posted
Every time speculation arises that a terrorist attack has happened, Non-Muslims and Muslims alike suspect the Islamic connection. Of course the disclaimers abound, but a lingering suspicion about Muslims is left in the general views of terrorism, even if other groups are identified as the main culprits for any particular incident.
This perception is not due to any intrinsic resentment of Islam by people all over the world including America. In the US, it is understood that the mainstream of Muslims, the vast majority of them, like in every other faith, is peaceful and pay their taxes, trying to make America a better society, trying to improve relations with neighbors and colleagues.
But images and terminology influence public opinion, and a bitter taste is left when Islam is reported in the daily headlines. The term "Islamic fundamentalism", whatever it means, has been repeated enough times in relation to violent incidents that naturally, any thinking human being has to be uncomfortable with the fact that America is home to a vibrant Muslim community. The problem stems from negative images about Islam. In the court of public opinion, Islam is guilty until proven innocent!
Even though the Middle East was home to fewer terrorist incidents than Latin America and Europe, for example, it is still regarded as the region where terrorism is rooted. According to a recent US State Department report, Patterns of Global Terrorism, issued earlier this year, 272 terrorist events occurred in Europe, 92 in Latin America, 45 in the Middle East, 62 anti-US attacks occurred in Latin America last year, 21 in Europe, 6 in the Middle East.
These numbers represent the terrorist trend and not an anomaly, whereby the majority of perpetrators are not linked to the Middle East or Islam. The Red Army Faction in Germany, the Basque Separatists in Spain, the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka, the Shining Path in Peru and the National Liberation Army in Columbia are not viewed with the same horror as terrorist groups of Muslim background.
There is no moral justification for terrorism regardless of the ethnic or religious background of the perpetrator or the victim, but the factual basis of terrorism has been either hidden or twisted in the public's perception of this policy problem, especially in congressional hearings on terrorism.
The countries with the worst terrorist records in the world are not in the Middle East either. They are not even Muslim countries outside the Middle East. They are Columbia and Germany, havens for drug lords and neo-Nazis.
The negative association of Islam with terrorism exists, but no one has ever asked "Why?". Could it be that American society cannot overcome the Khomeini phobia, even though he is dead? The US Congress found it necessary to push 20 million dollars towards covert operations in toppling the Iranian government even at the dissent of people in the CIA.
Some Muslim and Arab countries, both friend and foe, are run by tyrants who kill more of their own people than those outside their countries. The presumption that these countries represent a threat to American interests or that any one of them can dominate the region or even rival the only remaining superpower is indeed generous. So the issue is not these countries' hegemony in their region or the world, but about who can dominate their people and exploit their resources.
The perception in the Middle East is that US policy does not serve the peoples' interests; it protects Israelis when they violate human rights, while it slaps sanctions on and takes military actions against countries whose dictators misbehave, resulting in suffering, starvation and even slaughter, all in the name of teaching the tyrants a lesson. The priorities in the Middle East for the US are not human rights, but rather oil and Israeli superiority. Consequently, anti-American sentiment increases.
This mood of the general public is then characterized as "Islamic fundamentalism", even though the resentment is not rooted in religion.
When it turns violent, it is termed "radical Islamic fundamentalism" or "Islamic terrorism." The various "terrorism experts" promote linkage to the Middle East before any other possibility every time terrorism is speculated. They exploit the human suffering of the victims, their families, and the fears of the American public.
Indeed, extremists of Muslim backgrounds are violating the norms of Islamic justice and should be held accountable for their criminal behavior, but we should not be held hostage to the politics of the Middle East or biased reporting.
An Israeli journalist, Yo'av Karny, reporting on the events in Chechnya made a striking observation about this development: "The West will be told--and will be inclined to believe--that the oppression of the Chechens is part and parcel of a cosmic struggle against 'Islamic extremism' that rages from Gaza to Algeria, from Tehran to Khartoum. Russians will seek Western sympathy. They should not be given it!!"
The issue is not Chechnya, and it is not even about Islam and the West. Debates about religious wars and cultural clashes only distract us from the real issue: the powerful want to continue dominating the powerless, manipulating facts to influence public opinion, hence maintaining the status quo.
