The State Of Terror

Friday, May 30, 2003
By: Tashbih Sayyed

Any plan that helps to create a terror state cannot be termed a peace plan. The Quartet's Road Map for peace, if implemented "as one package ... and without any changes" will not only ensure the destruction of Israel but will also sow the seeds of an eternal terror. Let's see how?
1) The road map endeavors to create a Palestinian state without first changing the militant ethos of a people.
It is a historical fact that Arabs believe in the use of terror to overcome their opponents. A Palestinian state without changing this mind-set will further perpetuate this thinking. The Arab street will be convinced that they owe their statehood to homicide bombers and will continue to use terror as their national policy to achieve their goals - the supreme goal being the destruction of Israel. David Wilder, a settler in the West Bank city of Hebron was right in his assumption, "The road map is an assisted suicide plan that leads Israel straight into the Mediterranean Sea." Any state in which terrorists command more respect than peacemakers will always serve as a springboard for murderers. Present day Arabs in the West Bank and Gaza are the best example of such a state of mind. They idolize Yasser Arafat, who has always used terror, covertly and overtly, to stay in power. Arafat just like Adolph Hitler, understands his people, winning their hearts by cultivating an anti-Israel image for himself. He cannot be a partner for peace. Without removing him from power and sources of financing, any dream of peace will remain unobtainable.

If anyone had any doubt about Arafat's iron clad hold on Arab minds, the fresh blood flowing in the streets of Israel after Mahmood Abbas's takeover as Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority should be convincing enough. He rules the hearts and minds of those who consider it their holy duty to kill Jews and destroy Israel. At this stage of his life he cannot afford to compromise his chances to be an immortal leader in the image of early Muslim rulers who established their empire by defeating Jews and Christians. An anti-Semitic state of mind is incapable of accepting a Jewish presence in their midst.

To have a lasting peace a change of heart is a must.
2) Palestinian terrorist campaign is neither a nationalistic campaign nor a struggle for freedom. It is movement to annihilate Jews.
Over fifty years of one sided campaign to present Jews as occupiers of holy lands, killers and murderers of innocent children and enemies of Islam has turned the Arabs of the refugee camps into a revenge seeking, hate filled souls. Today's Arab personality is composed of a number of ingredients, a) a false sense of betrayal b) a false sense of being oppressed, c) manipulated holy scripts d) A false sense of being wronged and e) a burning desire to get even with the world that has "imposed Jews on them."

A state under control of such a mind will surely set a stage for a perpetual instability in the world.
3) Second Palestinian state (Jordan is the first Palestinian state) will be a Talibanized militant Islamic state.
The Arab Israeli real estate dispute is not a local and regional conflict any more. The militant Islamists have convinced their world that the Jewish state is created to weaken the world of Islam. The militant Islam is driven by the sense that the honor of their faith depends on the outcome of this latest battle. They have used Jerusalem as an effective tool to stoke the medieval religious sentiments. This transformation has rendered a soluble squabble between two neighbors into an insoluble tribal feud in the ancient Arab traditions. The participation of British, American, Pakistani, Indian, Algerian, Indonesian and Philippine Islamists in the ongoing race to become a homicide bomber informs the world of this ideology's reach.

3) Second Palestinian state will enforce, vitalize and energize the process of Globalization of Islamist terrorism.
Militant Islamists, after having lost Afghanistan, have gone back to their local and regional work stations. But not before the Afghan experience molded them into one unified dedicated network (Ummah) with numerous local and regional centers. Contrary to the perception of certain quarters, they are not on the run. They are very well entrenched and are gaining strength. They have been able to survive because of their nature. They are ethereal - like a ghost or a shadow. They share one dream but are not under one unified command. Their determination to destroy the US in order to eliminate the Jewish state is in tact. Their belief that the destruction of Israel will once and for all reopen the road to their eternal domination over other faiths is shatter proof.

4) Al-Qaeda is responsible for the revival of the jihadi fervor but is not the originator of the militant state of mind.
Al-Qaeda has definitely facilitated the latest and improved wave of religious terror but has not caused it. Before Al-Qaeda, there was Hezbollah. And before Hezbollah over the past several centuries, there were numerous other militant Islamic movements that had, as their sole objective, the destruction of non-Salafi (Wahhabi, Deobandi) world. Osama ben Laden and Al-Qaeda has merely reminded the militant Islam its long forgotten mission.

This mission in the garb of "Palestinian resistance" or Intifada has successfully connected this Arab Israeli dispute with the universal militant Islamist movement of establishing Khilafah. It brought back the memories of humiliation of losing the Ottoman Empire in 1924 and identified that "shame' with the establishment of Israel. That explains the involvement of Islamist movements in Iran, Saudi Arabian, Syria, Pakistan. Malaysia, Indonesia Algeria, Sudan, Libya in keeping the terror alive in Israel.

5) The militant Islamic movement does not distinguish between terror and jihad.
Something that has to be taken note of is the fact that the Islamist controlled Muslim societies have lost the ability to distinguish between plain and simple terrorism and jihad (holy war). Militant Islamists have brain washed the Muslims into believing that their terrorist acts are endorsed and ordained by Quraa'n (Islam's holy book) and Sunnah ( Prophet Mohammed's deeds and sayings). They abuse and misinterpret the holy book and the Prophet's traditions with impunity to justify and legitimize their acts of terrorism. The present yearning for "martyrdom" among the old and young, male and female Islamists alike is the testimony of the success of this religious manipulation. A new poll of Palestinians found that roughly 60% support continuing homicide bombings and military operations inside Israel, while only 15% believe a violence-free strategy best serves Palestinians.

6) Militant Islamic movement is different from any other terrorist or militant movement of the past.
Europe, Great Britain, Latin America, Africa and Asia, all had their terrorist movements but none of them posed any threat to the world peace and stability. None of them was universal in nature, objectives, approach and reach. Militant Islam.

7) The Palestine problem is not the root cause of conflict in the Middle East. Anti Semitism is.
It is anti Semites that prevents Arabs to accept the state of Israel. All other reasons - real and perceived - are the byproducts of this malady.

8) Unless the foundation of an anti-Semite ethos are changed no road map for peace will convey us to our destination.
If the reasons for the past failures of peace efforts, plans, and agreements to achieve stability in the Middle East are analyzed, it will become abundantly clear that the stumbling block is not Israel. It is the Arab world, where the in-built anti-Semitism has always managed to overwhelm everything else.

A decade ago, nobody could of thought that Israelis will accept the idea of a Palestinian state but since they did not suffer from an imbedded hatred for Palestinians, they gradually reconciled with the idea of a Palestinian state. On the other hand, Palestinians have never given up on any one of their demands, beginning with their right of return to their "ancestral homes," although a majority of them have never lived in Israel. Arab exclusiveness prevents them from accepting the reality that the Jews have an ancient and divine right to the holy places including Jerusalem.

In this backdrop, neither Sharon's acceptance of the road map nor Bush's assurance that the United States is committed to Israel's security will make any difference. A change of Arab ethos will.
Without an Arab change of heart any Palestine state will only mean a state of terror.

(The writer is editor-in-chief of Pakistan Today, a California-based weekly newspaper, and president of Council for Democracy and Tolerance.)