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Friday, May 31, 2019
Video: Ramadan in Gaza tainted with destruction
28 May 2019Ramadan in the Gaza Strip is different this year.
The fasting month for Muslims began with Israel’s assault, which killed more than 25 Palestinians.
Many who survived the attacks were left homeless after Israel demolished residential and commercial buildings.
“[The Israeli army] told us that within five or six minutes, not a
single person should be in the building,” Majdi Dughmush told The
Electronic Intifada. His home was destroyed during the attack on the Abu
Qamar building in the Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City on 5 May.
“People were barely able to leave and alert each other to leave.”
“The joy of Ramadan is gone, the bombing left a huge impact,” Muhammad
Zayda, another resident of Abu Qamar, told The Electronic Intifada.
“We had bought everything for Ramadan and it was all destroyed at the same time.”
Still, Palestinians in Gaza insist on resisting Israeli oppression by celebrating the arrival of Ramadan.
“We will celebrate Ramadan the way we do every year, with our religious
tradition, with our customs,” said Ahmad al-Jaouni, who sells qatayif –
cheese or nut-filled pastries traditionally eaten during the month.
“The Palestinian people were born amid challenges, born to challenge difficulties. We will overcome and victory is ours.”
Video by Ruwaida Amer and Sanad Ltefa.
Israel Is at Peace (With Itself)
The country can’t form a government, its peace process is permanently stalled—and things have never been better.
Israelis celebrate Jerusalem Day in Jeruslam's Old City on May 13, 2018. MEHAHEM KAHANA/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
BY STEVEN A. COOK
|
When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a
government on Wednesday, you could hear a collective groan from all 8.7
million Israelis at the thought of having to endure another election
campaign this fall. But the exasperation was quick to dissipate.
Israelis—at least Jewish Israelis—are at peace with themselves and aware
they are enjoying an unreservedly good moment. “It could be worse,”
declared a former Israeli official as we sipped coffee on a spectacular
May evening overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem’s Jaffa Gate.The country is clearly on a roll. Israel ranks as the 13th-happiest country in the world, its economy is steady at 4 percent unemployment, no one is afraid to board a bus, the tourists keep coming, relations with its neighbors are mostly good and growing, and no one (outside of the government) much cares about the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement. On that May evening, one would have never known by the crowds on the beach south of Tel Aviv that Hamas and other extremist groups had recently poured rocket fire into Israel from Gaza or that the U.S. national security advisor was threatening war with Iran. The rockets had stopped, there was no war, and so things were good. They certainly “could be worse.”
Among the many benefits of personally visiting a given country is the chance to take all the chatter currently in circulation about it before separating the nonsense from the relevant parts. This is especially true in Israel’s case given the distortions and even outright lies that have become accepted facts about the country. The Israelis have a lot to answer for, including their slow-rolling, 52-year-long annexation of the West Bank; the terrible conditions they’ve allowed to fester in the Gaza Strip; and the so-called corporate Mossad that is doing everything from running hit squads for hire in Yemen to providing spyware to unsavory governments around the world. But Israelis do not harvest the organs of Palestinian prisoners, and they are not responsible for police brutality in the United States. On most of the crucial issues of the day, Israelis simply do not conform to much of the most widely prevalent reporting, analysis, and caricatures, both good and bad.
Now that the Israelis find themselves again waiting for a new government, the peace plan prepared by White House staffer Jared Kushner (if it even exists) will itself have to wait until at least September for its rollout. But the whole thing barely rates a mention among Israelis. They seem to be more interested in chatting about Israel’s domestic political dramas. Mostly they do not seem to care about foreign efforts to forge peace, because it has become an article of faith that the Palestinians cannot, will not, and do not want to negotiate in good faith. That there is “no partner” sounds like an excuse, especially because Palestinian security forces have worked hard to maintain security, but it speaks to the searing experience of the Second Intifada that ended almost 15 years ago.
