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Persecution
Campaign against Arabs and Muslims in the West
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Sayyed
Fadlullah:
The Western administrations have to know that continuing to ignore the
Palestinian rights will lead to the continuing emergence of security,
cultural and political tensions not only in the region but in the
entire world as well, which will create favorable climates for those
whose thinking is backward and hostile towards others. Therefore, the
Palestinian cause should be the basis of any solution
Asked in his weekly
seminar the following question: Since
the events of nine eleven, the Western world has been dealing
with the Arabs and Muslims on the basis of being the advocators
of violence and terrorism and this has led to their persecution.
How do you view this, and how do you propose the means of
confrontation to be?
The Religious
Authority, Sayyed Muhammad Hussein Fadlullah, said:
The phenomenon of Arab and Muslim persecution in the West has
been growing to the extent that the Muslims and the Arabs have
been subjected to aggressions whether as individuals or
political entities, in addition to the constant efforts to
undermine their religious beliefs and culture.
It has become
evident that there is a general political and media climate that
has aggravated this hatred, while at the same time they wonder
about "Why they hate us".
In addition to the
media that systematically tries to distort Islam, there are
certain political parties in the West, whether inside the
Zionist sphere of influence or outside it, who believe that the
spread of Islam in the West represents a threat to them and to
the attempts of brainwashing their people to drive them to act
instinctively against Arabs and Muslims. They have enhanced
their political and media efforts to benefit from the political
climate the neoconservatives have created in America.
Certain parties
that claim to belong to Islam further nourished this political
climate. But there is no doubt that some of the political
administrations in the West are responsible for the spread of
this kind of hatred against Arabs and Muslins, portraying them
as terrorists who are guilty until proven innocent and not the
other way round. They even changed the American laws to
facilitate the persecution of the Arabs and Muslims, thus
suggesting that they aim at laying the blame on a religion or a
nation in a way similar to the tribal mentality that is spread
in many countries in the East. Revenge in such conditions will
target the whole group with justice put on the shelf and both
the guilty and the innocent will be punished.
But while no one
can deny that certain Arabs or Muslims had committed acts that
are not accepted by Islam or by any civilization, it was the
Muslim clerics who hastened to condemn these acts and deprived
them of any legitimacy. Why then would not they deal with these
acts as they really are: acts performed by individuals? Why are
they trying to create new conditions that will let the Arabs and
Muslims who visit or live in Western countries feel persecuted
or even feel that their Western neighbors are afraid to talk to
them in a way reminiscent of what is happening in many places in
the Arab World? We say to the Westerners in general: You have
undoubtedly noticed that the Arab and Muslim communities do not
hate you or persecute you, and if certain individuals commit
such acts they are condemned, denounced and tried… Why would
not you do the same and denounce these attempts of condemning
and persecuting Islam in this blind fanaticism against Arabs and
Muslims? If you feel guilty because the Jews hold you
responsible for the so called acts of anti-Semitism, should not
you feel any guilt for all what the Western administrations have
done against Muslims and Arabs that not only tried to take over
their countries and resources, but also offended and undermined
their religion?
To the Arab and
Muslims we say: What some of the Westerners or Western
administrations are practicing against you, does not entitle you
to take a negative attitude that is hostile to the West in
general. There are certain political, cultural and social
parties in the West that do not accept what their
administrations are practicing, and there are those who
sympathize with the legitimate acts of resistance against the
Israeli and American occupations; this means that the Arabs and
Muslims have to cooperate with them and devise together a media
cultural and political plan to counterattack the campaign of
distortion that target both of them.
The Western
administrations have to know that continuing to ignore the
Palestinian rights will lead to the continuing emergence of
security, cultural and political tensions not only in the region
but in the entire world as well, which will create favorable
climates for those whose thinking is backward and hostile
towards others. Therefore, the Palestinian cause should be the
basis of any solution not only on the political level but also
the cultural and ideological levels, which are influenced by it.
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