"The bottom line is that terrorism is always wrong. There can be no provocation to justify attacks on innocent civilians. Retaliation, revenge, or pre-emption are not legitimate excuses. Who carried out the first act is not important. Most often the religious affiliation of the perpetrator is not important except in their own warped minds."
By Sheila Musaji
(Friday, October 28, 2005)
Courtesy Of Media Monitors
J. Grant Swank on the MichNews.com website published an article entitled Muslim Timeline for World Rule[1] which is an abbreviated version of a longer timeline published on the Obsession website entitled Timeline of Islamist Linked Terror.[2] These do appear to be timelines of terrorist acts that may be linked to Muslims, but where the timeline for world rule comes in I was unable to ascertain.
The first item on these timelines is the 1968 assassination of Robert Kennedy by Sirhan Sirhan. How Sirhan who was (and is) a Christian could be part of a list of "Islamist linked terror" it is difficult to understand.
After just glancing down this list it was obvious that a box should have been at the top of the list saying "Readers Beware: We have an axe to grind!" as this was obviously based on selective manipulation and inclusion and exclusion of facts to prove a point. The point seems to be "Beware of Muslims". Like my Grandpa used to say "figures don't lie, but liars can figure".
Both the shorter and longer lists on these sites did identify their agenda in the titles themelves. They were attempting to identify only acts of terror linked to "Islamists".
I was curious about the "facts" presented and went to the the U.S. Dept. of State website where I found a chronology of significant terrorist incidents, 1961-2003[3] This site had a disclaimer stating that the list was incomplete, which would at least warn a careful reader that it is not a complete list of all terrorist incidents. What isn't said is that someone (an individual or a committee) made choices as to what would and would not be included and these choices affect the overall perception of reality that the reader takes away. Even the decision to begin the list at the arbitrary date of 1961 needs explanation.
Between 1961 and 1999 there are a total of 129 incidents listed -- of these 45 were carried out by individuals or groups who were either Muslim or Arab. This would be 34% if this were the total of all such incidents and not just a sample. From 2000 to 2003 - 117 incidents are listed of which 101 were either Muslim or Arab. This would be a dramatic increase not only in incidents but in incidents involving Muslims and Arabs 86% if this list was complete. However, in just a cursory look at the list I found a number of significant incidents that were not listed. In fact this list is very limited as in 1990 there were 162 incidents[4] in South America alone.
Some attacks on churches were listed but none on mosques. Some assassinations were listed, but not others (e.g. the assassination of Lord Mountbatten by the IRA is not listed), in fact almost no political assassinations are listed. Civil rights murders by white supremacists were not listed. The attack on the USS Cole was listed, but not the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty. Very few JDL and IRA attacks were listed. Some terrorist acts in which a particular group is only "suspected" are listed while others are not. There are no listings for terrorist acts against Muslims in China, Serbia, Russia, Burma, India, Thailand, etc. Almost every attack by a Palestinian on an Israeli is listed, but only one attack by an Israeli on Palestinians. Surprisingly, not even the 1996 Olympic Village bombing is listed. A few incidents that were not listed are given below.
Some of the other nationalities and religions involved in the crimes that were listed were: Puerto Rican, Israeli, Guatemalan, Japanese, Brazilian, German, American, Uruguayan, Irish, Mexican, Greek, Chilean, Italian, El Salvadoran, Colombian, North Korean, Japanese, Indian, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist.
The only conclusion to be drawn from this is that all of us need to be very careful in looking at any statistics or lists not to form hasty opinions based on partial or misleading information.
There is a wealth of information available to us today but it requires thoughtful analysis to make good use of that information.
It is obvious that terrorism is increasing[5] worldwide particularly since the start of the War on Terror.[6] Some have even pointed to Iraq as the new breeding ground[7] for terrorists. Suicide terrorism[8] is increasing and may be the only form of terrorism more common among Muslims which is vey surprising since both suicide and terrorism (hirabah) are forbidden by Islam. Terrorism is increasing and the War on Terror is expanding[9] and being called into [question.[10]
Attempts to sway public opinion by giving distorted statistics to create fear and hatred towards a particular group are pointless and a form of intellectual terrorism. This list on the MichNews site attempts to portray the villain as "the Muslims", other sites with other ideologies attempt to paint the villain as "the Christians", or "the Jews", or Israel, or the U.S., or colonialism, or ... It goes on and on and gets us nowhere.