The Israelis have managed to use technology, territory, power politics, and the success of Israel’s economy to minimize the pain to themselves of occupation. The one thing that the Palestinians can do that would make a difference is something they emphatically will not do: shut down the Palestinian Authority and make the Israelis pay an actual price for their occupation and annexation. Under these circumstances, the Israeli attitude seems to be, “Let Jared Kushner try to sell his plan—we have better things to do.”
If Israelis are feeling any sort of worry right now it’s over Iran—or rather, U.S. President Donald Trump’s Iran policy. Israel has always been a sort of regional Sparta—heavily militarized with steely national security focus—but it has also been more cautious than anyone gives it credit for. After years of sounding the alarms, raising red flags, and otherwise trying to get the attention of just about everyone concerning Iran—efforts that were almost always interpreted as warmongering—the Israelis are pleased that Trump understands the challenge the Iranians pose and like the squeeze Washington is putting on Tehran. That is a long way away from wanting war, however. The Israelis I met were worried about the price they and their kids would pay in the event of a conflict between the United States and Iran. No one believed National Security Advisor John Bolton’s saber-rattling was wise, and they certainly did not want it to be at their behest. Their lives were good, after all. Deterring the Iranians, like what the IDF has been doing in Syria, seems to be their preferred policy, particularly because the Iranian response has been weak.
If not for Netanyahu’s legal troubles, he likely would have won April’s election in a landslide. Netanyahu tends to frame all discussion of politics among Israelis. That makes sense given how long he has been prime minister, but it also speaks to how dominant he and the right have become. The coalition of former generals (plus one TV anchor) known as Blue and White is not an opposition in terms of its conservative approach to policy, but rather personality. Taken together, Netanyahu has already won half the battle.
Between now and September a lot of smart analysts will game out the Israeli elections and inform their readers and listeners of all the different ways in which Netanyahu is vulnerable. But upon the dissolution of the Knesset, an Israeli interlocutor—someone who dislikes the prime minister—sent me a message saying he cannot be hopeful for a different outcome. That is because Netanyahu, for all his faults both real and perceived, has kept Israel prosperous and safe. And that is what Israelis seem to care about most and why heading into a long, hot summer of crazy politics and electioneering, the prime minister continues to have the electoral edge. If Netanyahu is interested in a new campaign slogan, he’d be smart to consider: It could be worse.
Pakistani army general given life sentence on spying charges
MAY 30, 2019ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan’s army has sentenced a general to life imprisonment for spying and ordered the death penalty for a brigadier and a civilian officer convicted in the same case, a military statement said on Thursday.
Following a closed-door military trial, army chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa endorsed the sentences on the three for “espionage (and) leaking sensitive information to foreign agencies in detriment to national security,” the statement said.
The army did not give further details about the information that was allegedly leaked by the three men or say to whom it was disclosed. It was not clear if the two military officers had already retired from service before the case against them began.
Pakistan’s army has its own laws and courts, and military officers accused of wrongdoing are always tried behind closed doors. Rulings can only be challenged or reviews in accordance with military procedures.
Syria: At least 7 killed in Idlib as Turkey urges Russia to broker a ceasefire
Government bombings in Idlib province have killed 229 civilians since 28 April (Reuters/File photo)
MEE and agencies-30 May 2019
Syrian air strikes on a militant-held enclave in northwest Syria have
killed at least seven civilians, a UK-based war monitor said, as the
death toll amid a wave of government attacks continues to mount.
The bombings on Thursday killed five civilians in the town of Maaret
al-Numan on the western edge of Idlib province, said Rami Abdel Rahman
of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, as reported by AFP.
A photographer with the news agency reported that air strikes hit a
residential area, collapsing a building and killing some of those
inside.
The body of a victim could be seen still in bed as rescue workers
struggled to reach survivors trapped under the rubble, the AFP
photographer said.
Russia and Turkey brokered a ceasefire deal in September to avert a
government assault on Idlib that threatened to spark the worst
humanitarian disaster of the eight-year war.
