It was inevitable that Iraq should be the center of attention in the run-up meetings to the Islamic summit, the main session of which gets under way in Kuala Lumpur tomorrow. Inevitable but regrettable. Criticism of Turkey for agreeing to send troops and demands for the “eviction” of US forces sound like fighting talk, but what Iraq requires is positive ideas and practical help.
What makes the concentration on Iraq even more regrettable is that there is a far more dangerous issue facing the Islamic world — the demonization of Islam in the West. If not faced and destroyed, it could result in a new holocaust, the victims this time Muslims.
That is no far-fetched fantasy. The warning signs are all there. There has been no letup in the defamation of Muslims in the international media. Muslim equals terrorist; Muslim equals killer; Muslim equals fanatic; Muslims want to take over the world, to kill Americans, to kill Westerners; they have the money behind them to carry out these plans. The message is constant and is getting through to an ignorant and frightened Western public. Unfortunately it has been further fueled by the words and deeds of the handful of alienated Muslim bigots and associated psychopaths who indeed want to lash out at the West. That has added to its power and poison. What is worst about it is that, instead of focusing on Islam’s message of peace and tolerance, it makes Muslims appear inhuman, or even worse, subhuman. From that can flow catastrophe.
The experience of Europe’s Jews in the first half of the 20th century provides a frightening parallel. In newspapers and books, on the radio, at public meetings, from pulpits, in restaurants and cafes, they were similarly demonized: The Jews killed and ate babies; they were plotting to take over the world; they used their wealth to further such plans. The message was persistent and went deep into the public psyche. That led to the gas ovens.
Those who think that it could not happen again are willfully blind. The world did not suddenly become a better, more civilized place in 1945. Genocide is very much with us as the people of Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and most recently Liberia can testify. And as for demonization of Muslims, we have already seen what it can do in Bosnia.
The Secretary-General of the OIC, Abdelouahed Belkaziz, this week sounded alarm bells about the “unprecedented” dangers facing Muslims abroad, “considered with suspicion, besieged, and deprived of their rights.” That warning must be heeded. If nothing is done, there will be new pogroms, new deportations, new genocide. Complaining is not enough. The demonization has to be persistently exposed and destroyed.
