A friend, who I think is a Moslem, sent me the attached "quick and dirty" translation of an article in
Milliyet by Semih I'diz. He asked for his name not to be published. My response is shown below.
They are Making Life Hell for Moslems
Semih I˙diz sidiz@milliyet.com.tr
Monday, 4 January 2010
First, a Nigerian madman called Ömer Faruk Abdulmuttalib is caught while trying to blow up an American passenger plane. After that, a young man from Somalia, whose name was not disclosed, tries to kill the danish cartoonist Kurt W Estergaard, who caused indignation in the moslem world with his Mohammed cartoons.
Then, life becomes unbearable again for the moslems in the west. There are increased signs that this is not a transitional but a permanent condition. The congregation leaders of millions of moslems living in the west remain spectators while their living space shrinks.
Basic reason is "cultural differences". The aforementioned congregation leaders cannot bring themselves to demonstrate the condemning stance that would satisfy the western public, although they live in the west and share the benefits of doing so.
They limit their reactions to a few "politically required" public statements. When they try to explain the situation by referring to Israel or to the US invasion of Iraq, they only increase the indignation felt against moslems.
We are talking about the psychology of the western society within which millions of moslems are living. The fact that people walking on the streets in the west are killed in the name of Islam cancels out the "explanatory arguments" of the moslem congregation leaders.
Under these circumstances, the "man on the street" in the west, who is not very sophisticated to start with, cannot see the difference between the few madmen misusing religion and the millions of moslems going after their business and who want to live without upsetting anyone.
To summarise, one cannot explain to a Dutch person the killling of Theo Van Gogh in the name of Islam, irrespective of what an unpleasant person he was. One cannot explain the knife-and-axe attack on Westergaard while he was sitting at home with his grandson, even if he was beginning to show extreme right-wing tendencies.
In the meanwhile, we can also see that the aggressive madmen we mentioned are providing the opportunity to the extreme Right in the west for developing its anti-moslem arguments. Indeed, after the attack on Westergaard, calls of "Throw out the moslems that do not adhere to our laws and customs" have immediately started in Denmark.
One also needs to see the minaret referendum in Switzerland in the same framework. Actually, Switzerland is one of the countries in Europe with the least of issues with its moslem minority. In spite of this, the terror being carried out in the world in the name of Islam has caused even the Swiss public to take an anti-moslem stance.
A study carried out recently by the "European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights" disclosed the negative developments in Europe regarding moslems. According to this study, if you are a moslem or you "look like a moslem", your chances of finding a job, moving to certain neighbourhoods or even moving freely within society is becoming increasingly difficult.
Some even see the plans for installing "naked body" scanners in European airports as a result of the attack of the Nigerian madman in the same framework. After a certain point, being naked is not such an issue for a western person. There will be many who will say "I accept it for security".
The situation among moslems is totally different due to the understanding of privacy as well as religious and cultural values. The covering up of women already shows the sensitivity there. According to some voices, once this equipment is in operation, moslems will give up travelling to the west or travelling outside the countries they live in the west.
Thus, the factors of security and control will increase. Those who do not accept these factors will "return to where they came from and remain there". This is the largest consequence from the deeds of the 9/11 criminals, the madmen from Somalia and Nigeria.
They do not contribute to improving the living conditions of moslems in the Gaza Strip or Iraq. Just the opposite, either consciously or intentionally, they play into the hands of the extreme-rightists in Europe, such as Geert Wilders.
To put it in a nutshell, they bring about the conditions for making life hell for moslems in the west.
Hi xxxxx,
Thanks for the article. Thought-provoking reading first thing in the morning! I will think carefully about forwarding it. I think that particularly the point about the full-body scanners at airports (and major rail stations as well, quite possibly - did you know about that?) is well made. I hadn't previously considered their likely impact on members of certain religions, though I don't feel particularly comfortable myself even being "patted down" and wouldn't relish the thought of effectively being inspected without my clothes on.
It isn't only Moslems who are being impacted by the extra "security" measures. They make life more expensive and less convenient for everyone, though possibly to a greater degree for members of certain races and religious minorities in the West. In some ways, this plays into the hands of the extremists. During WWII, the British public was determined not to let the enemy destroy their way of life, so beyond taking a few precautions such as a blackout against bombers, and evacuating children from the big cities, they cheerfully carried on regardless of the war. I think it's time to rediscover that resolve to live proudly according to the values we believe in, keep our eyes and ears open, and take a few risks for the sake of a well-balanced society.
Lutheran theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer wisely warned (in 1934!) that safety and security are mutually exclusive. What he meant was that if nation states entered a race to build up their defences in the name of peace, they would endanger everyone by exposing them to a greater risk of war - and how right he was. We are facing a similar situation today. There is a global threat to civilised society from some sadly deluded religious fanatics. Those who think that the threat can be averted by military means are similarly deluded and similarly threaten civil liberties. Another way must be found. For almost 30 years, the United Kingdom faced fanatical Irish nationalists who were prepared to sacrifice innocent lives on a massive scale to pursue their political ends. It was only when we abandoned our entrenched positions and began to negotiate that an accommodation became possible. It even turned out that at least some of the nationalists were not such odious individuals after all.
Instead of expending prodigious resources in the "war on terror", we should all be pulling together to face common threats, such as climate change and mass extinction of rare species. Also see
this story. Let's hope that the world can come to its senses in the nick of time, as it usually seems to manage. Is that a hopeful message with which to begin the year 2010?
Best regards,
Immo.
