C L O S E R

Protected: Brabants Dagblad – Tolerantie na Bedir-brand

Posted on May 19th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Misc. News.

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Protected: de Volkskrant – ‘Radicaal, ik? Kennissen zouden zich rot lachen’

Posted on May 19th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Internal Debates, Religious and Political Radicalization, Uncategorized.

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NIO – Actueel : Interview Tourabi

Posted on May 19th, 2006 by .
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Internal Debates.

NIO – Actueel : Interview Tourabi
De NIO had een interview met Hassan Tourabi: eindelijk zou ik zeggen, maar daarmee zijn ze wel de eerste. De vraag is natuurlijk hoe oprecht hij is. Toen hij aan de macht was, was hij duidelijk minder rekkelijk. Niettemin, zijn zijn uitspraken toch op z’n zachtst gezegd werkelijk opmerkelijk.

Naar aanleiding van de opvallende opvattingen van de Soedanees Hassan Tourabi met betrekking tot de hoofddoek, de sluier, het huwelijk met een niet moslim en andere zaken, is er een heftig debat uitgebroken in de islamitische wereld. Sommige geleerden beschuldigen Tourabi van afvalligheid en anderen verwachten van hem de terugtrekking van zijn uitspraken. Nioscoop sprak met Tourabi over al deze zaken. Het in het Arabisch opgenomen interview is zo secuur mogelijk vertaald.

Interview Tourabi

Hassan TourabiNaar aanleiding van de opvallende opvattingen van de Soedanees Hassan Tourabi met betrekking tot de hoofddoek, de sluier, het huwelijk met een niet moslim en andere zaken, is er een heftig debat uitgebroken in de islamitische wereld. Sommige geleerden beschuldigen Tourabi van afvalligheid en anderen verwachten van hem de terugtrekking van zijn uitspraken. Nioscoop sprak met Tourabi over al deze zaken. Het in het Arabisch opgenomen interview is zo secuur mogelijk vertaald.

• Er wordt de laatste tijd vaak gediscussieerd in de media over uw uitspraken met betrekking tot de Hijab (Hoofddoek). Kunt u meer in detail op dit vraagstuk ingaan en hoe kijkt u naar het kledingsgedrag van de moslima?
• U maakt dus onderscheid tussen het gordijn [Hijab in de Koran] en de sluier?
• Hoe kijkt u naar de sluier van de moslima?
• U zegt dat het huwelijk tussen een moslima en een niet moslim toegestaan is, maar andere geleerden zijn daartegen. Als bewijs leunt men op het vers “En huwt geen afgodendienaressen voordat zij geloven”.
• U zegt dat het huwelijk tussen een moslima en een niet moslim toegestaan is maar andere geleerden zijn daartegen. Als bewijs leunt men op het vers “En huwt geen afgodendienaressen voordat zij geloven”.
• ‘De getuigenis van twee vrouwen is gelijk aan die van één man’, is dat niet tegenstrijdig met het islamitische principe met betrekking tot de gelijkheid tussen mannen en vrouwen?
• Denkt Hassan Tourabi dat een vrouw in het gebed mag voorgaan terwijl dit door de geschiedenis heen verboden was?

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Protected: Trouw, hetNieuws| nederland – Zembla / Vanwaar die verontwaardiging?’

Posted on May 18th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Misc. News.

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Protected: Trouw, hetNieuws| nederland – Zembla / Vanwaar die verontwaardiging?’

Posted on May 18th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Misc. News.

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C L O S E R – Land of Confusion

Posted on May 18th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Misc. News, Public Islam, Some personal considerations.

It is remarkable how many references there are to Hirsi Ali as a beautiful woman. I agree with these men (?), don’t get me wrong but why is that important? It’s very rare to see such a comment for a man. Does it contribute to her authority? If it does, it’s no wonder I have less authority :).

Meanwhile, several conspiracy theories have emerged. For example ZachtEi (which has an excellent overview of the events by the way)

The VVD party knew AHA had to be sacrificed to fend off a left-wing takeover of the country during the 2007 elections. Rita Verdonk added insult to injury because it increases her own chances of winning the party leadership, and the VVD honchos stand by idly because they know the hugely popular Verdonk may be the only thing standing between Labour Party leader Wouter Bos and four years of social-democratic misery.

