From Afghan and Iraq wars to Charlie Hebdo murders

This video from the USA says about itself:

Muslims Against Terrorism

13 November 2010

In answer to the question, “Why don’t we ever hear Muslims speaking out against terrorism?”, Muslims of the Twin Cities step forward to do just that.

This was a personal project. It was not funded or sponsored in any way by any organization. Everyone in it appears as a private citizen.

Note: The following links are NOT provided for proselytizing purposes – I myself am not Muslim. They are examples of Muslims speaking out against terrorism, regardless of whether I personally agree with anything else they have to say.

From daily The Morning Star in Britain:

Star Comment: The real roots of terrorism

Friday 9th January 2015

SHOCK, revulsion and grief are natural human reactions to the news of Wednesday’s massacre of journalists and policemen in Paris.

The Morning Star adds its voice to the many expressions of solidarity with the French people, and with the friends and families of those killed and injured.

We fully support National Union of Journalists general secretary Michelle Stanistreet in her call for supporters of civil liberties to “stand together with governments to condemn this act and defend the right of all journalists to do their job without fear of threats, intimidation and murder.”

Nothing can excuse Wednesday’s outrage. But press headlines such as “War on freedom” and “An assault on democracy” and David Cameron’s categorisation of the events as “a challenge to our security and values” fail to deal adequately with the root cause of the attack or provide a genuine strategy for reducing the threat of future similar events.

While Charlie Hebdo was the target for this particular outrage, that did not occur in a complete vacuum.

French police claim to have thwarted five terror plots since the summer of 2013, and indeed there were a number of isolated attempts, including a knife-attack on a police station, in 2014.

All the evidence suggests that the attackers on Wednesday were French jihadists who had undergone military training.

It cannot be a coincidence that there are some 400 French fighters with Isis and similar groups in Iraq and Syria, and that Isis has explicitly called for terrorist attacks in France because of that country’s participation in air strikes in Iraq by the US-led coalition.

As we pointed out on Tuesday, the treatment of women, girls and members of non-Sunni Muslim religious minorities at the hands of Isis barbarians “is a stain on humanity that must be expunged without delay.”

But Western countries, whose sole interest is control over oil resources, are the last powers to take a leading role in this.

It must be the responsibility of local people, with any external support coming under the aegis of the United Nations.

Jihadism in the Middle East goes back to US president Ronald Reagan and his administration’s manipulation of Islamist fundamentalism to back the terror campaign of the mojahedin against the then progressive regime in Afghanistan.

Al-Qaida and the Taliban are direct consequences of that fundamentalism.

When George W Bush and Tony Blair launched the wars on Afghanistan and Iraq, the Morning Star warned that this would increase the threat of jihadist attacks throughout the world, but particularly against those Western countries taking part in the wars.

We issued the same warning when the US-led coalition launched its bombing campaign against Isis.

The fundamentalism of Isis, and its military success in Iraq and Syria, flows directly from the instability created in Iraq and the sectarianism of its Western-imposed government, together with the backing given by Nato and reactionary Arab states to the armed rebellion against the secular Assad regime in Syria.

Within France, support for jihadism has been fuelled by the socioeconomic grievances of young unemployed Muslims living in impoverished suburbs.

Minimising the threat of further jihadist attacks does not lie in “anti-terror” legislation which is drawn so broadly that it can be directed against leftwingers, peace campaigners and trade unionists.

Nor will it be alleviated by Ukip leader Nigel Farage’s reference, in a Channel 4 interview, to a “fifth column” in France and Britain, and his questioning of “the whole really gross attempt at encouraged division within society that we have had in the past few decades in the name of multiculturalism.”

What is needed is unity of those of all faiths and none, withdrawal from imperialist military adventures and a rejection of the politics of austerity, in order to start building a society of genuine solidarity.

The attack on the editorial offices of Charlie Hebdo has shocked the public, which is horrified by the violent deaths of 12 people in the center of Paris. The video images, viewed by millions, of the gunmen firing their weapons and killing an already-wounded policeman have imparted to Wednesday’s events an extraordinary actuality. In the immediate aftermath of the shootings, the state and media are seeking to exploit the fear and the confusion of the public. Once again, the political bankruptcy and essentially reactionary character of terrorism is exposed. It serves the interests of the state, which utilizes the opportunity provided by the terrorists to whip up support for authoritarianism and militarism. In 2003, when the Bush administration invaded Iraq, French popular opposition was so overwhelming that the government led by President Jacques Chirac was compelled to oppose the war, even in the face of massive political pressure from the United States. Now, 12 years later, as President François Hollande is striving to transform France into the United States’ principal ally in the “war on terror,” the attack in Paris plays into his hands: here.

In the aftermath of the massacre at the editorial offices of the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo on Wednesday, the French state has organized a massive police-military mobilization, deploying tens of thousands of officers and troops throughout Paris and northern France: here.

There is mounting evidence that the intelligence services of France and several other countries were actively tracking the two brothers named as the gunmen who carried out the massacre at the editorial offices of Charlie Hebdo Wednesday. These facts raise more and more questions about how such high-profile suspects could obtain weapons and prepare what appears to have a been a highly organized and professional military assault: here.

Two brothers believed to be behind Wednesday’s attack on the offices of French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo were reportedly killed on Friday, Agence France Presse reports. See also here.

French Muslims Fear Backlash, Increased Islamophobia After Charlie Hebdo Attack: here.

Mourning the Parisian “Humorists” Yet Challenging the Hypocrisy of Western Media, by: Rabbi Michael Lerner: here.

THE SECRET ESCALATION OF THE SECRET WAR IN AFGHANISTAN Following the capture of a treasure trove of information on al Qaeda in a raid this fall, the U.S. has stealthily increased its night raids. The escalation is in sharp contrast to the picture being painted in Washington, “where the Obama administration has deemed the American role in the war essentially over.” [NYT]