Opinion: The Muslim mind is on fire
Youssef M. Ibrahim | 02.08.2005 21:32
The world of Islam is on fire. Indeed, the Muslim mind is on fire. Above all, the West is now ready to take both of them on.
The latest reliable report confirms that on average 33 Iraqis die every day, executed by Iraqis and foreign jihadis and suicide bombers, not by US or British soldiers. In fact, fewer than ever US or British soldiers are dying since the invasion more than two years ago. Instead, we now watch on television hundreds of innocent Iraqis lying without limbs, bleeding in the streets dead or wounded for life. If this is jihad someone got his religious education completely upside down.
Palestine is on fire, too, with Palestinian armed groups fighting one another - Hamas against Fatah and all against the Palestinian Authority. All have rendered Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas impotent and have diminished the world's respect and sympathy for Palestinian sufferings.
A couple of weeks ago London was on fire as Pakistani and other Muslims with British citizenship blew up tube stations in the name of Islam. Al Qaeda in Europe or one of its franchises proclaimed proudly the killing of 54 and wounding 700 innocent citizens was done to "avenge Islam" and Muslims.
Madrid was on fire, too, last year, when Muslim jihadis blew up train stations killing 160 people and wounding a few thousands.
The excuse in all the above cases was the war in Iraq, but let us not forget that in September 2001, long before Iraq, Osama Bin Laden proudly announced that he ordered the killing of some 3,000 in the United States, in the name of avenging Islam. Let us not forget that the killing began a long time before the invasion of Iraq.
Indeed, jihadis have been killing for a decade in the name of Islam. They killed innocent tourists and natives in Morocco and Egypt, in Africa, in Indonesia and in Yemen, all done in the name of Islam by Muslims who say that they are better than all other Muslims. They killed in India, in Thailand and are now talking of killing in Germany and Denmark and so on. There were attacks with bombs that killed scores inside Shia and Sunni mosques, inside churches and inside synagogues in Turkey and Tunisia, with Muslim preachers saying that it is okay to kill Jews and Christians - the so called infidels.
Above all, it is the Muslim mind that is on fire.
The Muslim fundamentalist who attacked the Dutch film director Theo Van Gogh in the Netherlands, stabbed him more than 23 times then cut his throat. He recently proudly proclaimed at his trial: "I did it because my religion - Islam - dictated it and I would do it again if were free." Which preacher told this guy this is Islam? That preacher should be in jail with him.
Do the cowardly jihadis who recruit suicide bombers really think that they will force the US Army and British troops out of Iraq by killing hundreds of innocent Iraqis? US troops now have bases and operate in Iraq but also from Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Oman.
The only accomplishment of jihadis is that now they have aroused the great "Western Tiger". There was a time when the United States and Europe welcomed Arab and Muslim immigrants, visitors and students, with open arms. London even allowed all dissidents escaping their countries to preach against those countries under the guise of political refugees.
Well, that is all over now. Time has become for the big Western vengeance.
Visas for Arab and Muslim young men will be impossible to get for the United States and Western Europe. Those working there will be expelled if they are illegal, and harassed even if their papers are in order.
Airlines will have to right to refuse boarding to passengers if their names even resemble names on a prohibited list on all flights heading to Europe and the United States.
What is more important to remember is this: When the West did unite after World War II to beat communism, the long Cold War began without pity. They took no prisoners. They all stood together, from the United States to Norway, from Britain to Spain, from Belgium to Switzerland. And they did bring down the biggest empire. Communism collapsed.
I fear those naïve Muslims who think that they are beating the West have now achieved their worst crime of all. The West is now going to war against not only Muslims, but also, sadly, Islam as a religion.
In this new cold and hot war, car bombs and suicide bombers here and there will be no match for the arsenal that those Westerners are putting together - an arsenal of laws, intelligence pooling, surveillance by satellites, armies of special forces and indeed, allies inside the Arab world who are tired of having their lives disrupted by demented so-called jihadis or those bearded preachers who, under the guise of preaching, do little to teach and much to ignite the fire, those who know little about Islam and nothing about humanity.
