Muslim discontent
Al-Qaida types did not just spring from the soil of Islam; they were fertilized by decades of shortsighted U.S. policies, argues civil rights lawyer KAMRAN MEMON
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
America, which has a long history in the Muslim world, is at war with a violent, self-proclaimed Islamist movement. As a result, thousands of Americans and Muslims have died in recent years, and thousands more will die.
Just last week, it was reported that the most comprehensive intelligence assessment of the threat to the United States since 9/11 had found that al-Qaida and related groups have grown stronger.
It didn’t have to be this way.
Many Americans believe that American foreign policy toward the Muslim world had nothing to do with 9/11. They argue that al-Qaida would have attacked America even if America had no contact with Muslims because al-Qaida seeks to establish a worldwide caliphate.
It’s true that al-Qaida wants an Islamic caliph to rule the planet, but why does al-Qaida attack powerful Western countries which have intervened in the Muslim world, rather than weaker Western countries which have had neutral relations with Muslims? And why do some Muslims sacrifice their wealth and lives to launch these attacks?
If America had not provided military support over the decades to help keep the Saudi monarchy in power, and if the Saudi people had been permitted to govern themselves, anti-American hostility would not have been widespread in Saudi Arabia today. Instead, a frustrated Saudi Arabia produced Osama bin Ladin and 15 of the 9/11 hijackers. The same is true of American support for Egyptian dictators; Egypt ultimately produced much of bin Ladin’s inner circle and one of the 9/11 hijackers.
If America had not helped overthrow the democratically elected government of Iran in 1953 and replaced it with a pro-American dictator, there probably would have been no Islamic Revolution (and no American hostages) in 1979. Today, it’s entirely possible that a democratic Iran would have been a friend of America.
If America had been an honest broker between Israelis and Palestinians over the decades, showing genuine sympathy for both sides, much of the Muslim world would not have concluded that America loathes Muslims.
And of course, if America had not invaded Iraq after 9/11 and instead had set out to repair relationships with Muslims, it is likely that the threat from al-Qaida and like-minded groups would be shrinking instead of growing.
America has had its reasons for the decisions it has made. But decisions have consequences; if America had made other decisions, and if America had chosen to simply trade with Muslims instead of meddling so forcefully in their politics, a more developed Muslim world probably would have been pro-American today.
In a Muslim world focused on economic and political development, there would have been no popular support for attacking Americans. If a would-be caliph had asked for volunteers to hijack planes and fly them into the World Trade Center, he would have found no takers. Why would Muslims want to fight an old friend?
Yes, it’s true that there are verses in the Koran (or Recitation) which can be interpreted to call for world domination. Yes, it’s true that, after the death of the Prophet Muhammad, early Muslims fought wars and expanded the Islamic empire. Yes, it’s true that, in the late 1700s and early 1800s, Muslim pirates attacked American ships near North Africa for religious and economic reasons.
But the vast majority of Muslims do not believe that the Koran demands world domination, and there had been no effort to attempt it for well over a century — until American intervention angered the Muslim world.
Now, as America faces off against a deadly enemy, understanding how we got to this point could help America drive a wedge between al-Qaida and its Muslim supporters.
Does understanding history mean that I’m excusing the actions of terrorists who kill innocent Americans? Does understanding history mean I think America should be soft on terrorists plotting to blow up American trains or buses or shopping malls?
No and no. I’m an American Muslim by choice. I ride trains and buses, and I shop in malls. I don’t want to die or have my limbs blown off.
But it’s frustrating to see the political discourse dominated by American elites who pretend that American foreign policy toward Muslims has had nothing to do with the amount of anger in the Muslim world. If Muslims attack America, these elites argue, it’s solely because of who the Muslims are, not because of what America has done to them. Or, as President Bush has put it, “They hate us for our freedom.”
