Debunking damaging myth of the 'clash of civilizations'

From the Houston Chronicle op-ed page:

In addition, most would recognize that terrorist attacks, on the one hand, and military interventions in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan, on the other, have increased the climate of suspicion that seems to be spreading across the world. Staggering economic inequalities and the ever-widening gap between the haves and the have-nots are also creating new fault lines, dividing peoples and nations. These tensions help fuel the damaging yet powerful myth of a "clash of civilizations" — an ideological boon for all those who share an interest in shoring up hostility between Muslims and the West.

And

Third, we firmly reject the claim that the roots of the widening rift between Muslim and Western societies lie in religion or culture. Rather, they are to be found in politics. In our view, there are two key factors feeding the current climate of suspicion and fear that mars relations across communities:

In the first instance, the Israeli-Palestinian issue has become a key symbol of the rift between Western and Muslim societies, and remains one of the biggest threats to international stability.

And

The other factor is the oppression of nonviolent political actors in the Muslim world, which strengthens extremists. Denying peaceful opposition movements the freedom to express their views and jailing their supporters generate anger and resentment, encouraging some to join violent groups. And when Western governments lend their support — tacitly or overtly — to authoritarian regimes, they become part of the problem, stoking the fire of extremism.

Click here for the rest.

This is an excellent essay that really cuts through all the bullshit flying around about Islamic terrorism and gets to the heart of the issue. That is, it's not because of a "clash of civilizations," not because "they hate our freedom," and not because they want to turn us all into Muslims. That's all neo-con crap used as rhetoric in order to advance what they believe are US interests.

Here's what really causes Islamic terrorism. First and foremost is US military aggression in the Muslim world. Our continuing occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan are obviously deeply insulting to countless Muslims, just as an Islamic occupation of the US would be deeply insulting to Americans and those who are culturally similar to us. But before those invasions, there was the continuing presence of US troops in Saudi Arabia, which is considered by Muslims to be holy land.

A second inspiration for terrorism is the way that US corporations treat the Muslim world and its people as resources to be exploited, rather than as human beings. Most of the Islamic nations considered to be friendly to US interests have extractive economies--that is, wealth is drained from those nations but it does not flow back; granted, their leaders and elites are handsomely rewarded, but their peoples are left to rot in economic disarray. Closely related to Western economic exploitation is the fact that the Muslim leaders who facilitate the process are often corrupt, and brutally put down dissent. Muslims know this would be impossible were it not for US and Western support.

Finally, terrorism is spawned by the incredible amount of support the US gives to Israel, no matter how brutally they treat the Palestinians--Israel has never had, and never plans to have, any intention to treat the Palestinians fairly; Muslims know this, too, and it is deeply offensive to them.

All of these isssues can be worked out. Unfortunately, it would entail a radical shift in American foreign policy, which is currently beholden to gigantic corporate and defense industry interests which couldn't care less about any of these issues as long as they're making money. Given that the new Democratic majority in Congress is only slightly less aligned with the corporations than their GOP predecessors, I think it's safe to say that we can expect Islamic terrorism to be a major threat for many years to come.

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