The bottom line is that terrorism is always wrong. There can be no provocation to justify attacks on innocent civilians. Retaliation, revenge, or pre-emption are not legitimate excuses. Who carried out the first act is not important. Most often the religious affiliation of the perpetrator is not important except in their own warped minds.
We can continue trying to put the blame on "them" and exonerate "us" but it is not only a waste of time, but an evil distraction keeping us from getting at the root of the problem.
"Terrorism is the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives." - US Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Even according to this definition we must at least question the actions of many individuals, organizations, and governments, including the U.S. Government, under that definition.
Terrorism cannot stop terrorism. Only justice and spiritual solutions have any hope of decreasing the current world crisis. We can continue to look for ways to place the blame for what is happening on some mythical villain. The truth is that there is a dark side to human nature that we must confront.
Some terrorist events not listed on the Dept. of State website
- 1955 Emmett Till murdered, KKK
- 1957 Assassination of Patrice Lumumba, guilt disputed
- 1963 Medgar Evers murdered by Byron de la Beckwith
- 1963 Four little girls killed in Birmingham church bombing by white supremecists
- 1964 Three civil rights workers murdered in Mississippi by KKK
- 1963 John F. Kennedy assassinated in Texas by Lee Harvey Oswald
- 1964 Malcolm X murdered in New York, responsibility unknown
- 1967 Israeli attack on USS Liberty
- 1967 Martin Luther King is killed by white supremecist James Earl Ray
- 1968 Robert F. Kennedy assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan (a Palestinian Christian)
- 1969 Dennis Michael Rohan of the Church of God (Protestant) sets fire to Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem
- 1970 pipe bomb exploded at NY offices of Aeroflot, JDL suspected
- 1971 Bomb attack on British soldiers in Belfast, IRA
- 1971 - 2 Russian gift shops bombed, one in NY and one in Minnesota, Jewish Armed Resistance claimed responsibility
- 1972 JDL members firebombed NY offices of Sol Hurok
- 1972 Bloody Friday Bombings, IRA
- 1974 Biringham Pub bombings, IRA
- 1976 Bomb kills British Ambassador, PIRA
- 1976 - 3 pipebombs found near UN library, JDL claimed credit
- 1976 bombing at building housing Czech and Soviet national airline offices in NY, Jewsh Armed Resistance Strike Force claimed credit
- 1978 The Jewish Armed Resistance planted a bomb in the Manhattan offices of Novoye Russkoye Slovo, a Russian-language daily newspaper. The 3:30 am explosion heavily damaged the first two floors and the printing facilities.
- 1978 firebomb on stairwell of Soviet tourist office in U.S., Jewish Armed Resistance claimed credit
- 1979 Earl Mountbatten killed in bomb attack by PIRA
- 1980's Ted Kaczynski, the Unibomber
- 1980's 20 bombings in NY area alone attributed to JDL
- 1981 Israeli attack on Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem
- 1981 Iranian bank in San Francisco firebombed, JDL
- 1981 - 2 bombings in London, IRA
- 1982 IRA bombing in Hyde Park, London
- 1982 JDL claimed responsibility for an attack on Air France offices in Paris
- 1982 JDL claimed credit for a bomb that exploded outside the Lufthansa offices in Manhattan
- 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacres of Palestinian refugees by Lebanese Christians while the camps were surrounded by Israeli soldiers.