This point of view marginalizes anyone who seeks to understand America’s relationship with the Muslim world. For example, at a recent debate among Republican presidential candidates, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani mocked Rep. Ron Paul of Texas for saying that al-Qaida attacked America on 9/11 in reaction to prior American intervention in the Muslim world. The audience cheered Mr. Giuliani, and the other candidates piled on.
By burning bridges to the Muslim world over the decades, these elites have made me and my family, and all other Americans, less safe.
It may not be too late to rebuild them. But time is running short and the casualties are mounting.
Kamran Memon is a Chicago civil rights attorney and founder of Muslims For A Safe America (muslimsforasafeamerica.org).
James P. said
on July 24 2007 @ 10:23 pm
Do you really believe in the stuff that you write or are you just being provocative?
The only Muslims that do not like America or America’s “intervention” are Muslims that do not believe in what America stands for. America allows the most personal freedom of any country or nation that ever existed in the history of mankind.
Many traditional Muslims and many fundamentalist Muslims are not interested in getting rid of their traditional beliefs, regardless of who or what it benefits.
I have also read some of your other columns and noticed that you are just as much to blame as any other Muslim who does not speak out against violence against innocent non-military people.
At this stage of the game, if Muslims are truly outraged by the actions of Muslim groups and governments that continue to blather Sharia Law, continue to persecute fellow Muslims and continue to threaten the world with sanctioned “martyrdom”, they will unite to support the American philosophy of a Constitutional Representative Republic. Any other type of “democracy” is flawed .based on generations of historical data.
Non-American governments have collectively murdered more people than anything else that you can dream up.
The only hope for the sincerely concerned free-thinking Muslim IS America.
You are just a clueless as the other blame-America-first types.
Oren Spiegler said
on July 24 2007 @ 10:26 pm
Dear Attorney Memon: Thank you for your well-written, thought-provoking editorial article, “Muslim Discontent”, which appeared in the Sunday, 22 July Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Your historical analysis and conclusions make a great deal of sense, and I hope that they may penetrate some minds which thus far have been impenetrable on this critical issue. Thank you also for your laudable goal: a safe America, which if it is to occur, will require a great deal of work. I am greatly concerned that it is too late, but shall hold out some hope that it is not. I look forward to the reins of government being turned over to a new, untainted president in 2009, and hope that America will not have been completed destroyed by then. Thank you for adding a great deal of value, good sense, and passion to the debate on which the future of the United States and her people depend.
Best regards…
Gary Maxwell said
on July 24 2007 @ 10:29 pm
I was glad to hear your perspective in your article “Muslim Discontent” in the 7/22/07 Pittsburgh Post Gazette. I agree with much of what you said and it helps me understand to a better extent the Muslim viewpoint. I have done some other reading on this subject recently and would like to know your thoughts about what I read. In particular I am speaking of Dinesh D’Souza’s book, “The Enemy Within”. The particular point he presents on which I would like your opinion is that Muslims are very unhappy with how pervasive American culture is throughout the world. Specifically he makes the point that the sexual mores presented in U.S. made television shows and Hollywood movies are undermining the efforts of good Muslim parents to raise the next generation to follow in traditional Islam. One reason I would like the opinion of a Muslim is that I fully sympathize with this concern. I am not a Muslim, but I am a serious Christian. I have seen our society decline bit by bit my entire life. The decline has been most apparent regarding the society’s view of sex. Obviously I am not if the opinion that terrorism is justified by even such a quietly infiltrating evil as the Hollywood lifestyle. However, I and others like me can only hope for this part of the problem (if indeed many Muslims indeed have this viewpoint) to actually enter the debate. Up until now, to my knowledge, this accusation of Muslims against America is limited to Dinesh D’Souza. There are many in America that agree with me but we don’t think we have enough of a voice to make the statement. If this issue would begin to be talked about in the radio and TV talk shows and on the cable news TV shows, perhaps more people that seem to enjoy the trashy media might be convicted that this stuff is truly not right and the Muslims have a good point.
