The Daily Illini - Opinions
Issue: 9/9/04

The painful truth
By Elie Dvorin

Before brutally murdering hundreds of school children in Beslan, Russia,
the Islamic terrorists yelled "Allah Akbar" (God is great) over the
building's loudspeaker system. This is just the latest of a slew of
terrorist attacks by Islamic fundamentalists that have included hijacking
two Russian planes; blowing up military barracks in Saudi Arabia; and
detonating bombs on buses in Jerusalem - all in the name of God.

In addition to traditional acts of terrorism, Islamists stone rape victims
to death in Gaza; sell children into slavery in Sudan; and forbid women
 from voting, driving or acquiring even the most basic of rights all across
the Muslim world. Enough atrocities have been committed in the name of
Islam for people to now ask hard-pressing questions without being labeled
a bigot.

Many will never admit that the worldwide problem of terrorism largely is a
problem within Islam. But to ignore the link between Islam and terrorism
does a great disservice to both the truth and our ability to wage the war
on terrorism.

Abdel Rahman Al-Rashed, general manager of the Al-Arabiya news channel,
wrote the following after the Russian school hostage tragedy.

"It is a certain fact that not all Muslims are terrorists. But it is
equally certain - and exceptionally painful - that almost all terrorists
are Muslims." After listing a plethora of examples of Islamic terrorism in
recent history, he concluded by saying "What a pathetic record. What an
abominable achievement. Does all this tell us anything about ourselves,
our societies and our cultures?"

Iraqi columnist Aziz Al-Hajj recently critiqued the culture of Islam when
he wrote, "The Muslims today contribute nothing to civilization and
progress except for blood, severed heads, scorched bodies, and the
abduction and murder of children."

Although a few Muslims are beginning to speak out against Islamic
terrorism, the problem lies in the fact that this is the exception rather
than the rule. Almost every time a Muslim leader speaks out against
terrorism, a justification is offered concerning either "the United
States' support for the Zionist regime" or "its reckless foreign policy."
For Muslim leaders, nothing short of an absolute condemnation of all
Islamic terrorism should be acceptable - and the United States should hold
them accountable for their words (or lack thereof).

In a classic case of willful ignorance, Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip
Erdogan tried to avoid the obvious and refused to admit Islam has any
connection with terrorism. "I do not want to see the word 'Islam' or
'Islamist' in front of terrorism ... terrorism has no race, religion or
nationality."

In theory, that politically correct statement almost sounds convincing.
Yet, day after day, instances of Islamic terrorism fill our newspapers and
airwaves. Beheadings, kidnappings and explosions all are commonplace in
the Islamic world. Jews do not blow themselves up in Palestinian schools
and daycares; Christians do not fly planes into Saudi office buildings;
and Hindus don't throw bombs at Pakistanis on the streets of Islamabad.
It's no coincidence the only countries with Jewish and Hindu majorities
are democratic and that most Christian-majority countries are democracies
as well. In contrast, of all Muslim countries Turkey is the lone democracy.

Shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, President Bush declared Islam
"a religion of peace." In order for Islam to reclaim any legitimacy, all
Muslims need to unequivocally condemn terrorism through their words and
deeds. Only after the majority of Muslims show a strong commitment to
defeating terrorism will Islam ever be seen as peaceful by the Western
world.

Any Muslim who's serious about eradicating the tarnished image of Islam
must first and foremost admit that a problem within the religion currently
exists. Avoiding this important issue by dismissing it as discrimination
or bigotry only will lead to a more dangerous world for all of us.

Elie Dvorin is a junior in LAS. His column runs Thursdays. He can be
reached at opinions@dailyillini.com.