We, the Arabs, condemn the London terrorist attacks that rattled the world in no uncertain terms. The attacks become all the more frightening when we realize that they were carried out under the very nose of the Scotland Yard, arguably the most efficient investigating outfit in the world. The London police have been geared up to face any kind of terrorist act over quite some time.
It should also be noted that the perpetrators of the gory play avoided the general elections in Britain. If it were to happen before the elections the Labour Party would have won a landslide. The British people, unlike the continental population such as the Spaniards, are not given to instant emotional outbursts.
We must try to understand what makes people, at least some of them, resort to murder innocent people in cold blood when they are faced with problems. Their numbers and sources, I am afraid, are not small. The Western police have been extremely vigilant, particularly with regard to the visitors from the strife-torn countries of the Middle East. The travelers from the Middle East are given entry visa to European countries only after scrupulous examination. Further, the Scotland Yard is working not on the basis of the old theories and methods, but uses the state-of-the-art technology with the aim of stopping the crimes before they take place.
No analysis could be complete unless we take into account the wave of sympathy to the terror attacks appearing in the electronic media such as the Internet. The support or implied approval of the terrible acts springs from the belief that Britain has been colluding with the United States in denying justice to the Arabs in Palestine and Iraq.
The truth has two faces. One is very real. Britain knows it better than the Americans that the Palestine issue is the most powerful factor that drives the Muslim youth to terror and promotes the marketing of terror in the Middle East. The second is the plight of Iraq that serves as a provocation in the absence of a clear strategy and vision on the part of the US and Britain as to what is to be done with that ravaged nation.
Iraq is on the brink of a civil war. The country has an elected government that is confused by the contradictory signals coming from the US. Sometimes the America takes a strong stand behind the elected government and at times it negotiates with the insurgent forces. This makes several people, both inside and outside the country, confused: Should they support the present government or wait for the power they think will emerge afterward?
A second factor that creates an environment conducive to terror in the region is the absence of a serious strategy for the development of the entire Arab region. Tony Blair said, reacting to the news of the London attacks: “What has been perpetrated is in the name of Islam but Islam and Muslims have nothing to do with it.”
Blair’s statement deserves careful attention, particularly in the backdrop of the developments in Iraq and the assassination of a pious Egyptian diplomat on charges of apostasy.
The developments in the region in the past ten years too merit attention.
The jihadis do not differ from the ordinary faithful with respect to the basic tenets of Islam. The differences arise only when the religious texts are interpreted politically. The extremists interpret the texts to suit their nefarious objectives. The core of the issue, therefore, is political. Exploiting religion for achieving political goals has been an age-old practice in the Arab world. While some of them advocated moderation others resorted to extremism. Both the moderates and hard-liners, however, are obstructing the progress of the region. It is also the tactic of some extremist elements to join the ranks of the moderates to recruit the youth to the hard-line ideology.
It is high time the Muslims identified Islamist political parties as ordinary political parties.
These parties that jeopardize the interests of the community are fully aware that without a religious guise they can never attract loyal workers and members. The goal of the Islamist parties is said to be the establishment of an ideal Islamist state modeled on the early Muslim rulers.
A lack of efforts to understand the political and social realities on the regional and international levels and the failure to suggest practical alternatives to new issues and situations as they arise have made the Islamist parties prisoners of narrow ideologies. Either as a ruling party or in opposition they have harmed society and put Muslims in an unfavorable light.
Their activities have made the vibrant energy of the religion to ooze out and throw it to a state of dullness.