Maqbool Aliani said
on July 24 2007 @ 10:34 pm
Agree that America has supported and supports dictatorships in middle east that creates discontent but that is not an excuse in any way to destroy life. America has done that in S. America as well but you don’t see S. Americans wanting to destroy west? Vietnamese people have suffered much much more than “muslims” have but one doesn’t see them taking the fascist/extremist route. Indonesians wiped out half of the population of East Timor but we don’t see east timorese wanting to murder Indonesians, do we? Kurds have been murdered, gased, subjugated and humiliated by arabs and iranians from a century but i don’t see them wanting to kill all arabs or iranians.
There are issues within the religion of Islam which should be addressed and it doesn’t help to shift the blame.
John Maxwell said
on July 25 2007 @ 4:39 am
I am writing in response to your op-ed article about Muslim discontent that appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Sunday.
Before checking out the ‘Muslims for a Safe America’ web site I considered sending you a rather heated and negative set of comments about your article. However, having looked over your web site, my reactions now are not nearly so negative. I am impressed by what you are trying to do at your web site. I am impressed by the openness and the general rationality of the discussion. The fact that you allow non-Muslims to post comments is impressive to me. I think I can engage you and communicate with you in a positive way.
You make valid points about the negative effects upon Muslim people of years of American foreign policy that coddled and supported tyrants with oil while failing to pressure them for democratic reform and human rights in Muslim and Arab countries. Certainly American foreign policy in the Muslim world hasn’t always been adroit and morally defensible.
A good deal of American intervention in the Muslim world has a humane basis and is unfairly criticized. The attempt to stop Somali warlords from commandeering aid shipments away from starving Somalis was an action of good faith and intent that unfortuately ran into a trap led by al Qaeda. Deploying U.S. Air power to stop Serbian persecution of Muslims in Bosnia and Kosovo was effective and righteous. Stopping Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait was effective and righteous. Overthrowing Saddam Hussein and his evil regime — who were guilty of crimes against humanity, genocide, employing WMDs, and starting aggressive wars — was certainly in line with FDR hoped the U.N. would do should another Hitler emerge anywhere in the world. (Overthrowing Saddam Hussein’s regime certainly should have been undertaken by the U.N. in 1994-5 as soon as Saddam rejected conditions of the Gulf War truce.) In spite of our many tactical and political failures in Iraq, it matters greatly that a majority of adult citizens there have participated in a free election. It seems to me that Muslims should not criticize the United States for any of these actions since their own governments fail to ameliorate the situations cited in this paragraph.
We Americans constantly take it on the chin from Muslims worldwide for deploying our military and security forces in Muslim countries. But we have nothing to apologize for concerning the first Gulf war to push Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait. We have nothing to apologize for in applying air power against Serbia to stop ethnic cleansing in Bosnia and in Kosovo. It is absolute horseshit that we have taken so much heat in the Muslim world since 2003 for trying hard (and taking tousands of casualties) trying to do the right thing in Iraq. Why do Muslim nations so often refuse to police their bad actors? Repeated failure by Muslims over many Saddam Hussein Don’ t blame Muslim failures to act on the United States. Don’t blame Darfur on the United States.
Thus, I certainly disagree with your statement that we Americans should “simply trade with Muslims instead of meddling so forcefully in their politics.” Do you think we shouldn’t meddle if someone wants to sell an atom bomb in the Middle East? What of A.Q. Khan, who was so closely allied to Al Qaeda, and who developed nuclear weapons for Pakistan? Should we have just sat back and watch someone like Khan place an operational nuclear weapon into the hands of bin Laden? Should we now just sit back and do nothing militarily while a megalomaniacal regime in Iran with apocalyptic notions about its competition with the U.S. seeks to develop a full inventory of nuclear weapons?
This doesn’t mean I support such interference as the CIA’s coup against Mossedegh in Iran, and the empowerment of the Shah. That was strictly counter to American principles and traditions.
