trying to understand this world

Submitted by raheel khokhar (United Kingdom), Sep 20, 2006 at 14:51

Dear Zack,

thanks for your reasoned words concerning my post. The point i was trying to make with regards to racism in the US, was that you cannot expect a country as young as the US to "get over" its behaviour towards blacks. I believe that abberant behaviour such as this remains in the national psyche of a nation state for generations (notable exceptions being Germany and Japan). The same is true of the UK; colonialist attitudes still exist among some people here (don't get me wrong though, it's a great place to live).

So how do Bush's policies affect the world? Fundamentalists of both Christian and Muslim stripes use US policies as an excuse for terrorism. Let me give you an example. I am not a fundamentalist, in fact i'm about the most open-minded, liberal muslim you could hope to meet. But even so, i was shocked to see a report on the BBC a couple of weeks ago concerning the war in Lebanon;while the bombs were raining down on Lebanese and Israeli citizens, ABC News in the US chose as it's main story, featuring the "person of the week" as a woman who had gone over to Lebanon to help with the relief effort...to save dogs. This was highlighted by certain sections of the media here as how the US reports from war zones.

Ok so it was unfair to single out this report, after all propaganda is done by all sides. What i'm trying to say is that there are people out there who see dispatches like this and think that the US cares more about the safety of dogs than people. Absurd, i know but you and i are reasonable guys, i hope. There are many out there who are not. Bush and Blair's hesitancy in calling for an immediate ceasefire made the US and UK look like collusionists in the war.

Like you, i will not lie. Muslims are their own worst enemies. I know this and i am sick of telling my fellow muslims to get their heads out of the sand and acknowledge that there are many hard-right fundamentalists within our midst who have hijacked Islam and are using it for their own nefarious ends. I believe that before you can accuse someone else of something, you need to look at yourself first. I was dismayed to see muslims protesting against the Pope's words recently, carrying banners outside Parliament saying that Jesus was the slave of Allah. Sigh, these people don't know the meaning of their own religion and only serve to inflame tensions.

It's the classic chicken-egg case; which came first? Muslims say they are only reacting to the US's policies in the Middle East, while the US says that all it wants is to help sort out the mess there. Palestinians say they have been kicked off their land, Jews say they've been there for 1000's of years. Who has an original claim.

Perhaps i am rambling now, but i'd just like to say that this polarisation that we are witnessing around the world dosn't bode well for any of us,

Regards and Peace, Raheel

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