George W. Bush’s presidency will go down in history as the worst period not only for Americans but for Muslims and Arabs as well. It will also be recorded as the most trying period in the history of Arab-American and Muslim-American relations. It was only a few months after his inauguration that the planes wreaked havoc in New York and Washington.
The psychological reaction to the terror attacks was the unleashing of a wave of deep-seated anti-Arab and anti- Muslim feelings. The terrorism was also a blow to the world economy. Moreover, the attack was a challenge to the United States’ status as the world’s sole superpower. Though the US authorities were initially uncertain of the identity of those guilty of the attack, Bush declared a war on terror. When he said in a speech that the war was a “crusade” Bush was unconsciously revealing an undisclosed hatred of Muslims in his heart. His aides explained that his use of the word “crusade,” the implication of which were ominously clear to Muslims, was a slip of the tongue.
However, it soon became evident that Bush’s reference to the crusades was not a slip of the tongue but an indication of his plan to wage a merciless war against Arabs and Muslims. The most destructive weapons were employed in the war with scant regard for the lives of innocent Afghan civilians and their country’s already weak infrastructure. All international conventions governing the treatment of prisoners of war were cast aside in the case of Arabs and Muslims while European and American prisoners were treated differently.
I don’t think the war has ended. Nor do I believe that the United States has uprooted the terrorists (the name given by the US to Al-Qaeda and the Taleban). The most advanced American intelligence apparatus has failed to determine if Osama Bin Laden is alive or dead.
No sooner had Bush wound up his war in Afghanistan than he revealed his plan to continue the war on a number of Muslim or Arab countries. It is the crusader mindset that makes him take up arms against Iraq, Yemen, Sudan, Somalia and Iran. Syria is also a likely target. Bush’s intimidating posture has frightened most Arab and Muslim countries, making them work hard to stay in his good books and to agree with him.
The mask concealing the blind support of the Bush administration for Israel has finally slipped. It is no secret that the Jewish lobby did not support Bush in the presidential elections. The Arab and Muslim communities in the US, on the other hand, played an undeniable role in his election victory expecting him to be less harmful to their interests than his rival might have been. Subsequent developments proved the Arab and Muslim voters wrong.
Bush has not hidden his bias toward Israel; he has given total support to Israeli brutalities against civilians and freedom fighters in Occupied Palestine. He has justified Israeli atrocities as its right of self-defense. However, under the pressure of mounting anger among the Arab and Muslim public and all peace-loving people in the world, Bush made an appeal to Israel to stop its aggression and withdraw its army. But he did not warn of any punitive measures against Israel if it did not comply with his appeal. The president’s appeal was apparently a ploy to cool down the public who came out on the streets to protest America’s unjustifiable pro-Israeli policies. Angry protesters in the Arab and Muslim countries had set fire to the American flag and demanded the severing of diplomatic and economic relations with the United States. As much of the Arab and Muslim public saw no supportive steps from their governments — many of which depended upon the US for their security — the people began to make very generous donations to their Palestinian brothers and sisters. Donations of money and blood have been recorded and there are even reports of some people giving every penny they possess. The anti-American feelings of Arabs and Muslims have reached new heights. People have voluntarily begun to boycott American products. Even those Arabs settled in Canada participate in the boycott. It is not difficult to find substitutes for American products.
Bush’s latest surprise: Ariel Sharon is a man of peace! Even America’s staunchest allies had to stare in shock at so obvious a lie. One wonders if Bush is totally blind to what is going on. All non-American TV channels have focused on the large-scale butchery and massive devastation of civilian buildings and government infrastructure, including public health and education. The reports also indicated the cruelty and humiliation inflicted by the Israelis on the entire West Bank population. The Human Rights Commission, a UN body, has stated that the Israeli Army’s atrocities against both civilians and the security forces in Palestine deserve maximum punishment. Countries such as Belgium, Britain and Germany have banned arms sales to Israel while other countries say they will follow suit. People in these countries have been staging protest marches against Israeli policies. They also demand the suspension of trade relations with Israel. Even peace-loving Jews in Israel have protested against the brutal war. They have described the army’s atrocities in Palestinian cities as genocide which does Israel’s already badly-tarnished image no good. It has also been reported that the Swedish Nobel Prize committee is considering withdrawing Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres’ peace prize as he failed to oppose Sharon’s terrorist acts in Palestine. In an apparent bid to save his image, Peres has admitted that what happened in Jenin was a massacre. European peace activists and Western reporters have strongly protested Israel’s refusal to admit them to what remains of the Jenin camps to witness the sites of Israeli massacres.
Mr. Bush, if you truly believe that Sharon, the indiscriminate murderer and oppressor of Palestinian youths, children and elderly men, is a man of peace then it is the end to peace. If you believe that Sharon, who masterminded the murders of Sabra and Shatila, is a man of peace, it is goodbye to peace. Palestinian women have been murdered by Sharon because they have destroyed their own bodies, the only weapon remaining with them, amidst the enemy in response to the call for martyrdom which you call terror. You may turn every stone upside down, uproot every tree, demolish every house and blow up every grain of sand in the land of Palestine but the Palestinians will fight until every usurper and occupier is driven from their territories. I also warn you that Muslims and Arabs look forward to the hour when Allah removes from their rulers’ hearts their fear of you. Then they will open the road to Palestine for a jihad which will ultimately lead them to the Paradise they yearn for even as you fear death.
