But once again they are exercised about acts of jihad violence against Muslims. When non-Muslims are targeted they don’t seem to have a problem. “Arab Columnists Criticize the Justification of Terrorism,” from MEMRI, with thanks to Daryl:
The Bombings in Jordan Have Nothing to Do With Iraq and Palestine
In a column titled “The Link between Terrorism and the Palestinian and Iraqi [Issues] is a Lie,” Dr. Mamoun Fandy wrote in the London Arabic-language daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat: “The Jordan bombings are resounding proof that justifying terrorism by linking it to the Palestinian issue is a fraud, and that justifying terrorism by linking it to the American occupation in Iraq is a big lie. To those who say that terrorism in our Arab region is the result of the American occupation in Iraq, I say: we are no [foreigners]. We [didn’t come from] Sweden – we know the region [well]. And terrorism existed and was [deeply] rooted in our region [even] before the Americans came to Iraq.
Note that in the litany of terrorist acts that follows he includes none of the many attacks on non-Muslims — not Madrid 3/11, or London 7/7, or even 9/11. Not a word about the innumerable attacks in Israel:
“The terrorism of the Islamist groups in Egypt and the assassination of [Egyptian president Anwar] Al-Sadat occurred before [the war] in Iraq; the massacre of the children in Algeria began before the occupation of Iraq; Juhaiman [Al-‘Utaibi’s] terrorism in the mosque in Mecca took place before [the war in] Iraq; [1] and the bombings in Al-‘Uliya and Al-Khobar also took place before the war in Iraq. [2] Terrorism existed in our region before the [U.S.] occupation, and it will continue to exist after the Americans withdraw from Iraq. [It will continue] until some of us, especially in the media, are [finally] able to say that the justifications of terrorism are false, and that the bombings in Jordan… had nothing to do with the fact that Jordan shares a border with Iraq… If mere proximity to Iraq causes terrorism to spread [into a country], why aren’t we witnessing bombings in Syria, which has extensive borders with Iraq? Why aren’t we witnessing terrorism in Iran, which also shares a border with Iraq? Why are we witnessing terrorism [only] in Jordan, Turkey, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia?…
[…]
Dr. Abd Al-Hamid Al-Ansari makes the same conspicuous omission:
Qatari Reformist: “When Will We Launch an Ideological, Cultural, Educational, Informational, and Religious Campaign to Eradicate Terrorism?”
The former dean of the Faculty of Islamic Law at the University of Qatar, Dr. Abd Al-Hamid Al-Ansari, wrote in the Kuwaiti daily Al-Siyassa that the time has come for the Arabs to assume responsibility for their actions and stop justifying terrorist acts:
“Is there any explanation for the actions of these devils, who came from Iraq to Jordan in order to blow themselves up [in] the capital’s three largest hotels? Is there any justification for the act of that suicide [bomber] who chose to blow himself up among ordinary people eating their breakfast at a restaurant in central Baghdad? Is there any logical motivation [that leads] those who call themselves ‘the national resistance’ to target [people at] bus stops, restaurants, markets, and mosques?! Is there any convincing reason to harm people sitting in a mourners’ tent, in Shi’ite mosques, or in hospitals?…
“When will we initiate a significant change [leading] towards a national program for combating terrorism? When will we launch an ideological, cultural, educational, informational, and religious campaign to eradicate terrorism?
Sounds great, but then he makes it clear that he is still concerned only with Muslim-on-Muslim violence — arising from the practice of takfir, or the declaring of other Muslims to be unbelievers and thus legitimately killed (a favored tactic of the Wahhabis). But where does that leave the other unbelievers?
The king of Jordan said: ‘We will not be lenient towards the ideology of takfir [accusing others of heresy] and towards those who justify and support terrorism.’ Previously, the leaders of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf [states] made similar statements. But what do we do about the general public which accepts extremist fundamental notions? [About] the public which constitutes fertile ground for the development of extremism and cultivation of terrorist cells? How do we translate the declarations of the kings and leaders into operational plans to bring about the eradication of violent thinking?
“Countering [terrorism] on the security front [alone] is not enough, [since] many imams bless the terrorists. The security agreements are to no avail [when] columnists, writers, journalists, and satellite channels praise the terrorists’ actions in Iraq and refer to them as ‘resistance’ and ‘jihad’…
“The ‘culture of justification [of terrorism]’ is still [well] rooted in the Arab world, and there are writers, columnists, and satellite channels who make their living off it.” [6]
Somebody needs to fill in Dr. Al-Ansari: the culture of justification for terrorism isn’t deeply rooted. Rather, it is the product of a Tiny Minority of Extremists who have Hijacked The Religion, and it is condemned by the Vast Majority of Peaceful Muslims. Doc, somebody forgot to issue you a script.