The problems between the United States and the Muslim world should not be blamed primarily on the United States. There is a cancer active in most Muslim culture that is spurring Muslims to terrorize Muslims and non-Muslims alike. This cancer is rooted in the Koran and the Surrah. The supposed superiority of Muslims over all other people is openly and repeatedly stated in your holy books. Literally, the Muslim holy books provide numerous justifications for violent acts by Muslims against non-Muslims, and for Muslims to exercise dominance over non-Muslims. Strict adherence by Muslims to literal words of the Koran and Surrah leads to the widely beloved vision of a past caliphate and results in rejection of the modern world. It yields also Muslim backwardness, Muslim inadequacy, and Muslim failure. It is the prime cause of the great majority of the violence in the world involving Muslims.
Abu Noor al-Irlandee said
on July 26 2007 @ 12:16 am
Mr. John Maxwell,
Thanks for sharing your views and thank you for taking the time to review what Kamran Memon is actually doing with this site instead of just launching into an attack.
We can argue about foreign policy (and maybe we will) but I would like to begin by challenging your assertion that there is a ‘deep cancer’ in Muslim societies that is rooted in the Qur’an and Sunnah. I could not disagree with you more strongly. There is certainly a cancer (or cancers) in the hearts of many Muslims (and non-Muslims) but none of these diseases are rooted in the revealed texts and traditional wisdom of the religion of Islam. These same cures are also present in the revealed texts and traditional wisdom of other religious faiths as well and even in the insights and legacy of some non-religious figures throughout human history.
You label this cancer as being the idea that Muslims are superior to non-Muslims, an idea you find rooted in the Qur’an and Sunnah. As someone who has studied the Qur’an and Sunnah, I am unaware of any such principle. Yes, undoubtedly the Qur’an teaches that those who have faith and who do righteous deeds are better than those who oppress others and who arrogantly and openly commit sins. But nowhere does it imply that Muslims are all on the one side and non-Muslims all on the other. In fact the Qur’an challenges all of humanity, regardless of their ‘religious’ background to constantly improve their actions and cleanse their hearts and serve humanity. Like the legacy of all the great Prophets revered by Jews, Christians and others, the legacy of the prophetic message of Muhammad (saw) is one dominated by challenges to those who claim to believe more so even than its challenge to those who do not.
Again, thank you for the spirit in which you offer your comments.
God knows best.
Abu Noor al-Irlandee said
on July 26 2007 @ 1:24 am
Mr. Gary Maxwell,
Thank you also for making your interesting comments. I won’t comment now on whether/how the issue of crass American culture relates to the current terrorism/war issues.
I would like to engage you with regard to a related issue that your comments and the contributions of Mr. D’Souza do bring to my mind.
There are certainly some cultural concerns that many Muslims, both in the United States and around the world share with many people to whom faith or traditional values are very important especially among Jews and Christians. However, it is exactly those people who often most vehemently support the types of foreign policy which Mr. Memon talks about in his article and which are even greater concerns for most Muslims.
Also, many of those people are often much more anti-Muslim and anti- people of color in general (or at least often seem so from the outside) than people who are much more culturally liberal.
So, I say to you (and Mr. D’Souza) that yes there is no reason why people of faith or traditional values should not unite to express those concerns but there is no way that the Muslims will be able to ignore the foreign policy issues and unite with people who lead the cheering section in invading Muslim countries, in supporting Israel unconditionally, and in supporting the worst kind of dictators in Muslim lands. I think the reaction that Mr. D’Souza has gotten among conservatives to his efforts also greatly demonstrate the extent to which anti-Muslim and anti-Islam bias is much more prevalent on the right in America than it is on the left.
I know that meandered a bit and there’s much more I’d like to say, but that’s already probably too much for a comment section. Perhaps, Mr. Maxwell you could be more specific about whether you are coming from a religious viewpoint or if your concerns about American culture stem from a different source.
Peace
Mr. Zug said
on September 7 2007 @ 2:44 am
What accounts for Muslim discontent?
I’ve made a study of 40 years of Muslim immigration into Europe.
