THE WEST AND ISLAM

Anti-Islam Surge in the West

A Report in the New York Times

When Americans consider the safety of the world these days, many still seem conditioned to look for end- of-the-world threats that must be confronted. The end of the cold war sparked a kind of intellectual contest to identify the biggest and most credible new enemy. There was unfair trade. Global warming. Computer terrorism. The spread of weapons of mass destruction. Drugs. But none of this caught fire. Even ethnic hatred did not capture Americans' imagination.

But one threat has resonated in the public mind: lslamic Holy War

Powerful Islamic movements have sprung up to emulate Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's victory in Iran they challenge Western allies in Algeria, Egypt, Kuwait, Bahrain, Pakistan. The greatest danger to peace between Israel and the Palestinians remains the Islamic radicals of Hamas. And Iran has tried repeatedly to export its revolution.

So there are many respected intellectuals who see the sets of terrorism and the ubiquitous Muslim diatribes against the West as part of a deepening conflict between An aggressive Islam and a defensive Western civilization.

Take Bernard Lewis, the eminent historian from Princeton University, who wrote more than five years Ago: "The struggle between Islam and the West has now lasted 14 centuries. It has consisted of a long series of attacks and counterattacks, jihads and crusades, conquests and reconquests. Today much of the Muslim world is again seized by an intense and violent resentment of the West. Suddenly, America had become the arch enemy, the incarnation of evil, the diabolic opponent of all that is good, and specifically, for Muslims, of Islam.

But a number of other experts on Islam think it is a big mistake to see politicized Islam as a unified threat, rather than as a way of thinking that inspires local bids for power. Their argument goes something like this. Overstating the threat, and misunderstanding the role of religion in it, risks playing into the hands of the extremists by portraying Islam itself as the enemy. Algeria's Muslims don't answer to Iran, and there are inherent divisions between the Sunni and Shiite branches of Islam. What's more, the extremists represent only one part of Islamic theology those who would mobilize religion to foment social revolutions, often against repressive, corrupt governments.

"Explosive headline events and acts of violence make it tempting to view Islam through the prism of religious extremism and terrorism," said John Esposito, director of the Centre for Muslim-Christian.

Understanding at Georgetown University and author of a book titled The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality? "But the demonization of a great religious tradition because of the perverted actions of a minority of dissident voices remains the real threat".

In fact, political Islam has become one of the hottest, nastiest debates in academic circles today, mirroring the old debate on how well-organized and monolithic the communist menace was. Supporters of the notion of fundamentalism as a global threat label their opponents simplistic and naive, opponents label the supporters. simplistic and bigoted.

The Council on Foreign Relations, hardly a hotbed of radical thinking, has come under fire for its new monthly newsletter. Muslim Politics Report, a forum for a broad range of thought on Islam.

The Council President Leslie Gelb says: 'We consider the report a major contribution to let people know about a range of thinking by Islamic experts and leaders.

In Europe, the debate is even more virulent. America's European allies have been skittish about supporting the Muslim-dominated government in Bosnia in part because of fears about their own Muslim populations. The presence of 15 million Muslims in Europe, many of whom are poor and have refused to embrace the ways of the West, has fueled prejudices and fears. Some French schools prohibit girls from wearing head scarves, and Germany has refused to give Turk’s citizenship.

Last year Willy Claes then NATO's secretary general, said offhandedly that "Islamic fundamentalism is at least as dangerous as communism was".

Bahrain's ruling family has put down demonstrations by the Islamic Front for the Liberation of Bahrain, blaming them on Iran. But American intelligence has found no evidence that the opposition is anything but locally organized - spawned by economic discontent, an uneven distribution of wealth and the absence of any political freedom.

The Islamic Welfare Party won a stunning 21 per cent of the votes in Turkish elections last month. But a pro-Islamic vote - for a party that has not been associated with violence was the only vehicle for protesting the government's failure to tackle poverty and inflation.

Under pressure from Saudi Arabia this month, Britain ordered the expulsion of Mohammed al Massari, an opponent of the regime, to the Caribbean island of Dominica. But the kingdom itself is an Islamic state that is being ruled by strict Islamic law; what Mr. Massari accuses the royal family of is corruption (which, he says. is unlslamic).

And consider this: the "green menace" (the new catch-phrase in the debate, after the color associated with Islam) is a convenient way for a leader to explain. way opposition based on a country's economic, social and political inequities... Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan, president Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and then Prime Minister Tansu Ciller of Turkey all told President Clinton that the greatest threat to their governments came from globally linked fundamentalism.., They risked sounding like one-time American friends, such as president Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines and Shah Mohammad Riza Pahlevi of Iran, who resisted reform to the very end, while presenting themselves as bulwarks against communism.

Israel's reconciliation with the Palestine Liberation Organization has also helped cast Islam as a larger than life enemy. After the fall of communism. fundamentalism has become the greatest danger of our time", Shimon Peres, now Israel's prime minister has said. The American Jewish Congress has replaced its "Boycott Report" on the Arabic economic boycott of Israel with a newsletter titled Radical Islamic Fundamentalist Update.

Islamic radicalism has also seized the imagination of some in Congress. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who has warned about "totalitarian Islam," led Congress last month to approve $ 20 million in covert aid to moderate Iran's behavior.

(Source: The Times of India, 7 February, 100%)