On Thursday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his Russian
counterpart Vladimir Putin that the ceasefire must be implemented to
prevent more civilian deaths and an influx of refugees to Turkey, a
statement from Erdogan's office said.
Erdogan told Putin over the phone that Syria needed a political solution, the statement added, as cited by Reuters news agency.
The Syrian government and its ally Russia have pummelled Idlib province and nearby areas over the past month.
The bombardments have killed 229 civilians, wounded 727 others and
forced more than 300,000 people to flee since 28 April, according to the
Union of Medical Care and Relief Organisations (UOSSM), which provides
assistance to health facilities.
Idlib province, as well as some surrounding areas, is mostly under the
control of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a group dominated by former members of
al-Qaeda's Syria affiliate.
Two weeks ago, the World Health Organization said that at least 18 different health facilities in Idlib had been attacked.
Despite the surge in violence, the Syrian government has not announced
an all-out offensive to retake the entire enclave. The conflict in Syria
has killed more than 370,000 people since it started in 2011.
Palestinians to be sacrificed for Israel-Gulf marriage
King
Hamad of Bahrain and the Trump administration are planning an economic
summit with Israel in Manama that Palestinians see as part of an effort
to liquidate their rights. (Wikimedia commons)
Ties between Gulf states, led by Saudi Arabia,
and Israel are warmer than ever as the United States beats its war
drums against Iran and prepares to reveal its so-called “Deal of the
Century.”
President Donald Trump last pulled the US out of the Iran nuclear agreement, recently sent some 1,500 troops to the region and is imposing “tougher sanctions on Iran than ever before.”
This economic and political warfare is part of an escalating regime
change effort led by the US, Israel and Gulf states following a
Saudi-led campaign against Iran that spans more than a decade.
Palestinians are to be the sacrificial lambs at the Israel-Gulf wedding, as United Arab Emirates businessman Khalaf Al Habtoor made clear Wednesday in an op-ed in Israel’s Haaretz newspaper.
Al Habtoor, who has been at the forefront of normalization efforts with Israel, urged Palestinians to attend the Trump administration’s planned economic conference in Bahrain next month.
“I long for the day when Israel and Arab states, in particular Gulf
States, are able to normalize diplomatic and trade relations as Egypt
and Jordan have done,” Al Habtoor writes, adding that “all share a
common enemy”: Iran.
Al Habtoor characterizes Iran as an “existential threat,” and asserts that closer ties with Israel are the solution.
“However, normalization requires a satisfactory resolution to the
Palestinian-Israeli conflict – or, at the very least, for tensions to be
reduced,” Al Habtoor explains. “Once achieved, we will be well placed
to halt Tehran’s belligerent adventurism in its tracks.”
“Satisfactory” in this case does not mean satisfactory to Palestinians,
but rather to Israel and its allies; the entire Palestinian body
politic, including the Palestinian Authority, are refusing to
participate in a summit they see as integral to the Trump
administration’s effort to liquidate their rights.
While Trump claims that the US is not seeking regime change in Iran, but rather “no nuclear weapons,” Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif challenged the assertion, calling US sanctions a form of “economic terrorism.”
Ayatollah @khamenei_ir long ago said we're not seeking nuclear weapons—by issuing a fatwa (edict) banning them.#B_Team's #EconomicTerrorism is hurting the Iranian people & causing tension in the region. Actions—not words—will show whether or not that's @realDonaldTrump's intent
Convincing the regional public that Iran is indeed a dangerous enemy is
integral to Israeli, American and Gulf regime common interests.
“Since 2004, the Arab people have been subjected to an unprecedented
chauvinistic campaign, which accuses Iran and Shiites of being the main
enemy of all Arabs and that they, not Israel, deserve the anger and
hatred of the Arabs,” Columbia University professor Joseph Massad writes this week in Lebanon’s Al-Akhbar.
