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Arab Columnists: Terrorists are Motivated by Cultural and Religious Factors, Not Poverty

Jan 26, 2005 6:15 am By Robert Spencer

We have noted similar findings here many times. From MEMRI, with thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist:

Saudi Columnist: ‘The Only Way to End Violence and Terrorism Is to Fight a Cultural and Ideological Battle’

In an article published in the Saudi Gazette, columnist Muhammad Mahfouz, who is also editor of the cultural magazine Al-Kalima, published in Lebanon, wrote: [1]

“It is an undeniable fact that social problems and phenomena [that] are ignored without determining their root causes will proliferate and surface repeatedly. But “¦ their re-emergence will be associated with more complications and grow to the extent that they become incurable”¦

“This brings me to the phenomenon of terrorism, which is oneof the most dangerous problems encountered [in] recent times, for it undermines the stability and security of all human societies. This shows that [an] external and superficial probing of the problem will not be effective until [we] delve deeply into its cultural and ideological roots”¦

“Of course the security efforts [are] one of the tools to fight terrorism “¦ [but] the security efforts always need to be associated and supported with national, cultural, political, and socioeconomic efforts”¦

“The relationship between the phenomenon of terrorism in our society and culture is like the relationship betweenthe cause and consequence. A thorough study of this phenomenon shows that the “¦ real reason behind the mobilization of a handful of young men by this deviant group is purely cultural. This means that these youths were brought up in a special cultural atmosphere which finds its roots in a stereotyped understanding of religion. This understanding serves as a basic incubator to this group. This may explain the reason why some youths belonging to rich families and others who are well positioned in the state’s civil service hierarchy are implicated in terrorist crimes.

“This [means] that financial and economic factors can not be associated with this group. Therefore, it is a cultural and religious factor that motivated them [to kill] innocent people and destroy the country’s infrastructure.

“Thus, the only way to put an end to the wave of violence and terrorism is to fight a cultural and ideological battle against terrorism as well as [against] its direct and indirect causes. Without fighting this fateful battle, we will never succeed in eliminating this menace, and thus our country will suffer from this phenomenon from time to time.

“In my opinion, [any] delay in fighting this ideological cultural battle against terrorism will drag our country to abyss of instability. We need more than ever to “¦ expose the phenomenon of terrorism and dismantle the cultural and ideological incubators which feed this phenomenon and mold it socially and culturally.

“This brings me again to the point that the elimination of terrorism and violence are associated with uprooting the culture of violence which promotes killing, justifies terrorism, and provides it with a legitimate cover.

“[On the other hand,] the security battle will not help much in putting an end to this phenomenon. On the contrary, it may give it a justification [to continue].

“Thus, I find it necessary to elaborate on these points: The phenomenon of terrorism and violence we are facing can be classified as religious violence carried out by a group of brain-washed youth influenced by glamorous slogans. Thisrequires us to re-formulate the prevailing religious concepts and implant in their minds other religious values, such as the values of dialogue and religious tolerance, as well as recognizing pluralism. Thus “¦ we need to formulate a new religious vision isolating and freeing it of all the facets of extremism and fundamentalism.

Read it all.

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