The latest reliable report confirms that on average 33 Iraqis die every day, executed by Iraqis and foreign jihadis and suicide bombers, not by US or British soldiers. In fact, fewer than ever US or British soldiers are dying since the invasion more than two years ago. Instead, we now watch on television hundreds of innocent Iraqis lying without limbs, bleeding in the streets dead or wounded for life. If this is jihad someone got his religious education completely upside down.
Palestine is on fire, too, with Palestinian armed groups fighting one another - Hamas against Fatah and all against the Palestinian Authority. All have rendered Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas impotent and have diminished the world's respect and sympathy for Palestinian sufferings.
A couple of weeks ago London was on fire as Pakistani and other Muslims with British citizenship blew up tube stations in the name of Islam. Al Qaeda in Europe or one of its franchises proclaimed proudly the killing of 54 and wounding 700 innocent citizens was done to "avenge Islam" and Muslims.
Madrid was on fire, too, last year, when Muslim jihadis blew up train stations killing 160 people and wounding a few thousands.
The excuse in all the above cases was the war in Iraq, but let us not forget that in September 2001, long before Iraq, Osama Bin Laden proudly announced that he ordered the killing of some 3,000 in the United States, in the name of avenging Islam. Let us not forget that the killing began a long time before the invasion of Iraq.
Indeed, jihadis have been killing for a decade in the name of Islam. They killed innocent tourists and natives in Morocco and Egypt, in Africa, in Indonesia and in Yemen, all done in the name of Islam by Muslims who say that they are better than all other Muslims. They killed in India, in Thailand and are now talking of killing in Germany and Denmark and so on. There were attacks with bombs that killed scores inside Shia and Sunni mosques, inside churches and inside synagogues in Turkey and Tunisia, with Muslim preachers saying that it is okay to kill Jews and Christians - the so called infidels.
Above all, it is the Muslim mind that is on fire.
The Muslim fundamentalist who attacked the Dutch film director Theo Van Gogh in the Netherlands, stabbed him more than 23 times then cut his throat. He recently proudly proclaimed at his trial: "I did it because my religion - Islam - dictated it and I would do it again if were free." Which preacher told this guy this is Islam? That preacher should be in jail with him.
Do the cowardly jihadis who recruit suicide bombers really think that they will force the US Army and British troops out of Iraq by killing hundreds of innocent Iraqis? US troops now have bases and operate in Iraq but also from Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Oman.
The only accomplishment of jihadis is that now they have aroused the great "Western Tiger". There was a time when the United States and Europe welcomed Arab and Muslim immigrants, visitors and students, with open arms. London even allowed all dissidents escaping their countries to preach against those countries under the guise of political refugees.
Well, that is all over now. Time has become for the big Western vengeance.
Visas for Arab and Muslim young men will be impossible to get for the United States and Western Europe. Those working there will be expelled if they are illegal, and harassed even if their papers are in order.
Airlines will have to right to refuse boarding to passengers if their names even resemble names on a prohibited list on all flights heading to Europe and the United States.
What is more important to remember is this: When the West did unite after World War II to beat communism, the long Cold War began without pity. They took no prisoners. They all stood together, from the United States to Norway, from Britain to Spain, from Belgium to Switzerland. And they did bring down the biggest empire. Communism collapsed.
I fear those naïve Muslims who think that they are beating the West have now achieved their worst crime of all. The West is now going to war against not only Muslims, but also, sadly, Islam as a religion.
In this new cold and hot war, car bombs and suicide bombers here and there will be no match for the arsenal that those Westerners are putting together - an arsenal of laws, intelligence pooling, surveillance by satellites, armies of special forces and indeed, allies inside the Arab world who are tired of having their lives disrupted by demented so-called jihadis or those bearded preachers who, under the guise of preaching, do little to teach and much to ignite the fire, those who know little about Islam and nothing about humanity.
