Author: Nonie Darwish
Publication: FrontPageMagazine.com
Date: September 14, 2004
URL: http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=15006
Several Arabs were among the terrorists
who recently murdered over 350 people in a Russian school. I'm not surprised.
But how many Arabs in the Middle East even try to connect the dots that
link their current radical culture of Islam to these unspeakable deeds
around the world? They simply do not see the connection, and unfortunately
the world media are not doing their job of informing the Arab world. CNN
clearly believes that being "objective" means never blaming Arab culture
--and supporting Arab views in its delivery of Mid- East news.
Until age 30, I lived as a Muslim
in the Middle East. Horrible news such as that from Russia and other incidents
in the Philippines, India, the Sudan or Pakistan was always covered up
and twisted to portray Muslim terrorists around the world as victims of
terrible discrimination. They were always portrayed as "freedom fighters"
in the minority who needed to rise against the majority Christian or non-Muslim
populations in their midst. The larger picture in these countries and the
reasons behind the turmoil were never explained in any other way. I will
never forget the prayers that many gave in support of minority Muslims
all over the world who were believed to be the frontier for Jihad in spreading
Islam to the "lost" world around them, Dar-el-Harb -- the land of war,
to be conquered by the sword.
I once had a guest from Egypt in
my home. He was the kindest, most wonderful man you will ever meet. While
watching Chechnyan rebels on TV, I saw him cry and pray for their success
against the Soviet Union. Praying for killing has never seemed holy to
me.
The world has been watching Arab
terrorism grow with little international outcry for half a century. I saw
many men and women in my culture of origin turned into robotic monsters
with a wish to destroy life on Earth to get into heaven. Many believed
their hatred was against only Israel and its interests and therefore ignored
it.
The world and its lazy media continue,
like ostriches, to stick their heads in the sand, and even after 9/11,
the U.N. and many in the West still find excuses for terrorism. The Arabs'
best friends, the French, even thought they would get special treatment
from terrorists by selling out the U.S. and supporting Saddam Hussein.
But to the terrorists the French were just temporary friends until the
right time came to strike. One enemy at a time.
Where are Muslim demonstrations
against terror? All I noticed in the Arab world after 9/11 were celebrations.
The very few courageous Arab writers who think and speak independently
are often attacked and terrorized for their views, accused of being puppets
of the Zionists. Apparently, standing strong against terrorism and for
reformations in the Muslim world is viewed as a "Zionist" conspiracy no
matter how heinous the murders carried out by militant Islamists.
Since 1967 there have been thousands
of Arab terrorist attacks. There has been only one Israeli terrorist attack
against Arabs, by a crazy man who was condemned by almost all Israeli citizens,
and the Israeli government never tried the Arabs who beat the attacker
to death after he surrendered. Yet I hear apologists for terrorism here
cite that one incident as justification for the thousands of terrorist
attacks against Israel and the U.S. over the years.
Even worse, how many resolutions
by the U.N. Commission on Human Rights condemning an Arab country for human
rights violations have ever been proposed or passed? The answer is zero.
But the number of Human Rights Commission resolutions condemning Israel
for human rights violations is 26. Imagine that.
Is there any doubt that the state-sponsored
and culturally encouraged terrorism all over the Middle East perpetrated
by the Arab states is not a violation of human rights? Could it be that
the U.N. is contributing to the problem? When I saw the horror on the faces
of the Russian children, I decided to take a stand against the Islamic
culture of terror I grew up in and the madness resulting from its teachings.
The intense and repetitive teaching of hate produces inhuman robots. Make
no mistake about it: My motivation is out of love for the goodness that
I know exists in the Muslim world and a fervent desire for this goodness
to prevail.
It is time for the world media
and the U.N. to take a serious stand against Islamic terrorism. The U.N.
should immediately issue a strong resolution condemning Muslim terror,
with serious consequences to oil-rich Arab countries that finance terrorism
or teach that terrorists are heroes going to heaven. There must be no "ifs,"
"ands" or "buts" and no diluted language by the international media. The
out-of-control culture in the Middle East needs a wake-up call and a dose
of reality.
I cannot defend the cruel teachings
and hate speech of my culture of origin, and no other Arab with any integrity
should. There is no cause in the world that can justify this insanity.
I lived within it and know what will end it. What is needed immediately
is a united world stand against the Arabs' stagnant and barbaric view of
the world and of themselves. The world must no longer stand by, confused
and equivocal about 9/11 and Islamic terrorism.
Please, America and the good people
of the world, save my Arab culture from itself.
Please.
Ms. Darwish is an American of Arab/Moslem
origin and a former editor and translator. Her e-mail is noniedarwish@hotmail.com
