christian Catholic extremism every time there was an IRA terrorist attack, nor do they refer to the Israeli armys and settlers daily acts of terrorism as Jewish terrorism. So why Al Qaeda and the like are referred to as Islamic terrorists? Needless to say, all terrorist acts should be condemned, whether carried out by individuals, groups or armies in uniform under government orders. While these terrorist acts are not justifiable in any way, equally unjustifiable are the Wests biased policies towards Israel and against the Arabs and Muslims. The victims of terrorism everywhere were human beings who had feelings, dreams and loved ones, whether in England, Palestine, Iraq, Saudi Arabia or the United States. As long as aggression, occupation, and racial discrimination continue against the Palestinians, Iraqis and the Afghans, and as long as Arab and Muslim interests and values are not respected, you do not have to be Einstein to know these policies are going to further the hatred, frustration and pressure resulting in more attacks. No power in the world will be able to stop terror as long as its causes remain. Ali Kazak is Head of the General Palestinian Delegation to Australia & New Zealand and Palestinian ambassador to Vanuatu & East Timor http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/opinion/2005/July/opinion_July37.xml§ion=opinion&col= Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] List owner : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/ Yahoo! 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