Youssef M. Ibrahim
Comments
Hide the following 10 comments
if
02.08.2005 22:40
The Muslim fundamentalist who attacked the Dutch film director Theo Van Gogh in the Netherlands, stabbed him more than 23 times then cut his throat. He recently proudly proclaimed at his trial: "I did it because my religion - Islam - dictated it and I would do it again if were free." Which preacher told this guy this is Islam? That preacher should be in jail with him. ''
If the 21/7 terrorists do the same then maybe...
monkeyboy magik
Vile Disinformation
02.08.2005 23:17
You ommitted the portion which deals with the author's connection to the Neo-Fascists who created this War Against Islam.
Link Please?
Breaking down the barriers
02.08.2005 23:43
It is for 'we, the people' of the world to change the relationship. Yes, we need to protest, as happened around the G8 meeting. But we need to look outside these power structures. We have seen how the G8 leaders will only protect their own interests (and the economic interests of those who elect them).
A solution is for people to join together through campaigns such as the Simultaneous Policy campaign to develop the policies we want to see implemented to address global problems and to transform the relationships between nations from one of competition to one of co-operation. Already 10 MPs have signed an pledge to implement SP alongside other countries and this number will steadily increase as more people join the campaign. There is support in the European Parliament and Australian senate and José Ramos Horta, Foreign Minister of East Timor, has given his direct support. National organisations are forming around the world and these are needed in Islamic countries as much as in any other country.
So this is an invitation to bypass the barrier between rich and poor, the 'West' and 'Islam', and join together as 'we, the people' to develop the policies we want to see. As an example of how this is working in practice, the UK SP organisation, Simpol-UK, held a policy forum earlier this year on reforming the monetary system. This included proposals from James Robertson (author of Monetary Reform: Making it Happen) and Tarek El Diwany (author of The Problem with Interest). SP is a work in progress as there is much to be debated. Let us spread the word to make this discussion as widespread and open as possible.
For further information see the website http://www.simpol.org.uk/ or contact me.
Mike Brady
e-mail: mikebrady@simpol.org.uk
Homepage: http://www.simpol.org.uk/
Xenophobic Disinformation
03.08.2005 02:19
You ommitted the portion which deals with the author's connection to the Neo-Fascists who created this War Against Islam.
Some Troll posted this on a Canadian IMC, but his inclusion of the author's credentials is what busted him. Funny you should so glaringly omit them here ...
Who Is The Author?
More Info
03.08.2005 02:22
Positions that Youssef M. Ibrahim has held:
Senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations
Quote, November 1, 2002
“Thus far, all the arguments presented for sending American boys and girls into one of the world's most dangerous neighborhoods are half-truths, spurious assumptions and utter nonsense. Washington simply cannot prove the case that Iraq is tied to al-Qaeda.” [International Herald Tribune, 11/1/02]
Youssef M. Ibrahim actively participated in the following events:
July 2002-March 19, 2003 Complete Iraq timeline
Numerous US and British, current and former, intelligence, military, and other government officials who have inside knowledge refute claims made by the Bush administration that Saddam Hussein's regime has or is seeking ties with international militant Islamic groups. [Independent, 2/9/03; New York Times, 2/3/03; Knight Ridder, 10/7/02; Radio Free Europe, 10/29/02; International Herald Tribune, 11/1/02; Los Angeles Times, 11/4/02; Baltimore Sun, 9/26/02; Wall Street Journal, 8/15/02; Telegraph, 2/4/03; Washington Post 9/10/02; Sunday Herald, 10/13/02; CBC News, 11/1/02]
People and organizations involved: Vincent Cannistraro, Brent Scowcroft, Igor Ivanov, Youssef M. Ibrahim, MIchael O'Hanlon, Rohan Gunaratna, Tony Blair, Baltasar Garzon, Jean Chretien, Anna Eshoo, Saddam Hussein, US Department of State, 4/30/2001, Vincent Cannistraro, Jack Straw, Daniel Benjamin, George W. Bush, Jean-Louis Brugui←re, Michael Chandler, Richard Durbin
November 1, 2003 Complete Iraq timeline
The International Herald Tribune publishes an op-ed piece written by Youssef M. Ibrahim, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. In it, Ibrahim warns: “Al-Qaeda, according to the CIA and the Pentagon, is reconstituting itself. In fact every Middle East and Muslim affairs expert is saying that Al-Qaeda's ranks will be fattened by new recruits right now and will have more of them when the United States attacks Iraq.” [International Herald Tribune, 11/1/03]
People and organizations involved: Youssef M. Ibrahim
Centre For Cooperative Research
A point of view...
