Provoking Violence



I enjoyed this comment piece by Iram Ramzan in The Sunday Times which makes the valid point that "even moderate Muslims often come out with reactionary views - that they are being victimised, and that extremism is the result of the West's foreign policy and a legacy of colonialism".

But Iram goes on to answer the point with the equally valid observation that if these attacks were the result of grievances against colonialism, then all Indians living the UK would be avenging the suffering of their ancestors.

If you ask me, some folks are terribly thin skinned and are always looking for bogus reasons to excuse bad or even indefensible behaviour.

Because ultimately people have free will, they know the difference between right and wrong and while groups across the globe hold grudges and grievances against each other, Sunni versus Shia Muslims, for example, or Catholics versus Protestants in Northern Ireland - the solution lies in politics not violence.

Jewish victims, Muslim shame

By Iram Ramzan - The Sunday Times

THROUGHOUT the week, we have heard commentators condemning the Paris attacks while simultaneously chastising Charlie Hebdo journalists for “provoking” the wrath of Muslims.

It was almost like telling a rape victim she should not have “provoked” her attacker by wearing a miniskirt.

Even Hamas — that well-known advocate of human rights and free speech — denounced the onslaught on the satirical magazine. Yet notable by its absence was any comment on the Jewish people murdered in the supermarket.

I put this question to all those who are trying to explain away the actions of terrorists they claim had “genuine grievances”: what was the justification for the murder of the Jews? They were murdered simply for existing.

Charlie Hebdo’s decision to publish a cartoon of the prophet Muhammad again after the attacks was incredibly brave and I admire its editors.

It was no surprise to read that some Muslims in France hold the Jews responsible for what happened at the magazine. While the atrocities in Paris were unfolding I was asked by a fellow Muslim: “Are the Jews behind the cartoons?” Anti-semitism is a deep-rooted problem within our communities.

Members of my parents’ generation have said they did not see any extremism during their youth. But that is because they didn’t live in a globalised world as my generation does.

Disillusioned with their parents’ culture and not feeling as though they belong in Britain, they are drawn towards religion, the global Muslim ummah that gives them a sense of identity.

Last week I was asked by a suspicious Muslim why I was defending Jews. I have previously been labelled a “coconut”, sell-out and “Jew lover”.

Many people criticising the cartoons have been conflating racism with criticism of religion. The former is abhorrent and we have laws against it. The latter is perfectly legitimate.

Even moderate Muslims often come out with reactionary views — that they are being victimised, and that extremism is a result of the West’s foreign policy and a legacy of colonialism.

As the counterterrorism analyst Anas Abbas wrote in Left Foot Forward, the political blog, if these attacks were the result of grievances against colonialism, then all Indians living in the UK would be avenging the suffering of their ancestors.

We should remember that European enlightenment was a product of centuries of challenges to religious authority, after which secularism was able to flourish. That is one of the reasons why reactionaries flee the Muslim world: silenced in their own countries, they seek refuge in the liberal West, only to undermine its principles from within.

Iram Ramzan blogs at iramramzan.wordpress.com from Manchester

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