“Fifteen years after its launch, this campaign has cost hundreds of
thousands of Iraqi, Lebanese, Syrian and Yemeni victims who have been
sacrificed on the altar of oil families,” Massad adds.
“Today, it is demanded of the Palestinian people that all their rights
be renounced as a price to be paid to preserve their thrones.”
Manama conference
As Trump and his allies escalate their assault on Iran, they are also
planning to launch the economic component of his administration’s
so-called Deal of the Century between Israel and the Palestinians at a conference in the Bahraini capital Manama on 25 and 26 June.
Bahrain, whose King Hamad has given Israel and its lobby a warm embrace, is a natural choice for a venue.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar have reportedly confirmed their attendance.
That Qatar – which has been totally isolated and blockaded by
Saudi Arabia and the UAE over the last two years – is attending, is a
sign of how obedience to Washington, and by extension to Israel, is a
common interest even among the most antagonistic Gulf regimes.
Since the Saudi-led blockade began, Qatar has been competing with its
Gulf rivals for US affections, and like those rivals it views cultivating the support of Israel and its lobby as the fastest route to Washington’s heart.
In a sign of rapprochement, Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz invited Qatari ruler Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to two Arab summits in Mecca this week.
Palestinian rejection of Trump deal
Even the Palestinian Authority, which normally cooperates closely with Israel, is refusing to go along with the Trump administration’s plans.
“Trump’s ‘Deal of the Century’ will go to hell, as will the economic
workshop in Bahrain that the Americans intend to hold and present
illusions,” PA leader Mahmoud Abbas said earlier this week.
China and Russia will also be boycotting the conference, according to a PA official.
It is unclear, however, whether Jordan plans to attend.
Jared Kushner, son-in-law and senior adviser to Trump, will meet with Jordan’s King Abdullah on Wednesday, likely to pressure Jordan to attend the Manama meeting.
Moshe Kahlon, Israel’s finance minister, is expected to head the Israeli delegation to Bahrain.
The Trump administration is evidently trying to co-opt individual Palestinians into the normalization effort.
Palestinian businessman Abed Alkarim Ashour said on Facebook that he received an invitation from “the Americans and our brothers in Bahrain” who “seek to sell Palestine for a few dollars.”
He posted an image of a letter addressed to him from Steven Mnuchin, the
US treasury secretary, inviting him to the so-called Peace to
Prosperity workshop.
“You have sent the invitation to the wrong person and the wrong address,” Ashour added.
Opposition is also coming from within the host state.
The Bahraini Society Against Normalization with the Zionist Enemy asserted its
rejection of the Manama meeting and called “on the Bahraini government
to cancel this workshop, whose objectives include deepening
normalization with the Zionist entity and cementing its alliances with
some Arab regimes.”
Iranian judo set to normalize?
Despite Israel’s escalating animosity against their country, Iranian
judo athletes will apparently no longer boycott their Israeli
counterparts.
An agreement was
reached between the International Judo Federation and Iran’s national
Olympic committee earlier this month, conceding that the latter will
“fully respect the Olympic Charter and its non-discrimination
principle.”
The statement does not name Israel, but the move was understood by Israeli media as a response to Iranian judokas’ refusal to fight Israeli athletes and to forfeit matches instead.
Previously, Israeli culture minister Miri Regev extensively lobbied the president of the International Judo Federation, Marius Vizer, to exclude the UAE and Tunisia from judo events until they complied with normalization requirements.
Ali Abunimah contributed reporting.
7 dead, 21 missing after tour boat sinks in Hungary
A Hungarian army boat passes under Margit Bridge in Budapest as rescue efforts continued Thursday following a ship accident. (Bernadett Szabo/Reuters)
The Associated Press ·
Rescue workers scoured the Danube River in downtown Budapest on Thursday
for 21 people missing after a sightseeing boat carrying South Korean
tourists sank in a collision with a larger cruise ship during an evening
downpour.