So, a set up to lose two people who are standing between Labour and their victory in the election. According to Peaktalk:

The tone of the documentary called “Saint Ayaan” made by the VARA – which is a left-of-center public broadcaster affiliated with both the Labour Party and organized labour – clearly underlines its intent: to take down Hirsi Ali. Leon de Winter points out in his blog that the left may have been down but hardly out, and is now in full swing to restore the Dutch age of politically correct consensus by publicly executing Hirsi Ali.

That is a correct assumption. But what has not been discussed in detail is that the Dutch right, and notably Hirsi Ali’s own liberal party (VVD) may have decided that it is time to get shot of her. Ayaan’s lies will now be the subject of a formal investigation by Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk, who as it happens is also part of the VVD and is in the middle of hotly contested leadership struggle (to be concluded later this month) in which she faces a more moderate and centrist candidate. So, if Verdonk’s aim is to gain control over the VVD she will have to not only make sure that by investigating Hirsi Ali she is living up to her ‘going by the book’ reputation, but she will have to placate her party’s more centrist members. As such, Hirsi Ali is of no real use to her, and it is Verdonk herself who has grabbed the “less-government, tough on immigration” mantle that has been vacant following Fortuyn’s and Van Gogh’s respective murders. Hirsi Ali has served her purpose by formulating a number of highly controversial positions, something that no one previously dared saying, and now that the word is out it is up to others to take the message forward.

The other aspect that should be underlined here is the deep resentment that success and ambition usually generate in The Netherlands. Dynamic careers, success, outspokenness, standing out in the crowd are things that have always been frowned upon, although that has changed a bit in recent years I guess. Still, the Dutch coined the phrase “act normal, that is strange enough” and a very ambitious black Muslim woman who built up a spectacular political career with international allure by holding a mirror in front of the complacent and politically lethargic Dutch was of course not something that would be rewarded with eternal gratitude.

For other it is just an ‘islamist‘ victory; something that keeps puzzling me: how did they end up here? The Muslim Contrarian has a different opinion, taking issue with Hirsi Ali’s lack of credibility:

It is clear that the credibility of Ayaan has taken a serious hit from these revelations. How easy could it be for her to falsely accuse Islam, a religion and a people she obviously hates, if it was so easy for her to lie on her refugee claims? To the neoconservative Christians who jump up to defend her, is it not said “thou shalt not bear false witness?”

Not only is she untruthful, but seemingly hypocritical. Herself an immigrant, she became a vocal critic of immigration as a member of the right wing Dutch VVD party. It was, in fact, her own party member, hardline immigration minister Rita Verdonk that called for her passport to be revoked. I suppose principle rarely gets in the way of politics and ambition.

In a way, I feel sorry to see her go out this way, used and betrayed. It is, however, understandable considering that western world, despite claims of freedom, justice, and equality, have a history of systemically exploiting and lynching Africans (Dutch apartheid, European colonialism, American slavery).

And not to forget others such as, Umar Lee:

The favorite Muslim of the West, that is an apostate who has become wealthy and famous scapegoating Muslims, Somali-born Ayaan Hirsi Ali, has admitted that she lied in order to get her Dutch Citizenship and will now be kicked out of the parliament and will likely be stripped of her Dutch Citizenship. Who says good things never happen?

Yesterday, a writer I really enjoy, Steve Dunleavy (a real guy), apparently was smitten by the lying Ali, who now that she is being kicked out of the Netherlands is going to try and take her fraudulent act to America with the conservative American Enterprise Institute. Maybe she can handicap the battle going on in the streets of Mogadishu right now between an Islamist group, with local support, and a group of criminal gangs being funded by the West.

There is something to be said, for all these accounts. Problem is that in all of them facts and fiction seems to be blurred. This is no wonder, since to documentary with which it all begun, also mixed facts and fiction. Let’s try to deconstruct it and see what we know and don’t know:

1. We know Hirsi Ali lied about her history
2. We know if you lie about your credentials, your citizenship will be annulled.
3. We know that television program Zembla, for the first time questioned several facts of her past in one program
4. We know Hirsi Ali several times has mentioned that she lied.
5. She is leaving parlaiment because of this affair.
6. She is not leaving the country because of this. She already planned to go to the US and in case of losing her Dutch nationality, she still could stay because she is a refugee.

We do not know:

1. If she was forced to marry a man she did not want: it is her word against that of her relatives and her ex-fiancee
2. We do not know if there was a conspiracy within the VVD or by the left wing VARA (broadcaster of Zembla), labour party and ‘het journaal’ (Dutch news bulletin).

So what is left? Not much actually. Luckily there is Sunny on Pickled Politics, where there is always an attempt to look at things from a distant perspective.

