Take the cause out of it and terrorism will die naturally

Deperate Palestinian youth. PHOTO: AFP

It is more proper and precise to add "that these are abominably sinful acts of erring Muslims". For every crime, however repugnant it is, has a cause. Life is precious. One can rightly want to know what is that driving force or the sense of desperation working furiously in the minds of the suicide bombers to sacrifice their lives in perpetrating such vicious acts of manslaughter. And in such great numbers, and with such regularity against worldwide vigilance. The facts show that the Arab Muslims are the principal perpetrators of major acts of terrorism in and outside the Arab world. It also raises the question that why a region so rich in resources and ethnically so homogenous should become the theatre of perennial bloodletting, warfare and lately foreign occupation.

Unlike the Arab world, the internecine trouble in Afghanistan is tribal in nature that raised its head as a legacy of Soviet occupation. Afghanistan had no ground to be linked to international terrorism till Osama relocated his base there. The backlash of twin tower bombing made it a beleaguered country. There is no sign of respite for Afghanistan although Hamid Karzai is enthroned in the confines of Kabul. As for Osama, even the 21st century weaponry of US could not yet flush him out.

Now that the Talibans have also been antagonised beyond repair Afghanistan under the shadow of Osama would continue to haunt the western world. It is equally a matter to ponder why an Osama, a prince of a person in matters of wealth would abandon the life of comfort and convenience to wander in the heights of the ragged tribal terrains of Pak-Afghan border. It may be sheer zealotry; fanaticism or obscurantism but there is definitely a cause that propelled him to become the 'turbaned terror'.

The servile attitude of the Muslim rulers to the diktats of US and the free rein it gave to the tyranny of Israel in Palestine prompted Osama to take the war to US. Saddam of Iraq can be demonised for all sorts of atrocities committed against his own people. But he was a scourge for the Islamic militants and was a secular ruler building Arab nationalism.

It is saddening that in its simplest term the action of its allies and US in sending troops to oust Saddam's regime on the pretext of destroying WMD is a violation of state sovereignty and territorial integrity. Iraq as a sovereign state has been compromised. Its social compact has broken down with the major ethnic groups jockeying for greater share of power. And the hitherto minor ruling group, the Sunnites, are waging pitched battles and committing waves of suicide bombings splattering everyday of Iraq with the blood of innocent countrymen.

Democracy and liberation from the tyranny of Saddam look so incongruous to ordinary Iraqis in the tragedy of everyday killing marking the presence of US and allied troops. It is over two years since Saddam was toppled and today even the constitutional process looks grounded and this senseless killings look to have come for a long time.

Palestine is the mother of all problems. It is painful that after six major wars in 1948, 1956, 1967, 1973, 1991and in 2003 that only added to the woes of the Palestinians and Arabs, ended up with a 'Road Map' that is not making any headway. However, whatever little Ariel Sharon is doing in Gaza strip is a giant leap considering his hawkish past.

An understanding is growing stronger that the Muslims and the Jews, more precisely the Arab Muslims and the Jews are eternal enemies. In furtherance of this belief it is further propagated that the Muslims and naturally the ordinary Arab Muslims also hold America as their principal enemy for its sponsorship of Israel. Woefully the dour look of revered Ayatullah in castigating the US leadership along with the twin tower carnage only helped the demonic characterisation of Muslims to settle deeper in American psyche and also to some extent in the western world. But the realities over the centuries till the shipload arrival of Zionist immigrants in Palestine in the beginning of last 20th century, that increased after Balfour Declaration, speak to the contrary.

History speaks of Jewish people originating from Mesopotamia and settling in Canaan and parts of Transjordan between 1800 and 1500 B.C. Their persecution started with the Babylonian conquest of Judea around 586 B.C. The conquerers exiled a great number of them and thus the first Diaspora of the Jewish people started.

Palestine became a Roman protectorate when the Romans conquered it in support of King Herod. As the Jewish population became restive Roman rulers mercilessly put down Jewish revolts in about AD 70 and AD 132. In AD 135, the Romans drove the Jews out of Jerusalem. With the rise of Christianity under the Byzantine Empire the Jewish people gradually converted to become Christians. When Jerusalem fell to Caliph Omar in 632 AD he allowed the Christians and the Jews to live in peace and to practice their religion. In course of time Palestine embraced an Islamic-Arab culture.

In sharp contrast to it the Jewish population was subjected to humiliation and discrimination all over Europe. They had to carry an arm badge or a tablet to mark them out as Jews. The only exception was Moorish Spain where the Jews prospered considerably. It ended with the fall of Moorish Spain and the beginning of the rule of King Ferdinand.

During the decline of Ottoman power in 1880 AD the number of Jewish people in Palestine was 24,000 against an Arab population of 400,000. The first Zionist Congress was held in 1897 AD at Basle, Switzerland under the leadership of Theodore Herzl. It envisioned to form a Jewish Homeland in Palestine populated by Jewish people from Europe and all over the world. This was followed by the arrival of Jewish people in shiploads, never taking into consideration the fate of the Arab people.

