In a January 3, 2010 article titled "Truly Saddening," Al-Sharq Al-Awsat chief editor Tariq Al-Homayed complained that the Arab media and public make a fuss over such issues as the minaret ban in Switzerland or the Niqab debate in France, but remain silent in the face of the large-scale suicide bombings in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq, in which scores of innocent civilians are brutally murdered by Muslim terrorists.
He stressed that the solution lies in educating the youth against extremism, and in clarifying that the Muslim faith categorically prohibits suicide bombings.
Following are excerpts from the article:
"The Killing and Terrorizing of Innocent People by Suicide Bombers... Barely Causes Us to Bat an Eyelash"
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"News of suicide bombings, murder, and destruction in Pakistan and Afghanistan, as well as in Iraq, has become commonplace, and we do not give it much thought. It is as though this [issue] does not concern us. [Instead], we see our media [preoccupied] with minor battles, such as [the issue] of the Swiss minarets and [various] other matters, while the killing and terrorizing of people by suicide bombers in these regions barely causes us to bat an eyelash, unfortunately.
"The last such suicide bombing, which took place at a volleyball game in a Pakistani village and caused 88 fatalities, was a depraved act that clearly reflected the brutality and extremism of its perpetrators. We say again and again that we cannot sit [on the sidelines] and just watch these events, believing that these [raging] flames will never [truly threaten] the Arab and Muslim [world]. It is Al-Qaeda and other [organizations] of its sort that are behind these operations – so this is something that gravely concerns us.
"The unsuccessful terrorist [attack] carried out by a young Nigerian on the American Delta [Airlines flight] proved that terrorist cells are interconnected. This Nigerian studied in London and became an extremist there, [but] he trained in Yemen and set out from Amsterdam to commit a crime in America. The day before yesterday, we heard that extremists in Somalia have announced that they would send fighters to Yemen in order to assist Al-Qaeda [there]. And that is not all. The mastermind behind the [attempted] assassination of Saudi Deputy Interior Minister Prince Mohammed Bin Naif came from Yemen, and even though he is a Saudi national, he [entered the country] from beyond the [Saudi] borders. We have also learned that the ones who kidnapped the British nationals in Iraq [later] transferred them to Iran. What some people fail to grasp is that the terrorists realize the importance of international activity, of linking interests, and of [taking] initiative far better than the [forces] fighting against them, [which are trapped in] a conventional mode of thinking."
What Is Needed "Is to Take a Firm Stand against Suicide Bombings, First of All by Firmly Inculcating the Shari'a [Law against Them]"
"What is required here is not intervention with money or men. All that is needed, [and needed] urgently, is to take a firm stand against suicide bombings, first of all by firmly inculcating the shari'a [law against them], which is not such a difficult [task]… I realize that fatwas prohibiting [suicide bombings] have [already] been issued, but unfortunately they are not imparted strongly enough. In fact, [these] fatwas are sometimes undermined by subjecting them to political interpretations or by following them with the word 'but'. Moreover, they are not given wide media coverage so as to bring them to the attention of wide sectors [in society]. What is needed is to inculcate these fatwas and explain them to the youth in the Arab and Muslim world, especially in communities blighted by ignorance and poverty.
"We see the media mounting campaigns over [various] issues which may indeed be worthy [of attention], but not as much as the killing and terrorizing of innocent people. People thus become distracted by such issues as the minarets in Switzerland, the niqab in France, and others [matters] that preoccupy the Arab and Islamic media and become the [focus] of public opinion, with [various] statements and condemnations [mobilizing] public opinion. But when 88 innocent people are killed in a Muslim country like Pakistan, and also in Iraq – and at the hands of those who claim to be Muslims, [no less] – we encounter total silence. This confuses and saddens the observer, and we must ask ourselves a simple question: What sort of value system are we employing? And how can we [accuse] others of employing a double standard when we suffer from the very same [problem]?"