I think it is important to take the Ayaan Hirsi Ali saga as a way to examine internal change.

Ali has always been presented as a ‘fearless woman’ who said ‘the truth’ about Muslims and would stop the Netherlands ’sliding into dhimmitude;’ etc. Certainly her choice of friends were suspect sometimes.

Whatever her detractors say, society certainly needs people who stick their neck out and say what they feel at the risk of antagonising relations. We need the BNP as much as we need the likes Harold Pinter. We also need the likes of Ali because she stopped Netherlands from bending over backwards excessively in the name of political correctness.

Let’s not gloss over the fact that there is still widespread instances of female genital mutilation and wife-beating in the Middle East, South Asia and Latin America. Domestic abuse is a serious problem in this country too. Ali may have lied about her personal circumstances but she did not make up the death threats.

But what Ali did was take advantage of the anti-Muslim climate, conjure up a story that would play well with them, and exploit them for her own agenda. It says more about those ‘anti-dhimmis’ because they want to hang on to what she said, rather than accept she simply lied to get in. If her political leanings went the other way they would be up in arms. they are the ones being taken for a ride.

The bigger question is how do you deal with such hardline ‘reformers’.

[…]

The problem for us who refuse to take a hardline against anyone is this. We know that if you want to reform a system, to attack it without knowing anything about it and demonising the people involved doesn’t work. It is a tactic that rapidly pushes you into the arms of people with ulterior motives and produces an ‘us and them’ barrier that becomes stronger than get broken down.

We know that change has to come, but it must do so on a platform of empowerment, not demonising. Ali did nothing to help the Muslim women who need power to reform their communities. She made it harder for them to stand up and take the middle ground.

If we all stood on a podium and waxed lyrically about how rubbish Asian values and culture was – nothing would change. And we can’t do that anyway, we still belong to that world.

Maybe it was the right time. Netherlands stopped letting in the religious fanatics who simply wanted to get on social security, but relations between Christian and Muslim Dutch people could never improve with a person so hell-bent on demonising all of them.

Finally, as someone at Pickled Politics says, a voice of reason. Some questions however (when we look back at the facts) are still unanswered.

1. Since it was well known that Hirsi Ali lied, why did it took so long for journalists to dive into the matter?
2. Was there a particular reason to it now?
3. There was nothing substantial new in the program, so why did they air it?
4. Because there was nothing new in it, and most of it was well known, why did the Hirsi Ali ‘supporters’ conceive it as a dirty personal attack? What I mean is if someone tells you over and over in that for example he has been cheating his wife, and there comes a tv program in which this is presented as a new fact and dozens of women are interviewed stating that they have been his mistress…you would laugh at the journalists probably. Old news! So why such a fuss?
5. Why did her opponents make such a problem of it, since they also knew?

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Global Voices Online » Blog Archive » Egypt: Blogging Behind Bars

Posted on May 18th, 2006 by .
Categories: Misc. News.

Global Voices Online » Blog Archive » Egypt: Blogging Behind Bars
Egypt: Blogging Behind Bars
Middle East & North Africa, Egypt, Weblog, Blogger News, Cyber-Activism, Human Rights, Protest, International Relations

On May 10, Alaa Ahmed Seif al-Islam, the award-winning blogger detained three days earlier for participating in peaceful protests in Cairo, became one of the first people to blog from prison.

“Today it hit me,” Alaa began his post, “I am really in prison. I’m not sure how I feel…The way fellow prisoners look at me tells me I do not feel well but I can’t really feel it.”

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MEMRI – Al-Tajdeed Versus Al-Hesbah: Islamist Websites & the Conflict Between Rival Arab & Muslim Political Forces

Posted on May 18th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Internal Debates, International Terrorism, Religious and Political Radicalization.

Inquiry and Analysis Series – No. 275
Al-Tajdeed Versus Al-Hesbah: Islamist Websites & the Conflict Between Rival Arab & Muslim Political Forces

Introduction

Most of the media in the Arab world – newspapers, television, and radio – are affiliated with various political forces, whether governmental or opposition, operating from within the country or outside it. These media are an important tool in the power struggles among the rival political forces behind them.