By 1914, the total population of Palestine stood at about 700,000. About 615,000 were Arabs, and 85,000 to 100,000 were Jews. Under Sykes-Picot agreement in 1916 the British and the French agreed to the partitioning of Palestine. British Foreign Secretary Sir Arthur Balfour lent support to the Zionist cause by declaring on 17 December 1917. that the British government favourably supports the creation of a homeland in Palestine for the Jewish people protecting the rights of the non-Jewish people. This was British government's response to Jewish American financier Lord Rothschild's request in this matter.

It was also revealed that Russian Jewish émigré scientist Dr. Haim Weisman exerted much influence in the drafting of the text of the declaration by virtue of his position as an eminent scientist helping the British with acetone. In the beginning Sir Balfour offered Uganda as a homeland but Weisman rejected this. Eventually the League of Nations granted trusteeship of Palestine to the British after the fall of Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I. This was formalised in 1922 and the British created 'Agency for Jewish people' that later became the representative body of the Jewish people.

It led to the rise of Jewish terrorist organisations like Haganah, Irgun of which Menahem Begin was a member. Soon there was a substantial Jewish community in Palestine pushing the Arabs into an embattled community and making the job difficult for the British administrators of Palestine. At the end of World War II the stage was set for the partition of Palestine.

The United Nations General Assembly acting on the recommendation of United Nations Special Commission on Palestine UNSCOP adopted a resolution (GA 181) on 29 November 1947 for the partition of Palestine into an Arab state and Jewish state keeping Jerusalem under international supervision. Understandably the Arabs rejected it and the Jews accepted it US President Harry S. Truman was an active supporter of this resolution. A free-for-all engulfed Palestine after the British left.

The Jewish terrorist organisations Haganah, Irgun and Lehi started driving the Arabs from their lands. At the time of partition the Arabs owned about half of the Palestinian land, slightly less than half was 'crown land' and the Jewish Agency owned 8 percent land. There were about 0.6 million Jews and 1.2 Arabs in the land of Palestine during partition.

It gave 57 percent of Palestinian land to the Jewish people who constituted only one third of the total population against two third majority of the Arabs. Thousands of Palestinians were evicted from their homes and started living in tents. The Israelis colluded with UK and France in occupying the Sinai in 1956 to reverse the nationalisation of Suez Canal. UN resolution 997 actively supported by USA asked Israel to withdraw from Sinai.

Unfortunately the Arabs did not learn from it the cost of brinkmanship and were humbled in six-day war in 1967. Subsequently UN Security Council binding resolution 242 called for a negotiated settlement and withdrawal of Israel from occupied territories.

Israel has defied a number of UN resolutions and particularly the Security Council Resolution 242 and continues to hold on to West Bank, Gaza strip and Golan Heights.

There is a genuine ground for indignation against this double standard. By contrast although Security Council resolution 1441 did not authorise the military mission, the US administration went ahead with its allies in sending troops to Iraq and toppled the government, however evil it may be, of a sovereign state.

Coming to London bombing, one should take note that Islam asks its followers to be steadfast in their beliefs but nowhere it supports or condones dastardly tactics of exacting vengeance by taking the life of an innocent in place of the guilty. Islam glorifies sacrificing life in martyrdom but suicide is not acceptable to it. Even a little understanding of Islam tells us that it prefers open and candid engagement of the enemy instead of subversion. The world including the Muslims can therefore with all the heart in it condemn terrorist attacks taking innocent lives.

For the Muslims they have another burden to bear of lamenting the irreligious death of fellow Muslims in suicide bombers. But the west, particularly USA has more to do and have all the powers in the world of ensuring that terrorism dies naturally by taking the cause out of it. Terrorism does not die with the fall of Saddam or by the rout of the Talibans, neither with the capture of Osama nor by breaking the bones of the Palestinians. They are born everyday in the wombs of injustice, in the suppression of rights.

It is deeply saddening that the US which went to war for the emancipation of the Black Americans has allowed itself to be actively engaged with increasing partisanship in sponsoring the injustices which condones the increasing defiance and excesses of the state of Israel, its suppression of the national rights of the Palestinians.

This has placed the Palestinians, the Arabs, the Afghans, the Pakistanis, the Indonesians and the Muslims as an embattled people, as victims of intense and unfair focus of the international media. It is easy for embattled people to fall prey to their anger and desperation. American leadership can play a vital role in bringing an end to this embattled state by addressing the underlying causes of terrorism with fairness and goodwill for all people on the earth. They are a resourceful nation with the whole world as their sphere of influence. The world waits to see whether they have the will for it.

Syed Maqsud Jamil is a freelance writer.