Seven people have been confirmed dead and seven have been rescued,
Hungarian officials said. Police have launched a criminal investigation.
The South Korea-based Very Good Tour agency, which organized the trip,
said the boat was on its way back after an hourlong night tour on
Wednesday evening when the collision happened.
Nineteen South Koreans and two Hungarian crew members are missing. The
tour party had consisted of 30 tourists, two guides and a photographer
on a package tour of Europe. Pal Gyorfi, spokesperson for the National
Ambulance Service, said those rescued were hospitalized in stable
condition.
The sunken boat was located early Thursday near the Margit Bridge, not
far from the neo-Gothic parliament building on the riverbank.
Police Col. Adrian Pal said the boat turned on its side and sank in
about seven seconds. He said rescue operations were hampered by the rain
and the fast flow of the rising Danube. The search for the 21 missing
extended far downstream, even into Serbia, where the Danube goes after
leaving Hungary.
The river, which is 450 metres wide at the point of the accident, was
fast flowing and rising as heavy rain continued in the city. Water
temperatures were about 10 to 12 C.
Major search effort
Earlier, the news website Index.hu said one of those rescued was found
near the Petofi Bridge, which is about three kilometres south of
parliament.
Dozens of rescue personnel, including from the military and divers, were
involved in the search. Employees from the South Korean Embassy in
Budapest were assisting Hungarian officials in identifying those rescued
and the deceased.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in instructed officials to employ "all
available resources" to support the rescue efforts in Hungary. Moon's
spokesperson, Ko Min-jung, said in Seoul that Moon also ordered the
launch of a government task force led by Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha
and for officials to maintain close communication with the family
members of the South Korean passengers.
A team of South Korean officials left for Hungary on Thursday to assist
with the rescue operations and support passengers and their families.
Kang was also to travel to Hungary.
The ministry in a briefing Thursday said that the Seoul government will
closely cooperate with Hungarian officials so that the rescue efforts
can proceed swiftly and effectively. It said the tourists were not
wearing life jackets.
The Very Good Tour agency said the tourists left South Korea on May 25 and were supposed to return June 1.
Most of them were family groups, and they included a six-year-old girl.
Her status wasn't immediately clear but she didn't appear on a list of
survivors provided by the tour agency.
Senior agency official Lee Sang-moo disclosed the identities of the
seven rescued South Koreans — six women and one man, aged between 31 and
66. The company is arranging for family members of the tourists to
travel to Hungary as soon as possible.
The boat that sank was identified as the Hableany (Mermaid), which is
described on the sightseeing company's website as "one of the smallest
members of the fleet." It has two decks and a capacity for 60 people, or
45 for sightseeing cruises.
Mihaly Toth, a spokesperson for the Panorama Deck boating company, said
the Hableany was on a "routine city sightseeing trip" when the accident
happened. He told state television that he had no information about any
technical problems with the boat, which he said was serviced regularly.
Hajoregiszter.hu, a local ship-tracking website, lists the Hableany as
having been built in 1949 in what was then the Soviet Union.
The Margit Bridge connects the two halves of the city, Buda and Pest,
with a large recreational island in the middle of the Danube. It is the
bridge just north of the famous Chain Bridge, a suspension bridge
originally built in the 19th century that, like the Parliament, is a
major tourist draw in the heart of the city.
The river flows south, meaning that survivors were likely to be swept through the well-populated, historic part of the city.
Index.hu reported that other riverboats shined spotlights into the water
to aid with the search, and that a film crew operating on the Liberty
Bridge farther down the river directed its lighting equipment toward the
Danube to assist.
Budapest has enjoyed a boom in overseas tourism in recent years.
Long-haul flights from as far away as Dubai and Beijing increasingly fly
visitors from Asia and the Middle East to the Hungarian capital, a
relatively affordable but history-rich European destination.
