Thank you, Mr. Glucksmann,
"Have our sages gone crazy? Do they really believe that sans Israeli-Palestinian conflict nothing bad would have happened, neither the deadly Khomeini Revolution, nor the bloody Baathist dictatorships in Syria and Iraq, nor the decade of Islamic terrorism in Algeria, nor the Taliban in Afghanistan, nor the angry warriors of God the world over? The sad, reverse hypothesis is seldom posed, but it is actually much more likely: Every truce along the Jordan is fleeting, as long as the palaces and streets, the majority of the intelligentsia and the officials of the Muslim world hang on to their anti-western passion. "
From the translation of an article by the French philosopher and writer André Glucksmann which first appeared in Figaro on 8 August, 2006.
12 comments:
I've had a "western" upbringing. Go knows i harbor no evil feelings toward the West, but what really gets me is why the USA does not recognize that the Muslim world (which I cannot speak for) actually hates being labeled terrorist. The educated people in both worlds, such as yourselves and ourselves, should at least attempt to remove the prejudices. But the West continues to call everyone in the Middle East a terrorist. That's how George W. Bush became the Muslim world's most hated man.
I say that, if the West had not used 9/11 as an excuse to deal heavy blows to every arab and Muslim, things would have been different. Do not look for the origins of anti-Western sentiment in Islamic doctrine, look for them in Western propaganda.
I don't hate the West. I hate the West's portrayal of me.
I will answer you in more detail later.
However, it's great to have our very won Lebanese correspondent here at RTK.
ONe more indication of what a totally happening blog this is.
Tearfree
nice doing business with you...
waiting for details,
G.M.
Is that really true? Does the West view the entire Muslim world as terrorists? I certainly don't. I know the terrorists are radical extremists who don't speak or act for the vast majority of Muslims.
I think where the West risks pissing off the Muslim world, however, is when they ask pointed and accusatory questions about why the normal, non-extremist Muslim population does not speak up and/or do more to stop the extremists. I don't know whether this is a fair comment or not, because I don't live in that part of the world so I don't know -- do newspaper editorialists, academics, respected public figures in Lebanon, for example -- do they openly and often speak out against terrorists and their methods?
I agree with Jacy. You are punching at a strong man. The West does not call everyone in the Middle East a terrorist. Just the opposite. We are told constantly how all Muslims are not terrorists. We get it. (I also wrote about this at http://byekoolaidmoms.blogspot.com/2006/06/suspicious-minds.html
Nor were westerners looking for an excuse to go beat up on Muslims and Arabs. Again, just the opposite. We quite enjoyed those carefree nineties and pretty much looked the other way despite all the terrorist warnings.
So I think your thesis is fundamentally wrong.
If people think Muslims have a problem with terrorism, it's because of what they've woken up to since 9/11.
And while we know very well that not all Muslims are terrorists we also know that pretty much every terrorist we see these days is a Muslim and we'd like to see Muslims dealing with it and stop making apologies for terrorists.
excellent, you guys. I've been recently wondering if my writing is kind of apologetic. I wonder if i appear to be supporting or defending terrorism. I realize that, for many, supporting hezboolah could be considered terrorist. Yes, these guys do launch rockets into northern israel. I personally have no special feelings for hezbollah. i've seen some really crappy behavior on the political level (not the military one) from these guys, so i would say i lean away from them...
but what upsets me as an Arab is to see other behavior go unnoticed. I'm not attacking israel for the simplistic reason that "Arabs must hate Israel". All that really gets me is that much of Israel's policy toward arab states, particularly lebanon, goes unnoticed.
On a final note, I would like to say that all terrorists have recently been proven to be muslims. Working in the media, i am aware how powerful it is, and how capable it is of creating news rather than reporting news. I just wonder if all these terrorist reprots are true. I'm saying some could be fabricated in order to shape public opinions and affect elections?
to jacy:
yes, lebanese columnists and journalists do call against "terrorism", but they don't refer to it as "terrorism"...they call for the disaramament of hezbollah, but they don't call hezbollah terrorists. The West, whether you like it or not, has the right to label people as terrorists. The arab world cannot affect Western opinion. We cannot tsay, "so and so is a terrorist," and expect the West to believe us.
I'm more fed up with terrorists than anyone!!! Not to mention my stupid burka.
Please, please, please don't do the conspiracy theory thing, Gunpowder Monk.
I was considering you for Commenter of the Week, but abolutely not if you're going to go all conspiracy theorist on us.
I think what Gunpowder is getting at is one person's terrorist is another person's freedom fighter sort of thing. And he has a point. In Lebanon, perhaps it is not viewed as terrorism -- it's viewed as standing up for yourself. It all depends what side you're on.
Once again, i'd like to say that it's easy to dismiss me as a conspiracy theorist. And i hate to defend myself against this accusation in specific. Thank you jacy for your attempt at justifying what i said, but it's not about freedom fighters. I never called Qaeda freedom fighters. I never called suicide bombers in iraq freedom fighters. The logic behind such action is "Scare them enough and they'll back off". But i think that Hezbollah, regardless of its Iranian and Syrian masters, was bent on keeping israel from occupying lebanese land...Hezbollah never actually wanted to dissemble israel, anihilate it or eradicate it. That's Ahmadinejad speak.
Hezbollah doesn't act on a regional or global level, either. it's aim isn't to get liquid explosives on some airplane heading for N.Y.
enough defending, because i know you'll turn it against me. I really like Reject the Koolaid, but she definitely knows how to take everything i say and turn it against me, forcing me to get defensive again.
nice sparring with you.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article14553.htm
Seems i'm not the only conspiracy theorist either...
;)
I am not going to get into a debate about Hezbollah's aims because frankly I don't know enough about them. Suffice it to say that as a general life principle, I don't trust religious fanatics and I especially don't trust religious fanatics with AK 47s on their flags.
Also, it doesn't matter to me how many people believe a conspiracy theory. It's still a conspiracy theory. That book about how no plane crashed into the Pentagon became a bestseller in France. All those numbers show me is that the French are a lot less sophisticated than they like to let on.
And Jacy, as far as I'm concerned freedom fighters don't use terrorist tactics. That's it, that's all. Otherwise, they're not freedom fighters.
Glad you like the sight Gunpowder. Please keep visiting.
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