My take is that muslims do not or approve of being governed by unbelivers. Muslims simply resent being ruled by the infidel. Muslims believe themselves superior to the infidel in the same way Sunni feel superior to Shia. However (and this is important) both Sunni and Shia believe themselves to be superior beings to the likes of Jews, Christians, Hindu, Buddhists, animists, etc…Don’t take my word for it. Read muslim scripture set forth in the Koran and Ahadith…
Muslim discontent would be significantly abated if Western civilization would merely lay over and die. Were this to happen it would permit the Sunni to turn their killing prowess onto the Shia…and so on and so forth.
Don’t get me wrong: Muslims don’t want ALL infidel to die. No, no, no. Muslims MUST preserve a significant quantiy of infidels to pay the jizya provided the dhimmi are made to feel appropriately subdued. Muslims NEED a significant number of infidel dhimmi to subsidize or maintain an islamic way of life or culture. Indeed, as history has taught those willing to study it, islamic civilization ( I use the pjhrase “islamic civilization” very loosely here) tends to go down hill rather abruptly soon after a town, village, city, region, or country has been conquered or overtaken by the islamic sword.
Muslims “pride” themselves claiming ….no…no..no…we don’t conquer by the sword. there is no compulsion in relegion. In fact, muslimks do this all the time. Jeesh…do muslims think all infidel were born yesterday.
For almost 1400 years Jews and Christians in islamic countries converted to islam not because the message of islam was compelling. They converted because the message of islam was: convert to islam and you will no longer be second class citizens subject to a humiliating tax imposewd on the infidel which muslims don’t have to pay !!! Duh….!!!
Every culture islam has infested these past 1400 years has deteriorated. Name one that has not. I’ll debate the point with you.
To the readers of muslims for a safe America: Get real.
You say the “radicals” attack the USA because the USA are invading muslim countries. Really? If so, how about some guys from the USA attacking muslims because they are in the USA. Shall we prohibit muslims coming to the USA so long as we get out of all muslim countries. I can agree to that. Deal. That means you muslims promise to leave the USA after the USA pulls out of what…Iraq…Afghanistan? and does the USA have to stop suporting Israel before you leave the USA? Is that part of the deal, too? But until then, I guess, muslims here in the USA will be plotting to kill Americans and that’s okay because like..you know…there are infidel on muslim grounfd in Iraq and Afghanistan…and because the USA supports the only decent and civilized country in the Middle East : Israel. So, then…I guess it’s okay if we people (infidel) here in the USA plot to kill muslims on the soil of the USA ? No…you don’t like that idea , do you? It’s a real bitch when you can’t oppress the infidel like you’d like to and have for 1400 years of Islamic history, isn’t it?
Do muslims get tired of answering question: If you want sharia law imposed …if you wnat to live under an islamic totalitarianism political system…the why did you come here to the West? I think you muslims smile when you hear that question.
I think you smiole because you know your role is to ubdermine Western Civ through your incessant demands and appeal to victimology. The political leftists enable you to do so. “Leftist enablers” being those whose throats are first cut should the day come when you muslims reach critical mass. You know of whom I speak.
Week in and week out we here in the West read of plots uncoverd by the authorities pointing to the fact that muslims – so called moderates – who want to kill us are in our midst. What we do not read about are targeted assasinnations of the Saudi financed and Paki and self trained muslims who live among us here in the USA, Canada, and Mexico. Those who seek to overthrow the West by violent and “non-violent” means.
Bear witness. That may soon change.
Do muslims as a group really think that members of the national socialist ideology (some 70 years ago) living on USA soil – once exposed – would not have been “punished” for being here in the USA in any German-American community in which they sought refuge?
Hmmm….so many to take down…so little time to do so.
Joe Doe said
on November 7 2009 @ 12:55 pm
You full of Muslim words is full of lies. Get the hell fuck muslim relihious out of North and South America and the carribean islands and island terrories. Get these muslim back to Middle East where they belong. They are full of criminals like Nazi Germany!