Heaven forbid! you know Im getting a lil tired of these Christains and their "do unto others as you would have done unto yourself"..
what kinda nonsence is that???
from here on out we must follow the hesbola code of ,fire rockets in civilain populations and ask questions later!
enough of this civilisation stuff! pfff! who needs it! why be a 9 to 5 stiff? be all you can be, live on the edge in a cave!fire the latest shoulder rockets into populated areas and watch the havok!
posted
WHY DONT YOU READ THE BLOODY THING PROPERLY AND UNDERSTAND IT A LITTLE BIT MORE ,U ALL UP FOR THIS TERRIOSM THING BUT HAVE U BEEN INVOLDED IN IT PERSONALY ,HAH DONT TELL ME U HAVE ,AND IF U SEE THE MOST TERRIOST ORGANISATION IS NOT OF ISLAMIC ,THATS WHAT I WAS TELLING YAH ,THIS FPORUM IS TURNING INTO A ANTI KOO AGAINST MUSLIMS AND IT HAS TO STOP HERE NOW ,IM NOT A HATER OF JEWS OR CHRISTIANS I HAVE MANY MANY FRIENDS BUT ID RATHER SIT NEXT TO A HEZBOLLAH THAN JAPANES TERRIOST U GET MY MEANING MR ROSIER ,,NOW LOOK AT THE FORUM ,OR GET OUT OF MY ROOM U HEAR ME NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posts: 4597 | Registered: Jun 2006
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posted
Hezbollah are not the only ones firing rockets into civillian areas. Iraelis targeted and killed 4 UN people yestereday. Ooooops, they apologized so I suppose that is ok.
Posts: 70 | From: Cairo Egypt | Registered: Mar 2005
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salam alikom first i need toi ask the ppl here what the meaning of this word " salam " ?? maybe you can ask and you will know cause if i said maybe u will say that i take islam side okay brothers and sisters am arabian egyptian but some time i hate the arabic tradition cuase its not according to islam . also there are islamic traditiona nd arabic tradition and the arabic tradition is the bad oine . also i need to explain not all the arab are muslim and not all the muslim are arab . but i can say that arabian ppl has hot blood and some time its bad and some time good . anyway if you need to know the islam in true just ask any one who are not arabian and not muslim from bron and he can give you the real islam more better then the muslim from born and more then arabian muslim . i hope that dont make mix between arabian tradition and islam . salam alikom brothers and sisters Posts: 52 | From: anywhere can find water | Registered: Jul 2006
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on candystripe legs the spiderman comes softly through the shadow of the evening sun stealing past the windows of the blissfully dead looking for the victim shivering in bed searching out fear in the gathering gloom and suddenly! a movement in the corner of the room! and there is nothing i can do when i realise with fright that the spiderman is having me for dinner tonight!
quietly he laughs and shaking his head creeps closer now closer to the foot of the bed and softer than shadow and quicker than flies his arms are all around me and his tongue in my eyes "be still be calm be quiet now my precious boy don't struggle like that or i will only love you more for it's much too late to get away or turn on the light the spiderman is having you for dinner tonight"
and i feel like i'm being eaten by a thousand million shivering furry holes and i know that in the morning i will wake up in the shivering cold
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Standing on the beach With a gun in my hand Staring at the sky Staring at the sand Staring down the barrel At the arab on the ground See his open mouth But I hear no sound
I'm alive I'm dead I'm a stranger Killing an arab
I can turn And walk away Or I can fire the gun Staring at the sky Staring at the sun Whichever I choose It amounts to the same Absolutely nothing
I'm alive I'm dead I'm a stranger Killing an arab
I feel the silver jump Smooth in my hand Staring at the sea Staring at the sand Staring at myself Reflected in the eyes Of the dead man on the beach The dead man on the beach
I'm alive I'm dead I'm the stranger Killing an arab directed at you mr rozier Posts: 4597 | Registered: Jun 2006
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"Words can mean different things to different people. It is important to understand what people mean when they use a certain word. Let’s make an example. Take the word gay. Fifty years ago, gay meant exclusively cheerfulness, lighthearted excitement, merry or bright colors. Today this word has a different meaning. You won’t call a cheerful person gay because it could be understood as something else.
Just as the same word can mean different things in different times, it can also mean different things in different cultures. Islam does not mean peace. It means submission. The word “peace” for Muslims has a different meaning. Peace, according to Muslims, will be achieved when everyone submits to Islam. Muslims can't offer peace. They can offer truce. In their minds, peace will be achieved only when you are subdued and they are the masters. Any other arrangement is not Islamic. [URL=http://www.faithfreedom.org/oped/sina60219.htm ]Islam means Peace?[/URL]
Posts: 223 | Registered: Jul 2006
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