The latest from Nonie Darwish:
In the aftermath of the Beslan school massacre, some Arab media outlets and politicians have taken a new, stronger stand against terrorism. It was welcome news to many that several articles in the Arab press denounced the attack and maybe that signaled a new turning point in the Arab World. The Arab street did not express the usual celebrations where adult men and women cheer on the terror waged on the children of infidels. This incident brought out some Arab critics even against the way Islam is being taught. However, there are reasons other than just sympathy for the Russian victims that are bringing out critics of Arab media: I wonder if this vicious attack had been on Boston instead of Beslan, Arab media would have treated it in the same manner.
The way Arabs look at Russia and the former Soviet Union is different from how they regard Western Democracies, especially the United States. Arabs do not want to wake up the Russian bear because they know that Russia will deal severely with its enemies and without the baggage of political correctness we are all familiar with in the US. They know that America the Superpower, is bound by its morality, public opinion and often exercises self-restraint even in its War on Terror. Muslim terrorists in Iraq blow up churches, blow up fellow Iraqi citizens and murder Americans then hide in their mosques. They then dare the American soldiers to touch their holy shrines or even attempt to bring out the murderers from inside. The terrorists who burn churches then hide in mosques know exactly what they are doing and that they can get away with it if the enemy is America.
Russia, on the other hand, is a different world force, and in many ways can react with brutality equal to that of the Arab world. Russians will not introspectively ask, “Why do they hate us?” They will react severely against terrorism on their children. Having found Arabs among the terrorists in Beslan is proof of Arab connections. Most Arab countries openly support Muslim separatist movements around the world, such as in the Philippines, and worldwide. Russia might not strive to retaliate with limited surgical attacks on terrorists, but will likely do the old-fashioned bombing of whole blocks in cities, subjecting its enemies to more casualties and collateral damage. I do not believe that the political opposition in Russia will demand a more “sensitive” war on terror; that is a fact Arabs understand. The Soviet Union’s war in Afghanistan was brutal and the Muslim world can still remember that.
The Arab world is now in a panic since by giving financial and moral support to all the Muslim separatist movements in the past they have created a monster. These Muslim minorities have been aided and abetted by Arabs for decades to turn against their non-Muslim nations from whom they demand a separate state. It is time for Arabs to let go and leave them to live in peace in their own communities. They cannot hide the fact that they caused much bloodshed and turmoil in all these minority Muslim regions and should take responsibility for it. Now they are trying to save face by denouncing terror in these regional conflicts that they have helped create.
I hope this is a wake up call to the West of what can happen when Muslims congregate to live in a separate section in a state or county and refuse to mix with the rest of the population. As soon as they take control of an area and become the majority in a city they demand a separatist movement. The Arab influence and support on these communities is not benign and harmless; its basic goal is the fueling of resentments and armed resistance from the larger community. The wealthy Saudi Arabs are respected in minority non-Arab Muslim communities first and foremost because they are the keepers of the holy Muslim grounds of Mecca and Medina and because they speak Arabic, the language of the Quran. That makes them more credible when interpreting it. Many Arab minorities in other countries believe that whatever comes from the Saudis are direct orders from in the words of the Prophet Mohammed himself. The Saudis also lure these communities with the petro-dollars desperately needed in these poorer communities. That is how all these hot spots of Muslim turmoil around the world began and are now being manipulated by Arabs. The Chechnyans are simply Russians who practice Islam now want to split and form an Islamic state of their own. Think of all the trouble it could bring to Europe and Russia. Such Muslim state, with its loyalty to Radical Muslim countries, would end up being yet another playground of terror controlled from Mecca in the heart of Europe.
Arab countries are now seeing shrinking support for Arab causes from world public opinion. They have turned many of their traditional friends into critics and even their money might not be able to buy them favoritism any more. With terrorism against France, Spain and Italy and other nations the Saudis should expect a united world public opinion against their activities, hopefully, coming through the UN, soon.