Anti-Semitism

I am not sure if Khaled Almaeena was right in observing, in his article “Arabs Can’t Be Anti-Semites” (Aug. 24), that the neocons in America have the idea that Islam wants to take over the world.

I am not disputing that they have been making that claim. That is their trump card: “Our way of life is under threat from Islam which wants to take over the world” is their battle cry to get the good, the bad and the indifferent in America to line up behind them in their war on Islam. But do they believe it? Doubtful. George Bush may be a dunderhead, but the neocons around him are not. They know what Islam is: The religion of a people for whom, by and large, the all-consuming concern is finding for their families a day’s food and a night’s shelter. Inhabiting lands that get no water, produce little or are in zones prone to natural disasters from drought, flood, quakes and tsunami, they are the most emaciated, backward and illiterate people in the world. Their imagination is too limited even to think about taking over the world.

The neocons should know that.

But they have that idea. Rich and powerful, they control America — its wealth, its institutions, its media and, consequently, its thinking. Since their country has the most powerful weapons, the strongest economy and the dumbest president in the world, they do not see why it — and by extension, they — should not own the world. That is why they produced all the lies that helped them in their crusade — from Israel’s victimhood to Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction. Their war on Islam has two reasons. That Islam is a different religion from theirs, let me assure you, is not one of them. The neocons may be regular churchgoers and have Christian Evangelists rooting for them and quoting the Bible in support of them, but they are men and woman who worship Mammon, not God. They are after wealth and power, and in the best tradition of all high-class crooks, they have conned people of faith into supporting them.

The neocons are demonizing Islam and Muslims because, for the first time in recent history, Muslim peoples, with all their backwardness and poverty, are resisting them. That is something new. Earlier wherever the white men took their “burden” to the Muslim world — Arabia, Egypt, Iraq, India, Malaya, Indonesia — the natives carried it for the conquerors. For the first time, the natives are refusing to do it. What is more, they are showing the temerity to put the burden back on the whites and, naturally, the whites then accuse Muslims of trying to take over the world.

Malik Maqdoom, Riyadh published 30 August 2006

Anti-Semitism [3]

Trying to inform the Americans as to the truths that are often not published in the current American media is no easy task. Part of the reason is the association made by the neocon-controlled administration of resistance groups under the umbrella of “terrorist.”

Another difficulty is the simple fact that Muslims are not afraid of giving praise to their God in the course of any conversation, especially when certain references are made. Even among the Christians in this so-called Christian state, making a public reference to God is something that adds a bit of awkwardness to the conversation, even when talking to someone who is a regular churchgoer.

Another hurdle is that it is hard for the American media to accept any comments that hold America or Israel up as being “terrorist states” even when the argument is very solid and backed up by actual events.

So Americans will not tolerate or really accept the notion that their government is anything less than what it claims to be. They are trapped in the web of immediate gratification and the current low polls for Bush have nothing to do with the record of his horror but with his failure to deliver upon the gratification as expected. Yet it is in the recognition of the horror that Americans need to be awaken.

To me this is a question that should confront their Christian conscience. As an American and one who is basically a Christian, I am appalled by the apparent disinterest shown by Christian leadership in this country over the brutality and horror that American technology and arms are responsible for inflicting on innocent people in the region. The conscience of America has been jaded. Until it is reawakened, the focus of America will not be on the victims of its folly, but on its success.

Jerry Copeland, Riyadh published 30 August 2006

Domestic Terrorists

The report “Cases of Battered Husbands Growing in Kingdom” ((Aug. 24) told us that the National Society for Human rights has opened a new file to deal with women who trouble men.

National Society for Human Rights? Why have I never seen this mentioned when women and children are beaten and battered? I am outraged. I know the problem of battered husbands exists but why, why, why has the NSHR never, never, never come to the aid of women and children?

Shame on them. All abused people need protection. Sometimes the verbal, emotional and psychological abuse is as bad as the physical. All abuse is done by bullies and cowards. All who abuse should be identified and paraded through the streets and lashed at the mosque on Fridays after prayers. The abusers feel that anything they do behind closed doors is only their business. No! It is society’s business to stop this torture.

Mary Gant, Jeddah published 30 August 2006

Domestic Terrorists [2]

It was nice to hear that after centuries of mistreatment — from beating through torture to sadistic divorce — the worms have finally turned. Women have waited and waited and waited for somebody to come to their aid. No one — not society, not the religious establishment, not the government — came. So they have taken the matter into their own hands. Bully for you, I say. Now they know how to solve their other problems.

Kumar, Jeddah published 30 August 2006

Anti-Semitism [2]

Khaled Almaeena gave us an insight into the Zionist propaganda “mission” against Arabs and Muslims. It is indeed a reality that the US has a dangerously wrong perception about Muslims due to the control of the Zionist lobby on the nation’s media, financial, educational and political establishments. As a result, the average people of America have forgotten the sense of justice and humane values that have always defined their nation.