With the development of the Internet in the Middle East, websites have become yet another tool in the struggle between rival Arab forces. One prominent example of Internet use as part of this struggle is the campaign by www.tajdeed.org.uk – which belongs to the Saudi Islamist opposition operating in London and is directed by Dr. Sheikh Muhammad Al-Mas’ari, who also heads the Al-Tajdeed Al-Islami organization – against www.alhesbah.org, a leading Islamist site that is a conduit for messages from Al-Qaeda and other jihad organizations. [1]

Al-Tajdeed accused Al-Hesbah of working for Arab and Western intelligence apparatuses to expose and arrest contributors to the jihad web forums. According to Al-Tajdeed, Al-Hesbah had brought about the arrest of all the founders of another Islamist website, www.al-ansar.org, including “bin Roma” and “Irhabi 007.” Al-Tajdeed also asserted that Al-Hesbah had brought about the arrest of all the members of the Global Information Media Front (GIMF) [2] directly after they posted an announcement, on behalf of Al-Qaeda, taking responsibility for the February 25, 2006 Abqiq operation (an attempt to strike at the Saudi oil fields), and that Al-Hesbah had brought about the killing of the perpetrators of the operation by Saudi security forces.

Al-Hesbah stopped operating on March 17, 2006, and restarted on April 13, 2006. It is common for Islamist websites to disappear from and return to the web, and this is part of the dynamic of Islamist Internet activity. However, Al-Tajdeed took advantage of Al-Hesbah’s temporary disappearance to step up its attacks on it. Al-Tajdeed recommended that jihad supporters visit alternative websites that, it claimed, were more reliable and on which there was no hostile intelligence activity. When Al-Hesbah returned, Al-Tajdeed warned visitors to the site to take precautions lest their identities be discovered, and gave detailed instructions for doing so.

Another jihad website, www.alburak.net, came to the aid of Al-Hesbah, posting an article accusing Arab opposition elements, including Al-Mas’ari as well as Dr. Hani Al-Siba’i and Dr. Sa’d Al-Faqih, also London residents, of attempting to destroy the jihad websites and to smear those active on them. (Two weeks previously, Al-Tajdeed had accused Al-Burak of “becoming a copy of Al-Hesbah.” [3] )

The sharp rivalry between Al-Tajdeed and Al-Hesbah reflects the struggle between the two rival political forces behind them. In the case of Al-Tajdeed, this force is Saudi Islamist opposition activists. Al-Hesbah claims to be an independent religious site, but in light of the platform it gives to slanderous postings about Saudi opposition activists such as Al-Mas’ari and Al-Faqih – even going so far as to accuse them of heresy and treason – it can be identified as a site affiliated with a religious or political rival of the Saudi opposition, such as the Saudi regime itself. (According to its own report, the Saudi regime is active on the Internet. One example of this activity is the Saudi Ministry of Religious Endowment’s Al-Sakinah campaign for on-line dialogue with extremists [4] ).

Al-Tajdeed, which as mentioned belongs to Saudi opposition elements, also features postings by oppositionists from other Arab countries. According to the Al-Burak website, “Omar bin Hanif,” a contributor to Al-Tajdeed (see below), is Egyptian Islamist opposition member Dr. Hani Al-Sib’ai, head of the Al-Maqrizi Institute in London. If Al-Sib’ai is indeed “Omar bin Hanif,” he joined Al-Tajdeed’s struggle against Al-Hesbah with a posting titled “A Series of Exposures of Spies,” which lay the groundwork for the accusations against Al-Hesbah.

In addition, Al-Burak identified several other Al-Tajdeed contributors, also posting under pseudonyms, as oppositionists from various Arab countries. For example, according to Al-Burak, “Al-Fikr Al-Rashid” is in fact Egyptian Islamist Yasser Al-Sirri, who heads the Al-Marsad Institute in London; Al-Ansar contributor “bin Roma” is Algerian sheikh Abdallah Al-Ghamdi; and “Sami 9000” is Mansour Al-Halabi, a Syrian residing in Libya.

The following report, from MEMRI’s Jihad & Terrorism Studies Project’s initiative on Monitoring Islamist and Jihad Websites, analyzes the conflicts between the Islamist and Jihad websites. These multi-faceted conflicts, which involve an array of individual postings, should not be looked at as a phenomenon of individual Islamist participants battling on the Internet (as has been done thus far by various media and research outlets). Rather they should be seen in a larger context, as a phenomenon reflecting the conflicts between rival Arab and Muslim political forces in whose service these websites operate.

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MEMRI – Al-Tajdeed Versus Al-Hesbah: Islamist Websites & the Conflict Between Rival Arab & Muslim Political Forces

Posted on May 18th, 2006 by .
Categories: Internal Debates, International Terrorism, Religious and Political Radicalization.

