The arrests in Britain this morning was another reminder of the problems Muslims face from within and without. On one side, there are the Evangelicals, Zionists and Neocons. On the other side stands a group of Muslims who have legitimate grievances but an ideology that is totally incorrect and policies that are completely hypocritical. The two sides are nutrition for the other and at times it seems as if the destruction of both is the only route to security and justice in this world.
From CNN to CNBC, one finds biased and editoriliazing commentators who present the truth as they see it, omit facts and give a very biased view of what is going on. For instance, Anderson Cooper (who would guess he's biased) repeatedly talks of how so many Lebaneese came out in support of Syria's withdrawal and against HizbAllah. Yet he never mentions the larger demonstrations held by HizbAllah where the opposite views were espoused. On MSNBC, Chris Matthews of Hardball and most of the other commentators see fit to call the democratically elected head of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a lunatic/nutjob. They belittle this professor who holds a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry. If he was such a nutjob, why is Iran in the better position right now? Why is it that nothing has really been done to them? He can't be that stupid or crazed.
It seems that the Western media and all the so-called pundits have a pro-Israel, anti-Islam slant that is neither justified nor warranted. What has friendship with Israel given to the West except terror and hatred from others. Every day, the US taxpayers give Israel 15 million dollars of money that they do not have to account for and are free to use in any way they want (something that other aid receiving nations can only dream of). I can say with a clear conscience that if the US did not support Israel, merely stayed out of the entire problem both diplomatically and materially, Al Qaeda and all the other terrorist networks would have no base from which to draw human and financial support. Terror problem solved.
And by the way, our own President called the Muslim combatants "fascists" today. He and his conservative brethren have been trying for many years now to paint the battle as one against a group of people with a violent and completely warped ideology and set of goals. I don't necesarily disagree. But when will he call Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Rick Santorum and every other maniacal Evangelical/Neocon fascist as well? They too seek violence so as to bring about Armageddon and believe that we must support Israel b/c they are battling Satan. These people are just as evil and deserving of a good prison spell as the people arrested today. Their methods may be different, but their goals are the same.
On the other hand, there are millions of Muslimeen who support the indiscriminate killing of people in defense of Muslim causes and land. It is truly hypocritical that British born and raised Muslims sought to kill people on a plane over the Atlantic. These same people protest and justify their actions by citing the killing of our children, women and parents in Iraq, Kashmir, Palestine, etc. How does killing someone else's children and wife make up for the original legitimate injustice? It doesn't! Many 'ulama and regular Muslims justify suicide bombings in a similar way. They say that if they had F-16s and Merkava tanks, they would use them instead of their children. While I don't doubt this, there is a great deal of Islaamic literature from major scholars that refute the idea that it is ok to deliberately kill oneself as suicide bombers do. Now, I am not passing judgement on these people. May Allah have mercy on them. But what I will say is that no child or grandmother is a legitimate target and we transgress the bounds that Allah has set for us by attacking them. If we believe in an afterlife, and believe in a Day of Judgement, then we should not become so desperate in our suffering that we cross the ahkam of Allah.
More to come later on insha'Allah.
