[lit-ideas] Re: Why us?

  • From: Judith Evans <judithevans001@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Mon, 11 Jul 2005 16:11:58 +0100 (BST)

>M.C. Close, Bill, but no cigar. Insofar as *some* Muslims hate *us*, it 
>is very much not because of what we *are*, but precisely because of 
>what we *do*.

 
there's a not-bad piece in the Guardian today about all this, pointing out that 
Qutb, poster boy for "Evil Islamism", was a moderate when he went into prison 
(in Egypt) and militant when he emerged.
 
In Britain, the major police report drawn up before this bombing says, Muslims 
are on aggregate the least educated/poorest/most likely to be unemployed and -- 
the police advisers think -- this is one reason for the disaffection among many 
young Muslim men here.
 

and of course the War on Iraq was a factor 
 
Judy -- distracted by the woman at the next computer, who's e-mailing in a 
hitherto unknown language she explains is (transliterated) Kurdish


Le 9 juil. 05, à 06:08, William Ball a écrit :

> Some of us wonder why Islamic extremists should want to obliterate us.
> I admit I did, until I came across a statement that seems to make some
> sense. I was on the wrong track wondering what there might be about us
> ("us" here is we Western types, Americans, British, or others, like
> Buddhists, or Shinto, or Sun Worshippers, etc.) was so terrible in
> their eyes. It stated that the Muslim extremists do not hate us because
> of what we are or do, they hate us for what we are not, or don't do,

M.C. Close, Bill, but no cigar. Insofar as *some* Muslims hate *us*, it 
is very much not because of what we *are*, but precisely because of 
what we *do*.

What do "we" do, in the eyes of many Muslims? Why, we wage a 
full-scale war against Islam. In the case of a sovereign Islamic nation 
like Iraq, we starve its population for ten years by means of embargos, 
then invade and conquer it on false pretexts, bombing and killing tens 
of thousands of innocent civilians as we go. At prisons like Abu 
Ghraib, we employ sophisticated means of sexual and psychological 
torture, clearly mandated by high-placed military strategists ; in 
Guantanamo, we detain individuals indefinitely without charge, deny 
them the rights accorded by the Geneva Convention, and subject them to 
God only knows what kind of torture and degradation. When this is 
incovenient to us, we have the CIA snatch suspects off the streets and 
ship to them to countries who have a longer tradition and more 
expertise in applying torture. Many of our leading figures, from 
generals to the son of Billy Graham, have no qualms about declaring 
that Islam is an evil religion, and that this "War against terror" is 
in fact a war against Islam. Meantime, we prop up corrupt Arab regimes 
like the Saudis, as long as they support our foreign policy and line 
the pockets of our government officials (and their relatives, in the 
case of our President) with their oil money. We are in intimate cahoots 
with a nation run by a war criminal (Sharon), and fully support his 
policies of enslaving and incarcerating the Palestinian people.

Shall I go on? Or perhaps what I've said so far is enough to 
characterize "what we do" from an Islamic perspective. As long as we 
make not the slightest attempt to change a single element of this 
perception, but continue merrily along claiming that we are fighting 
"Terrorism" - which in fact is not an entitiy it might be possible to 
fight against, but merely a method used by certain groups who share a 
specific ideological agenda - then the situation won't change. And of 
course that the situation should not change is precisely what is 
desired by Bush, Bin Laden and their respective gangs of cirminal 
psychopathic liars. If the situation were to change, they know 
perfectly well that one of two things would happen in short order : 
they'd be out on their asses, and would have to look for real jobs ; or 
they'd wind up in jail where they belong.

Best, Mike.


>
>
Michael Chase
(goya@xxxxxxxxxxx)
CNRS UPR 76
7, rue Guy Moquet
Villejuif 94801
France

------------------------------------------------------------------
To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html


Judy Evans
judithevans001@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
jaye@mygirlfriday/net

Other related posts: