Terrorism in economic, social terms

Terrorism in economic, social terms

S.P. Seth, Sydney

Until very recently if anyone sought to understand and explain
terrorism in economic and social terms, he/she was likely to be
branded as a terrorism sympathizer by the U.S. and Australian
establishments. Lately, though, economic and social deprivation
in Indonesia and elsewhere in predominantly Islamic societies is
starting to be acknowledged as a contributing factor to
terrorism. Which is good as far as it goes. But it is still in
the realm of rhetoric.

However, economic deprivation in many Muslim countries is part
of a historical process with their religion considered as a major
factor in their backwardness. There is, therefore, this emphasis
on the moderate and extremist divide in Muslim societies. The
United States and other like-minded countries want to encourage
the moderates among the Muslims. Many Muslims regard this with
suspicion as an attempt to divide their communities to further
weaken Muslim societies.

It might be called paranoia. But it has to be understood in
its context. For instance, Middle East is the heartland of
Islamic faith. This region was probably the most tolerant of its
Jewish minorities before the creation of Israel. Indeed, it was
in Europe that the Jews underwent all sorts of programs and
periodic ethnic cleansing, culminating in the Nazi holocaust of
the World War II.

And when they went looking for protection and refuge Europe
and America turned their back on them. They were encouraged to
colonize the largely Arab Palestine as their long lost holy land,
even though its predominantly Arab people had nothing to do with
their exodus at the time.

But the new state of Israel, in any case, was foisted on them
in 1948. The ramshackle armies of their Arab neighbors failed to
evict Israel, which used the occasion to drive out a large number
of Palestinians from their homeland and thus enlarge their new
state. This is how the Palestinian refugee problem was created in
the first place, and these people and their children are still
living in camps and shanty towns in Palestine and elsewhere.

The failure to thwart the creation of Israel was a terrible
humiliation for the Arab people. And they, in large part, blamed
it on their rulers. This created the nationalist Arab upsurge
which, among other things, led Col. Gamal Abdul Nasser to
overthrow the monarchy in Egypt. President Nasser of Egypt came
to symbolize Arab nationalism.

And his stocks rose when he successfully withstood joint
British/French and Israeli invasion of his country after he
nationalized the Suez Canal in 1956.

President Nasser became an Arab hero. He sought to foster pan-
Arab sentiments across the region to unify the Arab lands. Israel
came to fear an Arab invasion led by Egypt, leading it to launch
a pre-emptive attack in 1967 which finished off Egypt's air force
neatly lined up on its airfields. Israel advanced deep into the
remnants of the old Palestine.

The 1967 six days Israeli-Arab war was also the end of
President Nasser and his pan-Arabism. His successor, President
Sadat, made another attempt in 1973 to avenge his country's
military defeat but failed. He finally made bilateral peace with
Israel in 1978, but paid the price with his life when he was
assassinated not long after.

The Palestinian tragedy has become a symbol of humiliation for
the Arab world. And they blame it on Israel, the United States
which has supported Israel, and their corrupt rulers who they see
as U.S. puppets. The humiliation of the Arab world, in turn, has
become the humiliation of the larger Muslim world. Mecca (in
Saudi Arabia), the birthplace of Prophet Muhammad, is the
spiritual home of the entire Islamic community.

It is this religion which spread to large parts of Asia, with
Indonesia now having the largest Muslim population in the world.
And the Muslims around the world, including Indonesia, feel the
humiliation of the Palestinians and the Arab people in general.
Islam enshrines a strong sense of communal brotherhood, reflected
in a shared sense of injustice for the Palestinians. It is not
just the poor among the Muslims, but many middle class and rich
Muslims who feel outraged.

The Soeharto system, largely supported by the West, first,
because of the Cold War considerations and, second, because he
seemed to favor the capitalist system, came crashing at the first
whiff of Asian economic crisis in 1997-1998.

The democracy that has followed since 1998 doesn't seem to be
making much difference to the lives of the people in existential
terms. In the post-colonial period, the rich and powerful
countries still control and dictate the way the poor should live.
As a result, there is this pervasive sense of helplessness about
the state of the world.

It is this sense of helplessness (political, economic and
social) which makes people retreat into the simple world of
religion with its faith and certitude. Therefore, a retreat into
Islam is emerging as an alternative system to deal with and solve
all sorts of insoluble problems. It is this lack of hope since
independence in Indonesia (and replicated elsewhere), which is at
the root of militancy and terrorism.

The persistence and perpetuation of an unjust global system,
with its consequent frustrations and utter helplessness, tends to
create a convergence of sorts between the poor and dispossessed
of the world across religious and political divide. But they are
not all terrorists. They simply hanker for a better world.

The author is a free-lance writer based in Sydney and can be
reached at SushilPSeth@aol.com