Speak, act before it's too late

Mohammed Abu-Nimer, Common Ground News Service (CGNews), Washington, DC

The Nov. 27 kidnapping of four members of Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) -- Tom Fox (54), of the United States, Norman Kember (74) of Great Britain, and James Lonely (41) and Hameet Singh Sooden (32) of Canada -- who were working in Iraq in solidarity with the Iraqi people is another sad reminder of the danger facing the Muslim and Arab world if we continue to tolerate those "elements" or forces of darkness who operate from within.

As a Muslim, scholar of Islam, and practitioner of conflict resolution and inter-cultural dialog, I find one of the most appalling and frightening aspects of the recent kidnapping the fact that such acts have become an accepted operating principle for so-called "resistance groups" in Iraq and elsewhere in the Muslim and Arab world. Attacking and terrorizing civilians, human rights advocates, relief workers, and peace advocates has never been an Islamic way of resisting occupation or fighting oppression.

In the past decade, many books, articles, and studies have been published by Muslims and non-Muslims that systematically explain and document that foundational Islamic teachings have never prescribed such blind, shameful, and undignified ways of fighting injustice. Scholars have tried to remind Muslims and non-Muslims alike that the primary message, strategies, and values of Islam have been based on peace, achieving justice through nonviolent means, and the extremely limited use of force.

Especially in the period of Islam's early formation, Muslim religious thinkers -- Faqih and Imams -- spent centuries defining the strict conditions under which force can be used, hoping that their effort would restrict and reduce violence.

Recent Muslim scholars as well as peace and justice activists have sought to revive such work, including: Iqbal Ahmed, Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Jawdat Said, Sathan Anand, Khalis Jalabi, Abdul Aziz Said, Khalid Kishtainy, etc. These writings offer systematic interpretations based on authentic Koranic and Hadith sources, and the authors' analysis and attention to textual nuance leaves no doubt that there is no religious justification within Islam for brutal and ruthless actions like beheading, randomly attacking Mosques, or terrorizing civilians of any nationality.

Offering cultural and religious bases for and interpretations of peace and nonviolent resistance, writing academic books, and conducting international conferences has proven to be a limited strategy in confronting this "evil force" in the Muslim and Arab world. These peaceful and academic gatherings are often aimed at the Western public and policy makers, to convince them that Islam is a religion of peace and is founded on the principles of pluralism and democracy.

Although this work is important and can possibly contribute to a reduction in prejudice and negative stereotypes directed at Muslims in Western public opinion, it seems to be based in the assumption that changing U.S. and European foreign policy towards Muslim and Arab countries is the proper first step in confronting "evil" Muslim forces in places like Iraq, Afghanistan, Indonesia, and Algeria.

I think that this belief is an illusion, another way to cover our heads and escape the responsibility of looking inside the Muslim house. The real battle continues to remain in the Arab and Muslim homes and streets. A second tragedy highlighted by this kidnapping is that those Muslims and Arabs who are fighting the battle at home lack international and regional support and face constant oppression by internal political regimes and other parties in their societies.

Without the empowerment of such individuals and groups to organize, it is hard to realistically hope for success in blocking terrorism in the Muslim world.

What needs to be done?

The massive and influential Muslim and Arab public voice is resounding in its silence on these matters, even though it is the only force that can delegitimize such acts and marginalize the groups committing them. Despite all of its sophisticated weaponry, the American army cannot "flush" these elements out of society.

They might be able to kill many of them and chase others away to underground caves and hideouts. However, they will eventually come back and renew their operations in different ways and under different covers. Unfortunately, many in the American public have not yet reached such a realization, and continue to ignore other alternatives of dealing with the problem.

Why doesn't the Muslim and Arab public speak loudly against such terrorist actions?

First, terrorist groups adopting such methods have taken advantage of the public sentiment that the primary goals and practices of Western governments are aimed at exploiting Muslim and Arab national resources and at promoting Western hegemonic power over Muslim and Arab society and culture.

Second, most Arab and Muslim regimes receive military and security support from the U.S. and European countries despite oppressive internal policies that deprive opposition groups of meaningful political space. Such regimes constantly violate human rights and are mainly occupied with accumulating individual wealth or elite dominance.

Third, many in the Arab and Muslim world live in fear because of state security apparatuses, which have been the main tool for governing throughout the post-colonial era rather than legislative bodies or publicly elected officials. Indeed, prisons are filled with thousands of political prisoners who dared to speak against the regimes.

Fourth, economic underdevelopment and deprivation found within many Muslim and Arab societies has reached a level of desperation and hopelessness that it can be mobilized into support for acts providing temporary relief, venting of frustration, anger, or desire for revenge, especially those acts which are framed in terms of resistance to oppression.

This process displaces blame and responsibility for the current crisis in Muslim and Arab societies onto colonial, foreign, and Western (Christian) powers, and becomes the easiest outlet for escaping individual and collective responsibility and best rationale for complacency.

Each and every Muslim and Arab is responsible for the kidnapping of the four peace workers who came to express their solidarity with and help the Iraqi people. Regardless of the reasons for silence for Muslims and Arabs around the world to not massively move and speak out against these actions should be considered a silent crime against our own future generations; it is internally destructive.

To delegitimize such horrendous actions, we all have to talk, stand, and act to our full capacity and using all available social and cultural space. The Jordanian public reaction to the terrorist bombings was a promising glimpse of what can be done, as was the Lebanese response to the assassination of Hariri. Thousands of people went to the streets and many nongovernmental groups and associations spoke against the crime committed.

Speak and act now before it is too late!

The writer is an Associate Professor of International Peace and Conflict Resolution at American University's School of International Service in Washington, DC, and is the Director of the Peacebuilding and Development Institute.