17 September 2010 By Dr. Bouthaina Shaaban It is said that people in the Arab region never
wake up to an old worry; because every morning brings
them new worries. That is because of the plethora of
disasters, wars, blockades, invasions and sanctions
which have targeted this region because of its
geographical location, natural resources and rich
heritage. The wars, attacks and violation of
sanctities which Muslims face in the United States,
Europe and the world at large, brings this idea to my
mind because the brutality of the enemies of Muslims
outclasses itself everyday by inventing battles to
undermine Islam and Muslims while using ‘democracy’,
‘freedom of speech’, and ‘religious freedom’, as a
cover to justify carefully planned and financed
campaigns. Such attacks have been hatched since the
dark ages by people who have deeply rooted hatred for
us; and it seems that Western racists still have
inexhaustible funds of hatred for Islam and Muslims.
What is happening to Muslims throughout the world
today is more dangerous than the cold war which
preoccupied the world for decades. The West has
declared – through actions, measures and laws - that
Islam is the enemy, and that Muslims are the target.
Muslims have been blamed for the 9/11 attack, despite
the large number of questions raised about the event,
its objectives and the credibility of what has been
published about it. The only constant element in this
event is that its objective was launching a long war
against Islam and Muslims and making the 9/11 attacks
a justification for every war, law or measure against
Muslims. The first response to such a claim is that
the law in these democratic countries has essentially
changed to allow for arresting and torturing
‘suspects’ without the need for any evidence to prove
such accusations or even charging the suspects. Other
laws have been passed to allow for treating ‘suspects’
as convicted criminals. Assaults against Muslims and their sanctities
persist because Muslim countries have not taken any
deterrent measure. Cartoonist Kurt Westergaard mocked
prophet Mohammad and Pastor Terry Jones threatened to
burn the Quran publicly on the anniversary of 9/11,
while Western ‘democracies’ and ‘democrats’ are
encouraging and protecting them under different names
like ‘freedom of expression’. What has been said about
the unprecedented plan of a clergyman to burn a holy
book is unacceptable under any justification; yet, no
Western official expressed a real intention or wish to
prevent him from going ahead with a hateful racist
plan which would offend more than 1.3 billion people
throughout the world. German Chancellor Angela Merkel described the plan
as a ‘disgrace’; but what is the significance of such
a statement considering that she took part in honoring
another racist, cartoonist Westergaard who offended
with his cartoons more than a billion Muslims in 58
countries. Merkel praised the courage of this
cartoonist while condemning the plan to burn the Quran
as “insulting, disgraceful and wrong”. Based on this
precedent, Jones will no doubt be honored in five
years times, and maybe a statute will be made of him
as Israel has made of mass murderer Goldstein, who
committed al-Haram al-Ibrahimi (cave of the
patriarchs) massacre in Hebron which claimed the lives
of tens of Muslims. One is justified in raising the question: does the
West allow an objective and honest study of the
holocaust, or even discuss it in the media? Is not the
holocaust a historical event which can be discussed
and written about? Don not the laws of ‘democracy’ and
‘freedom of opinion’ throughout the world ban even
mentioning the holocaust? Would the West limit itself
only to ‘condemnation’ and ‘expressing concern’ if
someone intended to burn the Bible or the Torah? Of
course, no Muslim would think of doing such a truly
disgraceful act, because it runs counter to Islam’s
spirit of tolerance and its teachings which respect
all religions indeed. The evidence is that Muslims in
the United States decided to hold the Eid prayers in
the Martin Luther King church as a civilized response
to the hatred of Pastor Terry Jones and all the racist
forces which encouraged him and claimed not to be able
to prevent or stop him. Not stopping him means
implicit sympathy with him and blessing of his act
despite pretending to condemn him in public; because
voicing opposition without taking any decisive action
to prevent him is worthless and does not express a
true condemnation of this attack on Muslims’ feelings
and sanctities. Compare this disgraceful act by Pastor Jones with
the news of ‘trying’ eleven American soldiers who
killed Afghani civilians for fun and collected their
fingers as a hobby, in the same way some people
collect stamps! Choosing 9/11 for burning the Quran is a new date
for Muslims, which is no less dangerous than the
9/11/2001 attack for the United States. It even
threatens of leading the world to unprecedented
tragedies and dangers, because those who do not value
the life, dignity, feelings and sanctities of Muslims
do not think of the safety and security of their
societies. Turning a blind eye to the racist offences
against Muslims and their sanctities today will
disturb them in the future and will have an impact on
all of them, not only on their Muslim citizens, but on
Christians and Jews as well. That is why Western
officials have a responsibility to put an end to these
campaigns of hatred against their Muslim citizens, not
as a favor to Muslims, but as an urgent need to
maintain security, peace and coexistence in their
cities, villages, universities and institutions. If a
small minority of haters have an interest in stirring
internal conflict between Muslims in the West and
their Christian and Jewish compatriots, Western people
have no interest in allowing such disgraceful acts,
because they will discover later that honoring
Westergaard and ignoring Terry Jones’s actions will
have indelible scars and dire consequences, not only
for Muslims in the West but for Western societies in
their entirety. Prof. Bouthaina Shaaban is Political and Media
Advisor at the Syrian Presidency, and former Minister
of Expatriates. She is also a writer and professor at
Damascus University since 1985. She's got Ph.D. in
English Literature from Warwick University, London.
She was the spokesperson for Syria. She was nominated
for Nobel Peace Prize in 2005. Comments 💬 التعليقات |