Inquiry and Analysis Series – No. 275
Al-Tajdeed Versus Al-Hesbah: Islamist Websites & the Conflict Between Rival Arab & Muslim Political Forces

Introduction

Most of the media in the Arab world – newspapers, television, and radio – are affiliated with various political forces, whether governmental or opposition, operating from within the country or outside it. These media are an important tool in the power struggles among the rival political forces behind them.

With the development of the Internet in the Middle East, websites have become yet another tool in the struggle between rival Arab forces. One prominent example of Internet use as part of this struggle is the campaign by www.tajdeed.org.uk – which belongs to the Saudi Islamist opposition operating in London and is directed by Dr. Sheikh Muhammad Al-Mas’ari, who also heads the Al-Tajdeed Al-Islami organization – against www.alhesbah.org, a leading Islamist site that is a conduit for messages from Al-Qaeda and other jihad organizations. [1]

Al-Tajdeed accused Al-Hesbah of working for Arab and Western intelligence apparatuses to expose and arrest contributors to the jihad web forums. According to Al-Tajdeed, Al-Hesbah had brought about the arrest of all the founders of another Islamist website, www.al-ansar.org, including “bin Roma” and “Irhabi 007.” Al-Tajdeed also asserted that Al-Hesbah had brought about the arrest of all the members of the Global Information Media Front (GIMF) [2] directly after they posted an announcement, on behalf of Al-Qaeda, taking responsibility for the February 25, 2006 Abqiq operation (an attempt to strike at the Saudi oil fields), and that Al-Hesbah had brought about the killing of the perpetrators of the operation by Saudi security forces.

Al-Hesbah stopped operating on March 17, 2006, and restarted on April 13, 2006. It is common for Islamist websites to disappear from and return to the web, and this is part of the dynamic of Islamist Internet activity. However, Al-Tajdeed took advantage of Al-Hesbah’s temporary disappearance to step up its attacks on it. Al-Tajdeed recommended that jihad supporters visit alternative websites that, it claimed, were more reliable and on which there was no hostile intelligence activity. When Al-Hesbah returned, Al-Tajdeed warned visitors to the site to take precautions lest their identities be discovered, and gave detailed instructions for doing so.

Another jihad website, www.alburak.net, came to the aid of Al-Hesbah, posting an article accusing Arab opposition elements, including Al-Mas’ari as well as Dr. Hani Al-Siba’i and Dr. Sa’d Al-Faqih, also London residents, of attempting to destroy the jihad websites and to smear those active on them. (Two weeks previously, Al-Tajdeed had accused Al-Burak of “becoming a copy of Al-Hesbah.” [3] )

The sharp rivalry between Al-Tajdeed and Al-Hesbah reflects the struggle between the two rival political forces behind them. In the case of Al-Tajdeed, this force is Saudi Islamist opposition activists. Al-Hesbah claims to be an independent religious site, but in light of the platform it gives to slanderous postings about Saudi opposition activists such as Al-Mas’ari and Al-Faqih – even going so far as to accuse them of heresy and treason – it can be identified as a site affiliated with a religious or political rival of the Saudi opposition, such as the Saudi regime itself. (According to its own report, the Saudi regime is active on the Internet. One example of this activity is the Saudi Ministry of Religious Endowment’s Al-Sakinah campaign for on-line dialogue with extremists [4] ).

Al-Tajdeed, which as mentioned belongs to Saudi opposition elements, also features postings by oppositionists from other Arab countries. According to the Al-Burak website, “Omar bin Hanif,” a contributor to Al-Tajdeed (see below), is Egyptian Islamist opposition member Dr. Hani Al-Sib’ai, head of the Al-Maqrizi Institute in London. If Al-Sib’ai is indeed “Omar bin Hanif,” he joined Al-Tajdeed’s struggle against Al-Hesbah with a posting titled “A Series of Exposures of Spies,” which lay the groundwork for the accusations against Al-Hesbah.

In addition, Al-Burak identified several other Al-Tajdeed contributors, also posting under pseudonyms, as oppositionists from various Arab countries. For example, according to Al-Burak, “Al-Fikr Al-Rashid” is in fact Egyptian Islamist Yasser Al-Sirri, who heads the Al-Marsad Institute in London; Al-Ansar contributor “bin Roma” is Algerian sheikh Abdallah Al-Ghamdi; and “Sami 9000” is Mansour Al-Halabi, a Syrian residing in Libya.