Wanted Burma firebrand abbot ‘not afraid’ of arrest
Buddhist monk Ashin Wirathu looks on as he attends a convention held by
the Bodu Bala Sena (Buddhist Power Force, BBS) in Colombo September 28,
2014. Source: Reuters/Dinuka Liyanawatte
@AsCorrespondent-2019-05-30
AN ultra-nationalist monk dubbed the “Buddhist Bin Laden” for his
anti-Muslim vitriol said Wednesday he was not afraid of arrest as police
pursued him on charges of stirring up unrest.
Wirathu has long been the face of the country’s hardline Buddhist
movement, notorious for espousing hate against Islam and particularly
the long-persecuted Rohingya minority.
A court issued an arrest warrant for the abbot late Tuesday under
article 124(a), which targets anyone who “excites or attempts to excite
disaffection towards the Government”.
Wirathu told local media by phone Wednesday he was in Yangon, but said the police had not yet come for him.
“If they want to arrest me, they can do it,” the Irrawaddy newspaper quoted him as saying. “I’m not afraid.”
The exact reasons behind the warrant have not been clarified but the
rabble-rousing monk has recently given several provocative speeches at
nationalist rallies.
In April, he took aim at the country’s civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
“She just dresses up like a fashionista, wears makeup and walks around
in stylish, high-heeled shoes, shaking her ass at foreigners,” he told a
cheering crowd.
At another rally in Yangon, he caused widespread offence by saying
“soldiers protecting the country should be worshipped like Buddha”.
He has also upset the country’s highest Buddhist authority, the State
Sangha Maha Nayaka — a state-appointed body of high-ranking monks that
oversees the clergy across the Buddhist-majority country.
Last week, the council summoned him for a disciplinary hearing Thursday
over his “involvement with social affairs during a rally” — but
announced Wednesday this had been postponed due to “current events”.
‘Face of Buddhist Terror’
Wirathu is no stranger to jail.
He was sentenced in 2003 to 25 years behind bars under the former
military junta on charges including preaching extremism and distributing
banned books.
As the country opened up, he was released in 2012 alongside several thousand political prisoners.
He immediately returned to his hardline preachings, calling for boycotts
of Muslim-owned businesses and restrictions on interfaith marriages.
The abbot appeared on the cover of “Time” magazine as “The Face of Buddhist Terror” in 2013.
In 2015 he called United Nations special envoy Yanghee Lee a “whore”.
The Buddhist authority had previously prohibited him from speaking in
public for a year after he delivered “hate speech against religions” —
but the ban expired in March last year.
Facebook blacklisted him in January 2018 after a string of incendiary posts targeting the Rohingya.
Rights groups say these helped whip up animosity towards the Muslim
minority, laying foundations for a military crackdown in 2017 that
forced some 740,000 to flee to Bangladesh.
Like many in Burma, Wirathu pejoratively refers to Rohingya as “Bengali”, implying they are illegal immigrants.
Refugees’ testimonies of mass killings, rapes and arson spurred UN
investigators to call for the prosecution of top generals for “genocide”
and the International Criminal Court is conducting a preliminary probe.
“The day the ICC comes here… is the day Wirathu holds a gun,” he told a rally last October.
© Agence France-Presse
Responsibility Of ‘Moderate’ Muslims
They may not represent the Islam that moderate Muslims know and follow, but their actions are inspired by their own version or interpretation of it.
by Rafiullah Kakar-2019-05-30
The Easter bombings in Sri Lanka once again turned a spotlight on the
challenge of global jihad, terrorism and Islamophobia. Muslim scholars
and community leaders from across the world have condemned the attack,
dissociated themselves from the perpetrators and defended Islam as a
religion of peace.
Many Muslims are constantly feeling like they need to apologise. Still,
they continue to face a backlash and stereotyping of their community.
The fear of reprisals combined with growing Islamophobia compels Muslims
to insist that these acts have nothing to do with their faith. This
urge to separate religion from the violence committed in its name is
well intentioned and understandable, yet counterproductive.