03.08.2005 08:54
Depressing isn't it?
Depressed
Islamic extremism
03.08.2005 08:59
These men and women are brave, commited individuals who are now begining to be heard and deserve our support, they are moderate Islam, they are mainstream Islam. The "Left" in its desire to see "Imperialism" "Neocons" or any other blame target as the problem has done a diservice to those in Islam who recognise the real problem. A small proportion of the Islamic world (perhaps no more than 1 or 2 percent) seeks a complete Muslim planet and will use any means in achieving this.
Yosef
Hide this corporate copy & paste please
03.08.2005 10:23
Reverend and Mrs. Moon
You'll see that this non-news rant was originally published by the various neocon publications owned by the "Unification Church" owned by the "Rev." Sun Myung Moon, including: the "Middle East Times", the "World Peace Herald", the "Washington Times", the "Iran Herald", UPI, the "American Chronicle", and so on.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Myung_Moon
It's rightwing Moonie propaganda, and its authors already have all the media outlets they need. Moderators, please take it off the IMC front page.
Thanks.
rocket
clash of civilisations?
03.08.2005 10:24
We forget that this country has expelled entire minorities before. In 1290 Edward 1 expelled the Jews from Britain. The link below is to other incidents of expulsion from Europe.
http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Jewish-refugees
is history about to repeat?
24mm
Collective punishment
03.08.2005 10:29
Talking about "the Muslim mind" is as nonsensical as talking about the "British mind" or the "London mind", or the "Indymedia mind". Like Christians, Jews, Buddhists and Hindus, every Muslim is an individual, with an individual mind of their own.
Characterising a community as a faceless, homogeneous whole is the first step in trying to justify indiscriminate attacks on that community. If the London bombings can successfully be blamed on "The Muslims", a sinister group of people who all think the same way, and who are all mysteriously linked together by a collective "Muslim mind", rather than a particular group of individuals, then you can start to get the public to accept that it's legitimate to punish ANY Muslim in retaliation.
What the writer of this piece wants to see is collective punishment of the Muslim community in Britain. Banning people from travelling simply because they have a Muslim name is, of course, far less extreme than stabbing someone to death on the street because they have a dark skin and are wearing Muslim clothes - but it's "the same fucking ballpark".
Arguably, every society in the world has people who will advocate imposing collective punishments on a community, in revenge for a misdeed (real or imagined) apparently committed by members of that community. You see it on both sides of the Israel-Palestine conflict, you saw it in Northern Ireland, you see it in Rwanda, Burundi, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nepal and Uzbekistan. The Nazis, of course, took the policy to its most logical extreme.
The sad reality is that collective punishment feeds off its own logic.
It was the logic of collective punishment which led the September 11th hijackers to punish "The Americans" for the misdeeds of the American government, by massacring 3,000 people, most of whom had nothing to do with their government's policies - many of them weren't even American.
It was the logic of collective punishment that led the US army, in "revenge" for 911, to torture and humiliate their Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay. Some would argue that the logic of collective punishment is one of the main driving forces for the "War on Terror" as a whole. It was the same logic which led the July 7th bombers to blow themselves up in London, punishing "The British" (another homogeneous, faceless whole) for supporting US policies. Now, people like the writer of the article above want to see collective punishment of the Muslim community in Britain, in retaliation for the July 7th bombings.
The big practical problem with the logic of collective punishment is that the people getting bombed, stabbed, imprisoned without charge, tortured or hacked to pieces in "revenge" for some particular misdeed tend not to be the people who actually carried out the misdeed in question. Collective punishments inevitably cause suffering to innocent people. And when innocent people suffer, as on September 11th 2001, as in Abu Ghraib, as on July 7th 2005 and as in the case of the anti-Muslim hate-crimes that have happened since, someone, somewhere, is going to want revenge. And so the cycle of violence continues. If you take the logic of collective punishment far enough, you end up with genocide.
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