- 1983 bombing of Harrod's in London, IRA
- 1983 JDL claimed responsibility for a bomb explosion at the Aeroflot Soviet airlines
- 1984 Brighton Hotel bombing, IRA
- 1984 Anti-Sikh riots and massacres in India
- 1986 Bombing of ADC offices in Santa Ana, California killing Alex Odeh, JDL suspected
- 1986 Firebombing outside Lincoln Center, New York, JDL suspected
- 1987 Tear gas grenade fired into Metropolitan Opera House, New York, JDL
- 1987 "Enniskillen Massacre", the PIRA bombs a Remembrance Day parade
- 1989 bombing of Royal Marine base in Kent, IRA
- Genocide of Bosnians by Serbs (Christians)
- 1990 car bombings in Northern Ireland, IRA
- 1991 Victoria Station Bombing, PIRA
- 1992 London Bridge Railway Station Bombing
- 1994 PIRA bombing in Warrington
- 1994 Paul Hill murders abortion doctor
- 1994 Rwandan genocide of 800,000 Tutsi's by Hutu's
- 1995 thousands of Bosnian Muslims murdered by Serbian soldiers at Patachari
- 1995 Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin by an Israeli (Jewish)
- 1995 Srbenica massacre of Bosnian Muslims by Serbs
- 1996 Olympic Village Bombing, Eric Rudolph
- 1996 Belgrade, Serbia Mosque bombed
- 1997 Bombing of Abortion Clinic in Atlanta, Eric Rudolph
- Human Rights lawyer killed in car bombing by Protestant Red Hand Defenders in Ireland
- 1998-1999 massacres of Kosovo Muslims by Serbs
- 1999 Buford Furrow attacks Jewish day camp in Southern California
- 2000 Memphis, TN Mosque attacked by shotgun fire
- 2001 Dallas, TX Mosque firebombed
- 2001 Belfast Mosque attacked
- 2001 Three Palestinians killed in roadside ambush by Jewish settlers
- 2001 Halifax, Canada Mosque attacked
- 2001 Earl Krugel of JDL plots to bomb a mosque and field office of U.S. Arab American congressman (sentanced in 2005)
- 2001 James Kopp indicted for murder of abortion doctor
- 2002 Charles Franklin drives truck into Florida mosque
- 2002 Riots and massacres of Muslims in Gujarat by Hindus
- 2002 Jewish settlers kill 14 year old Palestinian girl and injure 9 in funeral rampage
- 2002 Robert Goldstein plots to blow up 50 mosques in Florida
- 2002 Jewish settlers plant bomb in Palestinian school yard
- 2002 massacres of Muslims at Ahmedabad, India by Hindus
- Mossad agents arrested inside Mexican Congress carrying explosives
- British UN official shot in back by Israeli soldier
- 2003 Rachel Corey murdered in Gaza by Israeli
- 2003 Chicago Mosque attacked, unknown perpetrator
- 2003 Mosque bombed in India
- 2004 Mosque attacked in Katmandu, Nepal
- 2004 - 630 Muslim nomads killed by Christians in Nigeria
- 2004 Islamic School bombed in Holland
- 2004 Israeli forces fire on peaceful Palestinian protest in Rafah
- 2004 Gale Nettles was accused of targeting the Everett McKinley Dirksen Federal Building in a bomb plot
- 2004 Jewish Settler kills Palestinian driver
- 2005 Israeli West Bank settler kills 4 Palestinians
- 2005 Jewish settler shoots 15 year old Palestinian boy in the back
- 2005 Palestinian child stabbed to death by Israeli settlers
- 2005 Israeli soldier kills 4 Arab bus passengers
- 2005 Jewish terrorists attack Al Aqsa mosque
- 2005 arson attacks on 2 Mosques in England
Notes:
[1]. http://www.michnews.com/artman/publish/article_9990.shtml
[2]. http://www.honestreporting.com/obsession/timeline.htm
[3]. http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/pubs/fs/5902.htm
[4]. http://www.fas.org/irp/threat/terror_90/latin.html
[5]. http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/0784F7E4- 0361-4D6E-BF42-240F7CD3C751.htm
[6]. http://baltimorechronicle.com/042605IvanEland.shtml
[7]. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/
A7460-2005Jan13.html
[8]. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/07/ 0729_050729_suicide.html
[9]. http://www.cato.org/dailys/02-08-02.html
[10]. http://www.motherjones.com/news/dailymojo/2004/09/09_410.html
No comments:
Post a Comment