The following report, from MEMRI’s Jihad & Terrorism Studies Project’s initiative on Monitoring Islamist and Jihad Websites, analyzes the conflicts between the Islamist and Jihad websites. These multi-faceted conflicts, which involve an array of individual postings, should not be looked at as a phenomenon of individual Islamist participants battling on the Internet (as has been done thus far by various media and research outlets). Rather they should be seen in a larger context, as a phenomenon reflecting the conflicts between rival Arab and Muslim political forces in whose service these websites operate.

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Protected: Trouw, hetNieuws| nederland – ’Hirsi Ali gered, dan wij ook’

Posted on May 18th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Misc. News.

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Protected: Trouw, hetNieuws| nederland – ’Hirsi Ali gered, dan wij ook’

Posted on May 18th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Misc. News.

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Protected: de Volkskrant – Zembla ‘vertelt de waarheid’

Posted on May 17th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Misc. News.

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Protected: Wilders wil bouw Westermoskee stoppen – telegraaf.nl [Binnenland]

Posted on May 17th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Multiculti Issues.

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Protected: de Volkskrant – Milli Görüs

Posted on May 17th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Multiculti Issues.

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C L O S E R – Hirsi Ali Controversy

Posted on May 17th, 2006 by .
Categories: Misc. News.

Still, attention worldwide for the Dutch Hirsi Ali affair. In the Washington Post:

On her asylum application, she gave a false name and date of birth and lied about the countries she had lived in and visited before arriving in the Netherlands, claiming she recently had fled war-torn Somalia when she actually had lived in Kenya for 12 years. Although it has been known for at least four years that she put false information on her asylum application, the issue came under renewed focus last week when a Dutch TV documentary looked at her case. The report included statements from family members that her marriage was consensual, not arranged.

That element of her life story goes to the core of her international persona, and, if untrue, could seriously damage her reputation and credibility.

After the debate yesterday (which was live on tv with 5 million viewers -  Dutch population is 16 million) Dutch minister Verdonk had to withdraw from her standpoint that Hirsi Ali’s Dutch citizenship was annulled. She has six weeks to find out if there are extraordinary circumstances for Hirsi Ali which may lead to an approval of her Dutch nationality. If not Hirsi Ali should be granted a fast procedure to obtain the Dutch nationality.

Meanwhile Hirsi Ali get’s support from several Dutch people such as writers, directors and comedians. They are stating that they are ashamed by the treatment that Hirsi Ali is given. The issue is also followed by Dutch bloggers abroad. Ornstein op Afstand states that this is the end of Dutch tolerance. Again I should add, because this case only makes clear in a very painfull way how the Dutch deal with refugees and asylumseekers. There is not a lot of tolerance for them, and Hirsi Ali has become the victim of that. Perhaps a symbolic victim.

Some others seem to feel the need to spread all kinds for lies such as Theipinionsjournal:

Because, immediately upon its release, Muslim clerics in the putatively liberal and progressive Netherlands issued a fatwa (decree of death) against her and van Gogh. And, within short order, van Gogh was found dead in the streets of Amsterdam with a note stabbed in his chest warning Hirsi Ali that she was next….

First of all a fatwa is an authoratative advice, not a decree of death. Second there was no decree of death against Hirsi Ali by Muslim clerics after the release of Submission I.

Therefore, it is not entirely surprising that she has now become a casualty of Dutch fears of retribution and reprisals by Islamic fanatics who are still fomenting violence throughout Europe over the caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad by Danish cartoonists. Moreover, last November’s Muslim riots in France – that have made the French government now exceedingly solicitous of appeasing Islamic firebrands by any means necessary – have only heightened Dutch anxieties.

Islamic fanatics are not ‘fomenting violence … over the caricatures’. The situation in Europe regarding those cartoons was rather quiet, with a few demonstrations.

And, it’s in this climate of fear (and loathing) that Dutch authorities seem to have finally determined that Hirsi Ali’s campaign – to reconcile Islamic practices with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – posed a threat to national security, and, consequently, that she must be deported. (Especially since – instead of seeking to appease Islamic extremists – Hirsi Ali has vowed to continue writing and producing her series of Submission films. And Dutch courts had already ruled that she had to vacate her apartment in The Hague because “neighbours feared she was a security risk.”)

