What is it that drives a young person in Australia, Britain or another European country to come out in the streets to protest a war against Iraq? And what is it that makes an American demonstrator protest against his or her government and the country’s elected president?
The only reason that makes these people do what they do is the unity of mankind. Their action is a reply to those who believe in the clash of civilizations that humanity is one. The protesters who reject war do not do this because Iraq is the targeted party but because they feel they are part of the human race and that the affiliation requires them to stand up to aggressive tendencies and to act to prevent harm being inflicted upon fellow human beings.
These anti-war activists represent large segments of Western societies, especially in the United States. It would be a great injustice if those who come out to protest launching a war were equated with the others when judging the actions of one country or another. It is thus unfair to treat all Americans equally when considering American policies — especially Washington and impartiality in the Arab-Israeli conflict and the US insistence on attacking Iraq.
Many writers and commentators commit a grave mistake when they launch an indiscriminate attack on the US, despite their knowledge that America is a large and diverse nation of different ethnic groups, cultures and interests.
Our differences should be with those political circles which through their goals and interests drive the American administration into taking stands hostile to the Arabs and Muslims. Furthermore, we should oppose those circles controlling the American decision-making process including the Christian right, arms manufacturers and the Zionist lobby. Such opposition, however, should not be extended to include all Americans since there are many among them who support our causes.
All we need is to reach out to these groups and explain the fairness of our causes to them. Just recently 10,000 American academics and other intellectuals addressed a letter to President George Bush urging him not to wage war against Iraq. These groups represent the cream of the American intelligentsia and such action is bound to influence others. We need to know how to address the American people without resorting to attacking every one of them.
