A culture of alienation is growing in the Muslim world, one fed by those who claim to be the defenders of Islam, writes Abdel-Moneim Said* Barely two weeks after the 7 July London underground attacks, bombers tried to strike again, but with less success. Two days later, terrorists hit Sharm El-Sheikh with deadly effect. In all three cases, the attackers are thought to be Muslims. Why is that so? Why would some Muslims want to kill people in London, Sharm El-Sheikh, or anywhere around the world? In our part of the world, there is no shortage of answers. After the usual denunciations are made, some recall that Muslims were wrongly accused of mounting the Oklahoma attacks, before it transpired that the perpetrators were white, non-Muslim Americans. Others may accuse Mossad and the CIA of carrying out the attacks, and proceed to unravel evidence suggesting that Jews did not go out that night. A little while later, when it becomes clear that the victims included Israelis and Americans, some would say that Mossad and the CIA are recruiting terrorists to tarnish the image of Islam and Muslims. Why anyone would feel the need to tarnish Muslims and Islam when opportunities for open hostilities are so ample is anybody's guess. At one point, someone would calmly offer that the violence is due to the frustration felt by young Muslims over the situation in Palestine, Iraq and other areas. This, however, does not explain the fact that Muslims are being killed in great numbers in "jihad" operations against presumed crusaders and Zionists. At which point, someone would volunteer the insight that Arabs and Muslims live in countries that happened to be a battlefront for Al-Qaeda and the West, which does not explain much either. I am not going to waste time on any of the above answers. What puzzles me is why otherwise sane and pious individuals go to metro stations or tourist resorts to take their own lives and shatter those of many others? The majority of people killed and maimed, bereaved and impoverished in these attacks have nothing to do with building settlements in Jerusalem, with the separation wall in the West Bank, or with mayhem in Iraq. Admittedly, the terrorist's mind is one that has been restructured so as to make the killing of ordinary people acceptable. What we have here is a brand of terrorists who are willing to participate in mass killings, not as soldiers defending land and values, but as individuals representing a nation and a faith, as well as a political group. We need to understand what goes on in their minds. We need to comprehend the mind restructuring they've been through. This would be more helpful than just denouncing terror. I have been going through the statements issued by the "mujahideen" groups, and I found their rhetoric to be of interest. Some of the words used in these statements have received enough attention, such as those speaking of "apostates", "Jews", and "crusaders". Other phrases seem to have escaped the notice of most analysts. For example, there is always a claim that Muslims, and only Muslims, are neglected and that no one cares whether they live or die. Muslims, the statements often suggest, are locked in conflict against all other peoples and religions. A statement in which the Al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia claims responsibility for the killing of Egypt's "ambassador of evil" Ihab El-Sherif says: "We have just seen how the entire world went into a fit when a religious court ordered the killing of this apostate, and yet we haven't heard one word uttered about the killing of thousands of women, children and old people in Falluja, Qaem, Karbala and Talaafar... The whole world knows that the good and chaste women are being violated at the prisons of the crusaders and of the Interior Ministry, and yet no one says anything." Needless to say, the international media has been reporting at length any atrocity and barbaric act that came to light, right until such acts are investigated and those responsible tried. International civil society groups have not been silent about crimes. More often than not, they were the ones who told Arabs and Muslims about the atrocities. One may argue that the coverage has not been sufficient or effective, but horrors have always been brought to public notice as soon as they're found out. The claim that horrors happening to Muslims go unnoticed is as common as it is insidious. It is being used to create a mood of alienation, to make Muslims feel alienated from the rest of the world. For example, major Western media, including television networks and magazines such as The Times, Newsweek and The Economist, have all marked the passage of 10 years since the massacre Srebrenica with ample reportage. However, someone has just written an article entitled "Why has everyone forgotten Srebrenica?" in which he thunders, "this was a horrific crime, one kept under wraps just because the victims are Muslims." The writer's claim may be preposterous, but it can turn minds and hearts. If the world is inure to our pain, many would say, why should we worry about killing people in London, Sharm El-Sheikh, or elsewhere? * The writer is director of Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies.