Viewing the world through the prisms of a biased media and institutions, they have a view of the world as ill-informed as that of the Soviet Union in 1979, when they justified the occupation of Afghanistan

The recent “total support” the US gave to Israel’s open terrorism and barbarism against Lebanon was a criminal act. Bush compounded the crime with his adoption of the terminology “Islamic fascist.” As Almaeena pointed out, it is not anti-Semitism for Muslims and Arabs to react to attacks by the Jewish state of Israel. On the other hand, Israel’s killing of the Lebanese, many of whom were Semites — Muslims as well as Christians — was an act of anti-Semitism.

The message of Lebanon to Arabs and Muslims is to utilize their resources to counter Israeli strength as Hezbollah has done.

Syed Ehsanul Haque, Jeddah published 30 August 2006

Bihar’s Problems

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s promises to change Bihar and attract investors to the state, which Syed Faisal Ali reported on Aug. 26, are more or less similar to what we used to hear from our previous governments who ruled the state for 15 years. All the brave words will not yield results until the fundamental faults are tackled, the two most important of which are educational backwardness and all-pervading corruption. Nitish’s promise to appoint teachers are welcome; but that alone will not improve the level of education.

Take, for example, his announcement that the appointments of schoolteachers will be based on the marks they score. Unfortunately, that may not guarantee quality because it is very hard to evaluate the genuineness of the marks due to the prevailing culture of using unfair means to score high in examinations. Of course, a few jobless will be employed but there will be no improvement in the standard of teaching. We should hire observers from outside the state to take a good look at our educational infrastructure and eradicate malpractices. Crimes such as murders, abductions and inhuman torture are common occurrences in Bihar, because there is no fear of being punished.

Without providing proper facilities for good education and a sense of security to the people, the chief minister’s promise to make Bihar an attractive destination for outsiders will remain a daydream.

S. Ashraf Parwez, Alkhobar published 30 August 2006

Iran’s Showdown

The report “Iran Heads for Showdown in Nuclear Row With West” (Aug. 25) tells a lot between the lines. The West has a clear policy for Muslim nations. The underpinning principle of that policy is that they will all come together to impose all sorts of sanctions on Muslim nations. If Muslim nations are not ready to kneel at the West’s feet, the West will jointly use military force to occupy them. They, all possessing weapons of mass destruction, can accuse Muslim nations of possessing the same weapons and describing it as a crime against humanity and invade them, bringing death to thousands and destroying whole countries. No Arab or Muslim nation has the right to acquire nuclear weapons to defend itself against enemies. Only Zionist and Western countries can have them. For sixty years or so, the United Nations has passed resolution after resolution against Israel, but no action is ever taken on them. No economic sanctions or military force. The Zionists kill Arabs everyday. No sound from any Western quarter. But if one Zionist is killed by an Arab, all the Western media are shaken by that death. The life of Muslims has become very cheap. This is the fault of our leaders. They call conference after conference and then issue condemnations. Never is there a call for action. It is a shame.

Zaheer Manna, Jeddah, published 31 August 2006

Semites

Khaled Almaeena touched the core of the issue when he argued “Arabs Can’t Be Anti-Semites” (Aug. 24) any more than Jews can be, because they themselves are Semites. That is the truth. But no one is looking for the truth in this business. It is all vicious propaganda. The Semitic label has become a powerful tool to force people into silence — and a guarantee of immunity from criticism no matter what crimes Jews commit. Even eminent Jews are accused of being anti-Semites when they criticize Israel. Semite or not, we are all human beings. A criminal is a criminal, Semites including.

I agree with Khaled on the need to set up institutions to help Arabs fight the information war. There have to be people who research and can produce facts to expose Israeli lies. I wish there would be a special center just to study Jewish minds and Christian Zionist thinking. The Jews study the minds of Christian fundamentalists and use that knowledge to get Christian support for their goals. I wish Arab governments and businessmen — businesswomen too — would support Arab and Muslim intellectuals to wage a war in the battlefield of our time — people’s minds. Victory in this war is for those who believe in the power of research and in the need to understand the opponent’s mind and thinking.

Rashid M. Alhomaid, Tucson, Arizona, US, published 31 August 2006

Semites - 2

I found the article on “Arabs Can’t Be Anti-Semites” very interesting. There was much in it that I did know, and much I did not. As an American, I truly hope that we learn to understand each other’s culture and values better so that it might lead to a genuine appreciation of the differences. What isn’t understood is often feared.

Edmund Williams, United States, published 31 August 2006

Lessons From Lebanon

Muhammad Salahuddin (Aug. 24) was right: There are many lessons that Arabs should learn from the recent Lebanese developments. Some of them he listed and some he did not. The most important of the missed lessons is the fact that for over one month the people of an Arab country were bombed, without any letup, night and day — without one government gun fired in defense. Not even one Arab country tried to send its military to defend its brother. One does not need to spell out what lesson ordinary Arabs should learn from this experience. That is an embarrassing lesson for all those who incessantly talk about the “brotherliness” of Arabs.

