It’s a surprisingly cogent idea that emanates from the mind of Thomas Friedman, on of the Times’ Typical Hardcore Leftists. I’m sure it’s probably Islamophobic
We Need Another Giant Protest
President Obama was criticized for failing to attend, or send a proper surrogate to, the giant antiterrorism march in Paris on Sunday. That criticism was right. But it is typical of American politics today that we focus on this and not what would have really made the world feel the jihadist threat was finally being seriously confronted. And that would not be a march that our president helps to lead, but one in which he’s not involved at all. That would be a million-person march against the jihadists across the Arab-Muslim world, organized by Arabs and Muslims for Arabs and Muslims, without anyone in the West asking for it — not just because of what happened in Paris but because of the scores of Muslims recently murdered by jihadists in Pakistan, Yemen, Iraq, Libya, Nigeria and Syria.
Abdul Rahman al-Rashed, one of the most respected Arab journalists, wrote Monday in his column in Al-Sharq Al-Awsat: “Protests against the recent terrorist attacks in France should have been held in Muslim capitals, rather than Paris, because, in this case, it is Muslims who are involved in this crisis and stand accused. … The story of extremism begins in Muslim societies, and it is with their support and silence that extremism has grown into terrorism that is harming people. It is of no value that the French people, who are the victims here, take to the streets. … What is required here is for Muslim communities to disown the Paris crime and Islamic extremism in general.†(Translation by Memri.org.)
The problem is, these demonstrations virtually never appear, because if the so-called moderate Muslims attempt it they will be attacked. The typical demonstration within the Arab-Muslim world is to celebrate terrorist attacks against the West. More Muslims are actually killed by the Islamists (hardcore terrorist Muslims) than non-Muslims, yet, so far, few have risen up against the spread of hardcore Islam, both the violent type and the softer, Sharia pushing type.
The truth is there is a huge amount of ambivalence toward this whole jihadist phenomenon — more than any of us would like to believe — in the Arab-Muslim world, Europe and America. This ambivalence starts in the Muslim community, where there is a deep cleavage over what constitutes authentic Islam today. We fool ourselves when we tell Muslims what “real Islam†is.
A 2013 survey, taken through 38000 real world interviews, revealed that, in most Muslim countries, they wanted Sharia law to be the law of the land.
“Muslims need to ‘upgrade their software,’ which is programmed mainly by our schools, television and mosques — especially small mosques that trade in what is forbidden,†Egyptian intellectual Mamoun Fandy wrote in Al-Sharq Al-Awsat. (Also translated by Memri.org.) “There is no choice but to dismantle this system and rebuild it in a way that is compatible with human culture and values.â€
This, in itself, is a serious problem, because, as Friedman points out there is no central authority figure like the Pope within the Muslim community, which means Islamic learning comes from all sorts of figures, like Ayatollahs, clerics, and school teachers, among others. The more hardcore version of Islam is taught within the madrassas (Islamic schools) and mosques, it is pushed by the religious leaders, and let’s not forget that Islam isn’t just religion, but politics.
In short, jihadist zeal is easy to condemn, but will require multiple revolutions to stem — revolutions that will require a lot of people in the Arab-Muslim world and West to shed their ambivalence and stop playing double games.
If I didn’t know better, I would think Friedman was a conservative with this kind of dialogue. In the 60’s, it took Whites to say “no more!” to institutionalized segregation and racism to enact the Civil Rights legislation, to say that lynchings should not be performed in the name of Whites, no turning water cannons on Blacks, sicking dogs on them, beating them simply because they were Black. In a similar vein, the moderate Muslims need to decide whether they will put up with the radicalized version of their religion. However, one Times commenter notes
I’m wondering if you could find one million Muslims with enough passion about freedom of speech that they’d put aside the dictates of their community and march for it. Anywhere in the world. Honestly.
You might find them scattered around the world. Many get involved in marches, such as the Paris march. But 1 million to do it together? Doubtful. And since there are supposed to be anywhere from 1 billion to 1.6 billion, would 1 million make a difference?
Read: NY Times: What We Really Need Is A Giant Muslims Against Muslim Terrorism March »