It is true that these terrorists do not represent the overwhelming
majority of Muslims, who oppose terrorist groups like the militant
Islamic State (ISIS), the Taliban, and Al Qaeda. However, it does not
necessarily mean that they have nothing to do with religion. They may
not represent the Islam that moderate Muslims know and follow, but their
actions are inspired by their own version or interpretation of it.
Here, it is worth emphasising that, as a Muslim, I strongly believe that
the Muslim belief is no more “violent” than those of other religions.
Neither is religion the only cause of such violence. Instead, violent
extremism is a complex phenomenon with multiple driving factors
including injustice, identity crisis, extremist ideologies, and
socioeconomic reasons. Their salience varies across time and space.
There is no clear profile or single causal pathway that can define the
process of radicalisation. There is also no denying that colonialism,
Western military interventions in Muslim countries and support to
authoritarian Muslim rulers have played a role in the rise of Islamic
extremists and militants in the Muslim world. To summarise, it is often a
combination of politics and extremist interpretations of Islam that
produces the vitriolic narrative and rampage that most Muslim countries
face today.
The problem is that while Muslims almost always talk about the politics
that creates terrorism, and rightly so, they are reluctant to discuss
the role of radicalised interpretations in inspiring terrorist violence.
In Muslim-majority countries, a small segment of Muslims do recognise
the challenge posed by radical interpretations of religion and disputes a
literalist reading advocated by fundamentalists. Quranic verses, they
argue, are often misinterpreted and quoted out of context. There are,
however, two points which must be considered in the debate.
First, these debates are restricted to the drawing rooms and private
gatherings of a tiny liberal, secular and left-leaning class that is
often insulated from the rest of society which is generally
conservative. Publicly, most Muslims are reluctant to openly engage in a
debate regarding religion. Those who do so often pay a huge price.
Second, the lack of an authoritative hierarchy in doctrinal
interpretation means that any Muslim can interpret religion the way he
or she likes. While making Islam more egalitarian and democratic, this
also makes it easier for extremists to promulgate their literal
interpretations despite opposition by a large majority of Muslim clerics
and scholars.
Moderate Muslims cannot be blamed for not engaging in open public debate
because most Muslim countries lack the environment required for
discussing sensitive issues. The countries where there is space for
critical debates are the relatively advanced democracies of the
developed world. However, in almost all such countries, Muslims are also
a minority and often the victims of hatred and prejudice inspired by
Islamophobia. Consequently, conscious of their minority status, moderate
and liberal Muslims in these countries hold back their views on
religion for fear of being seen as abettors of Islamophobia.
The rise of right-wing nationalism in Europe and America has only
reinforced their concerns. Diaspora Muslims fear that even pointing out
that militancy might have something to do with a certain interpretation
will feed into Islamophobia. The nuance about particular
interpretations, the argument goes on, would gradually disappear in the
public debate and Islam as a religion and Muslims as a group would be
criticised. These are legitimate concerns and it is, therefore, not
surprising that diaspora Muslims scholars and intellectuals are at the
forefront of the “IS-has-nothing-to-do-with-religion” school of thought.
The real challenge for Muslims is to be able to have these difficult
conversations in a way that does not lead to more Islamophobia or
buttress the West’s Orientalist and stereotypical view of Islam and the
Muslim world. Moderate Muslims must understand, deconstruct and
delegitimise the extremists’ version of Islam rather than denying the
existence of their interpretation. By denying any link between faith and
the violence carried out in its name, Muslims foreclose all public
debate on different interpretations and help extremist Muslims get away
with their context-less versions.
This denial has given right-wing nationalists in Europe and America an
opportunity to cash in on the growing public unease about Muslims and
their faith. They need to realise that the extremists’ interpretation
can only be countered and discredited publicly if its existence is first
admitted and then actively contested and challenged. This may sound
like a daunting task, but it is the only way moderate Muslims can ensure
that their vision of a more tolerant and inclusive Islam prevails.
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