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Islam, a victim of politics (Part 2 of Relgion in Politics) |
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Written by Reyne
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May 24, 2006 at 06:19 PM |
Is Islam a religion of terror, or is it a victim of biased press coverage? Is there anything that can be done to undermine the power of extremist leaders?
The cycle of terror is relentless, but straightforward. Wealthy, powerful old men use the lives of young, poor men to fight wars for power. In the process, pain, death, and suffering are caused, which leads to hate and revenge. This propagates further violence, death, and revenge. Whether these zealous old men want political power, money, or fame, they all feed on the desperation and anger of the youth. A happy, healthy youth population could never be talked into suicide bombings or any other terrorist activities. The easy answer to stopping the cycle of terror would be to end the desolate, despondent state of living for the millions of Islamic youths in the world. How do you do that?
Some would say that money is the answer. Terrorism would then be a socio-economic matter. Thus, if you can alleviate the dismal economic state of the poor Islamic population, terrorism would be over. Unfortunately, that's not the case. Young Muslims living in decent economic situations across Europe and the United States are not safe from the draw of terrorist groups. Three of the men responsible for the July 7, 2005 bombings of London were from the Beeston district of Leeds in England. One of bombers was even described to be "an apparently integrated, happy, western-thinking man." Imams with their own political agendas are attracting thousands of young Muslims across Europe while preaching a message of hate. The problems plaguing the Islamic youth goes deeper than economics.
Regardless of how they are treated individually, as a whole, young Muslims have nothing to hold onto. Muslims abroad might seemingly be accepted by their host countries, but how can they truly feel settled when popular opinion and the media are constantly degrading their religion? Politicians in the West and the media have painted an ugly picture of the Islamic faith. The words Muslim, Islam, violence, deaths, and terrorism have been connected so many times by politicians and the media that it is difficult to hear one word without thinking of the other key words. With so much prejudice against Islam, no Muslim can live with any kind of pride for their identity. In such isolation, it is easy for radical leaders to attract followers by offering acceptance, collective pride, and unity. It is even easier for radical leaders to attract supporters in the Middle East. They can use numerous video clips from Western media to depict utter disregard towards Islam. Without real interactions with Western cultures, it is only natural for Muslims to believe that they must unite to fight for their culture.
To stop the extremist leaders from recruiting young Muslims, an effort must be made to better understand Islam, which is no easy task. The misunderstanding of the Islamic world by the West is rooted in events spanning several centuries, but it is the events of the past few decades that are most fresh in people's minds. In the 70's and 80's, Pan Am and TWA airplanes were hijacked. In the mid 80's, American and European hostages were held for years in war torn Lebanon. In recent years, suicide bombers have destroyed the lives of countless people, including killing a bus full of women and children in Tel Aviv. Foreign tourists have been massacred at holiday resorts around the Middle East like those who died in Luxor, Egypt. Villages upon villages have been annihilated in places like Algeria. Of course, 9/11 happened. Such acts are atrocious, but they are done by a minority of Muslims. To group all Muslims together, even unintentionally, would be spreading intolerance, which can only lead to more violence.
The Western world easily forgets that the Muslims are suffering, too. We must remember that Arabs deal with bloodshed and personal losses daily. Since the start of the war in Iraq, over 34,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed. During the invasion into southern Lebanon by Israeli forces, over 2,000 Arab civilians died. There are four million Palestinians living in refugee communities scattered around the Middle East. According to Human Right Watch, " 4,500 Palestinians arrested in the massive military sweep through the West Bank in March-April 2002 were subjected to widespread ill-treatment such as kicking, beatings, squalid conditions and deprivation of food and drink." The Muslims have suffered too many injustices to list. Politicians do not like to dwell on such things when they are trying to sell a war to the public, and the media avoids focusing attention on news that negatively portrays Western countries.
Terrorism has no easy answer; however, understanding the problem is vital to finding a solution. We must understand that Arabs are living in wretched, hostile conditions, and desperate people do desperate things. What the suffering need is validation. The media and politicians refuse to validate the crimes done to the Muslims. The offenses against the Muslim people are not given the same attention and regard as those suffered by the Western world. Nothing is more frustrating than to suffer in silence, with the feeling that no one believes you deserve sympathy because of the violent actions of others.
Further Reading
BBC News: Europe's angry young Muslims
BBC News: Cartoons and the globalisation of protests
BBC News: US Muslims fight 9/11 backlash
BBC News: The Struggle for Iraq
BBC News: Isreal and the Palestinians
Wikipedia: 1982 Lebanon War
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