While on the subject, my experience of Muslim brotherliness, while in the Kingdom, was not exactly inspiring. One of the fundamental principles of Islam, considered “revolutionary” when it was first proclaimed and still remains so after centuries, was the equality of all human beings. I have lived in the Kingdom, the UK and Germany. What I remember of this experience is that I received racist treatment while in the Kingdom, an Arab and Muslim country. The Arabs I met in the UK had the same attitude of racial superiority while dealing with non-Arabs. But Europeans, of neither my race or faith, never showed any such feeling in their treatment of me, even though I am a Muslim.

A.M.S., United Kingdom, published 31 August 2006

Racial Profiling

This refers to your report on racial profiling. For arguments sake, let’s turn the tables around. If I, a white Caucasian male, lived in any Arab country and if there had been major terrorism incidents involving airlines that were perpetrated by white Caucasian males, would the authorities in Arab countries not consider profiling white Caucasian males that were catching international flights? Is this not common sense? Would it be reasonable to suggest that every man, woman and child of every race and ethnic background should be put through a rigorous security check — when only white Caucasian males were involved in the terrorist events? Personally, I wouldn’t take offense — I’d expect to be treated fairly but as long as I wasn’t being jailed or shot or beaten, what’s the problem?

Jake Smith, Canada, published 31 August 2006

Racial Profiling - 2

Introducing racial profiling and the existence of the racist hysteria of the flying public displayed in the last few weeks is a victory for the terrorists. I say “Well done!” to them. And everyone who said they would not let the terrorists win by making us change our behavior too should admit this: The terrorists have won. Profiling will cause resentment among Muslims and create further divisions between Muslims and non-Muslims. This is exactly what the terrorists seek to achieve. People talk of it being common sense to introduce racial profiling. I would argue that it is common sense that the terrorists will certainly find a way around profiling by finding people with a different “profile” to carry out their evil.

Sarah Burke, United States, published 31 August 2006

Racial Profiling - 3

I have no problem with racial profiling. I find Western arguments for it convincing. After all, it is their countries, it is their planes and it is their law. If you don’t like them, get out.

My problem is with the Arabs and Muslims who are not doing any racial profiling. Bombs have fallen, thousands and thousands of them, on Arab and Muslim countries, killing tens of thousands of Arabs and Muslims. And it is a fact that every one of those bombs was dropped by men and women in white skins. The number of the Arab and Muslim dead from bombs dropped by white terrorists is hundreds of times bigger than the number of the whites dead from the bombs exploded by Arab and Muslim terrorists. Then, how is it that there is no racial profiling in our countries? How is that when White males and females enter Arab and Muslim countries and travel through them, they are not taken to nearest Guantanamos and detained as enemy combatants? That will be particularly fair, since most of them will satisfy Rumsfeld’s test for having no rights under any Convention: They will not be in uniform.

Kamaluddin, Jeddah, published 31 August 2006

Hysteria in the Skies

“They have created fear and hysteria, they have succeeded in creating a chasm between Muslims and non-Muslims and they are slowly but surely chipping away at the values of liberty, fairness and equality which underpin Western culture,” wrote Iman Kurdi in her “Hysteria Rules the Skies” (Aug. 26)

That’s the bad news. The good news is that there are people like this writer who evidently do not want to see these values disappear. In that sense, all of us who cherish these values are the victims of terrorism. The hope is that we can come together and unite against terrorism instead of fighting against each other.

Peter Dan, Canada, published 31 August 2006

Hysteria in the Skies - 2

It is a sad fact of life in the world today that people fear that which they do not understand. I wish there were more opportunities for the citizens of the world to have a realistic and genuine experience of Muslims, rather than the despots and fanatics that the media seem to love to portray. Islam, like many great faiths, is a source of wisdom, truth and peace, and we are a world in desperate need of wisdom, truth, and peace. Understanding is the key, and understanding will never occur without personal experience.

Dave Giaimo, United Kingdom, published 31 August 2006

Hysteria in the Skies - 3

Thank you so much for a rational response to the madness which is encroaching us. I am ashamed of the reactions of my fellow countrymen and sincerely hope that Muslims will understand that most of us do not agree with such reactions either. I have decided that until things change I shall no longer fly. I do not wish to be herded like cattle and forced to buy expensive drinks at the airport or on the plane because I cannot carry a cheaper bottle of water.

I do not believe any of the reasons the British government has told us for such measures, and feel that it is all part of their “divide and rule” tactics which I refuse to accept. In my world “folks are folks” and there is no reason for us not to live together in peace.

Jane Smith, United Kingdom, published 31 August 2006

Hysteria in the Skies - 4

Were the Indians in this particular case innocent victims? Not strangers to Europe, they could not have been unaware of the suspicions their racial identity aroused in other passengers. Then why were they deliberately behaving in a manner that made their fellow passengers nervous? Their love affair with mobile phones was just one of the games they played to make themselves victims. A few lashes on the bottom would have been in order. This is what I feel as an Indian.

C. A. Hussain, Riyadh, published 31 August 2006