What They are Thinking, Pt. II
The indispensable Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) (28 July) provides more evidence of Muslim thinkers who believe it is the responsibility of Muslims to control Islamist fascism:
In February, a group of reformists submitted to the UN a request that it establish an international court to judge Muslim clerics who incite to violence and bloodshed. The request was examined by the UN legal counsel and distributed to the Security Council.
The indispensable Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) (28 July) provides more evidence of Muslim thinkers who believe it is the responsibility of Muslims to control Islamist fascism:
In February, a group of reformists submitted to the UN a request that it establish an international court to judge Muslim clerics who incite to violence and bloodshed. The request was examined by the UN legal counsel and distributed to the Security Council.
Saudi intellectual Mashari Al-Dhaydi, columnist for the London daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, wrote that “Europe Must Change its Lenient Treatment of Muslim Extremists.”
Abd Al-Rahman Al-Rashed, director-general of the Al-Arabiya TV called for the expulsion of Muslim extremists. In another article, he singled out the Internet as “the preferred arena for extremists” and called for Internet incitement to be stopped.
In an article in the Saudi daily Al-Jazeerah, columnist Hamad bin Hamad Al-Salami mentioned by name bin Laden supporters residing in Britain who openly expressed their support for Al-Qaeda terrorist operations in the media, including Al-Jazeera TV and in the Arabic daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi.
Egyptian Al-Sharq Al-Awsat columnist Muna Al-Tahawi pointed out that some Arab intellectuals try to please their target audience and say different things in Arabic and in English. Egyptian scholar and columnist Dr. Mamoun Fandy has also focused on Arab intellectuals’ hypocritical approach to terrorism. After the bombings at Sharm Al-Sheikh he called upon Muslims to issue religious edicts [fatwa] against terrorism. Iraqi Majed Al-Gharbawi called for going beyond the issuing of new fatwas against terrorism to form a new, clear-cut religious culture and to expose those who exploit religion for political purposes. Iraqi human rights activist Dr. Kazem Habib said the war on terrorism requires intellectual, political and educational activity.
Jamal Ahmad Khashoggi, former editor of the Saudi daily Al-Watan, called on Muslims to ban suicide operations. Sa’ad Allah Khalil, who writes for reformist websites, joined him in criticizing the Muslim religious establishment.
Max Boot wrote in The Los Angeles Times on 27 July that the Pew Global Attitudes Project has found broadly declining support for suicide bombings (except, “in Jordan, with its large anti-Israeli Palestinian population.”) and Osama Bin Laden. It is coupled with “large and growing majorities in Morocco (83 percent), Lebanon (83 percent), Jordan (80 percent) and Indonesia (77 percent) – as well as pluralities in Turkey (48 percent) and Pakistan (43 percent) – [that] say democracy can work well and is not just for the West.” And lo and behold, the percentage of people holding a favorable impression of the United States increased in Indonesia (+23 points), Lebanon (+15), Pakistan (+2) and Jordan (+16). It also went up in such non-Muslim nations as France, Germany, Russia and India. More than half of Jordanians and 2/3 of Indonesians think the U.S. favors democracy in their country.
The game surely isn’t over yet, but Boot’s conclusion is ours: “At least there are some signs that the battle for hearts and minds in the Islamic world is far from hopeless.”