With that, her Dutch citizenship was summarily revoked on Monday and she was declared persona non grata. And, to add insult to this injury, the Dutch Immigration Minister, Rita Verdonk, who delivered this political fatwa, was a member of Hirsi Ali’s own political party. It was instructive, however, that Verdonk rationalized her government’s decision to deport Hirsi Ali as follows:

No way, that she has to be deported. Even if she loses her Dutch nationality, she can stay because she is considered to be a refugee. She is certainly not ‘persona non grata’. Stories like this fit within the same schema as those of the ‘jihadist tidal waves that hit europe‘. Hirsi Ali is seen is the great heroin in the battle against islam/islamism and therefore welcomed in the US by some.

Other people seem to be happy if she leaves:

Looks like she’s having a rough time, alright. It seems that Aryaan Hirsi “Ali” (her last name is not even “Ali”), the b*ch who was behind Theo Van Gogh in making that horrible short film, Submission¹, had told tall tales regarding her background in order to get a citizenship in the Netherlands.

Or dr. Maxtor:

Hirsi is not only a liar, but a pathetic hypocrite like all other rent-a-reformer(s) running around these days plugging crappy third rate books and cashing in on fashionable Islamophobia. Now she’s coming to America to set up shop under the wing of the “American Enterprise Institute,”the neocon septic incubator which gave us the like of Wolfowitz and Perle. Pull out a fresh roll of extra absorbent toilet paper for this cash cow.

Fortunately there still are blogs that are less hysterical than those of Hirsi Ali’s supporters or opponents, such as VanBragt. Some are wondering that the Netherlands will look like a fool and others are questioning the role of the media and questioning how people criticize the media.

1 comment.

C L O S E R – Hirsi Ali and the Shortcut to the US

Posted on May 16th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Misc. News, Public Islam.

C L O S E R

I came to Holland in the summer of 1992 because I wanted to be able to determine my own future. I didn’t want to be forced into a destiny that other people had chosen for me, so I opted for the protection of the rule of law. Here in Holland, I found freedom and opportunities, and I took those opportunities to speak out against religious terror.

In January 2003, at the invitation of the VVD party, I became a member of parliament. I accepted the VVD’s invitation on the condition that I would be the party’s spokesman for the emancipation of women and the integration of immigrants.
What exactly did I want to achieve?
First of all I wanted to put the oppression of immigrant women — especially Muslim women – squarely on the Dutch political agenda. Second, I wanted Holland to pay attention to the specific cultural and religious issues that were holding back many ethnic minorities, instead of always taking a one-sided approach that focused only on their socio-economic circumstances. Lastly, I wanted politicians to grasp the fact that major aspects of Islamic doctrine and tradition, as practiced today, are incompatible with the open society.
That transition from becoming a member of a clan to becoming a citizen in an open society is what public service has come to mean for me. Only clear thinking and strong action can lead to real change, and free many people within our society from the mental cage of submission. The idea that I can contribute to their freedom, whether in the Netherlands or in another country, gives me deep satisfaction.
Ladies and Gentlemen, as of today, I resign from Parliament. I regret that I will be leaving the Netherlands, the country which has given me so many opportunities and enriched my life, but I am glad that I will be able to continue my work. I will go on.

The above quote is from Hirsi Ali’s public statement today. Yes, she is leaving parliament and going to the US. For a nice report on today’s events, see the facts here. This is certainly not a Dutch event only. Several non-Dutch blogs are mentioning the affair, and not all very well informed. For example Melanie Phillips states:

Yet instead of being cherished as a national heroine, she is being broken and bullied out of the country by an unholy alliance of venomous leftists, spineless public servants — including those of a highly conservative disposition — and radical Islamists, all giving a victory to the forces of evil.

A shocked friend of Ms Hirsi Ali says that the mood in the Netherlands today reflects a thirst for a public hanging. But this public anger is being funnelled not at the clerical fascism that has caused Dutch public figures to be guarded day and night against the threat of murder, but at one of those very figures. Thus the victim of violence is turned into its cause, and her institutionalised lynching will purge the terror from the people.

There is no proof of such a conspiracy and certainly not one including radical islamists. Dutch Muslim umbrella organizations do have stated that they are not sad that she is leaving, but they are certainly not radical islamists. Also there is certainly not a blood thirsty crowd that wants her out. Several Dutch blogs as the Ayaanhirsiali.web-log.nl and Frontaalnaakt.nl and Geenstijl.nl are supporting her. Many critics of her I have spoken to, even support her in this case. Of course there are also people who remain critical and are glad to see her leave. Her supporters are certainly more outspoken, also the ones abroad.

Important to note by the way, if Hirsi Ali looses her Dutch nationality, that does not mean she has to leave the country because of that: she is still a refugee and therefore she could stay.

