Trump and the Islamists!
27 December 2016
By Tariq Alhomayed
During the Republican National Convention in America, the former mayor of New
York and a prominent ally of Trump Rudy Giuliani said ''We must not be afraid
to define our enemy… It is Islamic extremist terrorism! …You know who you are!
And we're coming to get you!''
And now, after Trump has been elected as president and has announced the
selection of some of his candidates for the important positions within his
administration, there is more talk of Trump's vision concerning Islamists.
Especially as there is frequent talk about the possibility that Trump and the
Russian President will cooperate on the coalition to fight ISIS in Syria. Is
this a cause for concern? To answer this question, we must first distinguish
between Muslims and Islamists. Likewise, we must understand that not all
Islamists are terrorists.
What we should be mindful of is that since the Syrian Revolution, Assad's
regime, Iran and the Russians are trying to portray all members of Assad's
opposition as Sunni Islamist terrorists. This propaganda has succeeded in the
western media, especially after the emergence of ISIS and amid the startling
absence of talk about the role of other Shiite Islamist terrorists.
Therefore, we should not be concerned with what the new American
administration is saying about combating and tackling the ''Islamic extremist
terrorists'' that Giuliani talked about. Rather, we should be concerned with
the need to convince Trump and his administration to act against all
terrorists, Sunni and Shia alike, in order to ensure the success of the war on
terrorism which Trump has put at the top of his priorities. It is important
that Trump and his administration are made aware that Sunni and Shia
extremists are two sides of the same coin and that there is no difference
between what ISIS is doing and what Shiite militias affiliated to Iran are
doing. Both of them are torturing the innocent even though they have different
motives.
It must be explained to Trump's administration that it cannot say that Al-Nusra
Front is a terrorist organisation whilst saying that Hezbollah and the Houthis
are just armed groups that call for liberation. This is because Al-Nusra
Front's justifications are the same as those of Hezbollah and the Houthis, and
all of these groups have a radical approach and do not believe in the concept
of a state. Neither do they believe in the right to co-exist, and all of them
are fighting the devil's war. They cause and fuel violence, extremism and
sectarianism and threaten peace. They are just like Assad who has killed at
least a quarter of a million Syrians and has caused the displacement of
millions.
Therefore, it is now necessary to work towards convincing Trump and his
administration that the war on terrorism cannot be divided, and that fighting
Shiite extremism and its groups is just as important as fighting Sunni
extremism and its groups in Syria, Iraq and Yemen regardless of what these
groups are called.
Tariq Alhomayed is the former editor-in-chief of Asharq Al-Awsat. Mr.
Alhomyed has been a guest analyst and commentator on numerous news and current
affair programs, and during his distinguished career has held numerous
positions at Asharq Al-Awsat, amongst other newspapers. Notably, he was the
first journalist to interview Osama Bin Ladin's mother. Mr. Alhomayed holds a
bachelor's degree in media studies from King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah.
He is based in London.
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EsinIslam.Com
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