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Politics : Don't Blame Me, I Voted For Kerry -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: lorne who wrote (64690)	7/27/2005 10:01:19 PM
From: lorne	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 81568

Fighting Terrorism: Recommendations of Arab Reformists By: A. Dankowitz* July 28, 2005 memri.org The question of how to fight Islamic terrorism preoccupies many Arab reformists who are working to denounce Islamist thought, to encourage independent and critical thinking, and to establish values of democracy and human rights in the Muslim world. For example, in February 2005, a group of reformists submitted to the U.N. a request that it establish an international court to judge Muslim clerics who incite to violence and bloodshed. The request was examined by the U.N. legal counsel and distributed to the U.N. Security Council. [1] Following the July 7, 2005 London bombings, Arab reformists further expanded their criticism and honed their arguments, not only regarding Muslim extremists, but also regarding the European countries, particularly Britain, which allows extremist activity within its borders in the name of protecting individual rights. They also increased their criticism of the silent Muslim majority and moderate Muslim intellectuals, who capitulate to Islamist pressure and do not speak out decisively against it. The following are some of the recommendations by reformist Arab writers. Europe Must Change its Lenient Treatment of Muslim Extremists One of the most salient reactionsto the bombings was censure of Europe, particularly Britain, for its years-long policy of granting safe haven to Muslim extremists, enabling them to spread their ideas in schools, mosques, and the media, and giving them legal protection – in the name of protecting freedom of expression. Saudi intellectual Mashari Al-Dhaydi, columnist for the London daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, wrote: "The time has come for those who turn a blind eye to notice that the enemies of freedom have, unfortunately, exploited the atmosphere of freedom provided by the European countries, to destroy the foundations of freedom and to strangle any possibility that freedom would be born as a concept, and subsequently as a reality, in Arab and Muslim countries. "They have used [European] freedom to spread religious fanaticism everywhere. People who disseminate the ideological and political platform of bin Laden …are the greatest enemies of the freedom that the European countries defend… "Fundamentalist terrorism knows no borders. Whoever thinks he can be comfortable near a wolf and can turn him into a domestic puppy will be astounded when one day it falls upon his flock. A wolf is a wolf, and can be nothing other than itself…" [2] Abd Al-Rahman Al-Rashed, director-general of the Al-Arabiya TV channel and former editor of the London Arabic-language daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, called for the expulsion of Muslim extremists: "For over 10 years now, I myself and other Arab writers have warned against the dangers of leniency – not tolerance – in handling the extremism that is now spreading like a plague among Muslims in Britain and among those immigrating to Britain. "We were never understood why British authorities gave safe haven to suspicious characters previously involved in crimes of terrorism. Why would Britain grant asylum to Arabs who have been convicted of political crimes or religious extremism, or even sentenced to death?... " The battle we face is against the ideology, as opposed to against the terrorists themselves. The terrorist groups make the most of freedom of speech and movement, as reward [their benefactors] by spreading propaganda among neutral individuals and by frightening their opponents. "Such leniency on behalf of the British government has allowed Arab and Muslim extremists to seek safe haven in Britain, away from their own countries, to the point that the extremists have overcome the moderates… "The time has come for British authorities to be realistic and resolute regarding extremism, before complete chaos is unleashed onto Full article >>> memri.org