West, Muslims told to forget past

West, Muslims told to forget past

Berni K. Moestafa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

With the war on terror risking putting a wedge between the
Western and Islamic worlds, scholar and former foreign minister
Alwi Shihab said both sides must let go of pasts dating back to
the Middle Ages, as it was there that their animosity was rooted.

A former visiting professor on Islam at Harvard University in
the U.S., Alwi said the spread of terrorism showed how the
current world was "interdependent but far from integrated".

Blocking integration, he said, were lingering feelings in the
Western and Islamic worlds over their respective pasts.

He said that Christians in the West continued to view Islam as
a "threat and their worst enemy".

"That mentality from the Middle Ages lingers in the back of
the minds of Westerners," he said during a seminar on Islam and
terrorism hosted by the Indonesian Council of World Affairs on
Monday.

He referred to the criticism last year by several senior U.S.
politicians of remarks by U.S. President George W. Bush that
Islam is a peaceful religion. These politicians said Islam was a
violent religion and that Prophet Muhammad was a warrior.

"It is time to enlighten the West about Islam," Alwi said,
partly blaming the misunderstanding among Westerners on Muslims'
failure to explain their religion.

Muslims too, he said, should stop dreaming about rebuilding an
Islamic empire that once was the cradle of the world during the
Middle Ages.

"For almost a millennium and a half, Islam and the West could
be viewed as two civilizations interacting in conflict and
dialog," he said.

But in order for the two sides to coexist in harmony it is
important to think in terms of the present conditions underlying
their existence, he said.

"A reimposition of the concept and structures of a Western-
centered imperialist hegemony on the one hand, and a nostalgic
memory of a past age of power and glory on the other will not
provide the answers needed for humanity in the new millennium,"
Alwi said.

The threat of terrorism has put under the spotlight the
relationship between the West and Islam.

Alwi pointed to radicalism and injustice as the root causes of
terrorism, with neither factor standing on their own.

He said fear of a new Western hegemony, supported by a radical
view of Islam, could turn into terrorism.

"They (radicals) feel that they represent Muslims who are
frustrated by the unjust treatment of the Western world," he told
reporters after the seminar.

But radicalism should not be mistaken for terrorism, he added.

He said the danger of mixing the two terms was that it would
be false to say that religion promoted terrorism: "The teaching
of terrorism is not found in any religion."

"Islam teaches self-defense and so they (terrorists) believe
that they are acting in self-defense. However, does self-defense
have to involve killing people?"

Analysts have warned of a surge in radicalism if the U.S.
attacks Iraq in defiance of worldwide protests, including in
Washington.

They say the war plans are hard to justify even among moderate
Muslims, and could deepen anti-American sentiments among hard-
liners.

Alwi said a U.S. attack on Iraq could not be considered an act
of terror if it had the backing of the United Nations.