When I got home from work this evening, I tried to get hold of NRC Handelsblad; a Dutch evening daily. It was sold out. Everywhere. This certainly is an event on the WWW. Several other blogs are also engaging with this issue, some with very short, but interesting, comments such as ‘Aqoul

A very queer bit of reporting on Somali-Dutch MP and possible immigration services deceiver Ayaan Hirsi Ali aka Ayaan Hirsi Magan, who appears to have not been quite in the situ she claimed re forced marriage when she won Dutch citizenship. The article is perhaps a lesson in the madness that is immigration laws and debates at present across the Developed-Developing world divide. It may, if the facts are right, also be a somewhat sad lesson in media hype as well.

And others just referring to other sources such as Sandmonkey, others pointing to the position of her party (VVD) that has a very firm standpoint on migration (…and lying), but not everyone in that party is very glad with that view in this case, others stating that she has some strange supporters. Some people think it might backfire to Dutch minister Verdonk.
During the debate in parliament it has become clear that there is room for reconsidering the withdrawal of Hirsi Ali’s Dutch nationality or even a new request for naturalization with a shorter procedure. So there is room for negotations and solutions.

If you want to read Hirsi Ali’s complete statement: (more…)

5 comments.

C L O S E R – Hirsi Ali and the Netherlands

Posted on May 15th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Misc. News, Public Islam.

C L O S E R

Last week the television program Zembla aired a documentary about Hirsi Ali. In it the makers claimed that Hirsi Ali lied about the reasons she has to fled to the Netherlands and about the way she did it. Nothing new, actually. She already admitted that in several programs, speeches and books. It just shows that people will always adjust their story in order to be granted asylum in a safe country. Who wouldn’t?

In my view there are two problems regarding this issue and Hirsi Ali. First of all her authority is partly based upon her past. The fact that she lied about it (even though she admits it) does not lend much credibility to her position as someone who has experienced it all herself. Second problem is that the Hoge Raad (Supreme Council) last year stated that the Dutch authorities were right in evoking the Dutch nationality of an Iraqi family who had lied about their past. If that can happen to them…

So now the rumour is that she will go to the US. Some American blogs are already very happy about that. I doubt very much that this incident is the cause for that. Dutch daily NRC Handelsblad reports that she would begin her new job next year, but because she has to leave her house, she asked if she could go to the US earlier to work for the AEI. This incident of course is nice timing for her to announce that.

Read the reactions at Expatica.com

This issue again proves that we still have difficulties in acting nuanced and sophisticated when it comes to Hirsi Ali. For some left wing people she is the devil who is one of the main causes for the polarization in this country.

Probably without realizing, the makers (of Submission I, Van Gogh and Hirsi Ali -Mdk) the used the same grammar Joseph Goebbels used in 1940 in his notorious movie ‘Der Ewige Jude’

For some others she is the saint who has lived all the atrocities she is talking about it and defends this country against the barbarians.

During World War II, eighty percent of Dutch Jews were deported to the camps and killed. They were often delivered to the Nazi’s by the Dutch themselves. They wanted to protect themselves and hoped that collaboration would make them safe.

The Dutch now desperately want to hang Ayaan in the hope to restore the multicultural dream. VARA created an atmosphere in which so-called ‘revelations’ mystify and falsify Ayaan’s past and present.

We are now witnessing in Holland the public execution of Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

And no I do not think that it is correct what Little Green Football reports (or should I say in this case: lying?) that the Dutch elites want Hirsi Ali to be deported (note the link to WWII they are making with the word deporting). Some critics argue that she should hand in her Dutch nationality, but I don’t think anyone would want her to go back to Somalia and that is certainly not what the critics are saying. Referring to them as the elite is ridiculous, also because it neglects Hirsi Ali’s supporters who also belong to the elite.

Tomorrow more about this and you can follow the recent news on this here.

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Protected: Brabants Dagblad – Majj verwijst varken naar de prullenbak

Posted on May 14th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Multiculti Issues.

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Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael | Publications

Posted on May 13th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Religion Other.

Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael | Publications
Kunnen Arabieren, democratie en Islam door één deur? Maurits S. Berger

observes that whereas many countries in the world suffer from a democracy deficit, it is striking how prevailing this is in the entire Arab world. The author, after stating all the reasons that have so far been proposed to explain the Arab character of this deficit, concludes that none of them is exclusive for the Arab world. What makes the Arab world, and especially the Middle East and Gulf states so special, however, is that they have been treated by the Western world with ‘benign negligence’, meaning that stable dictatorships have been preferred over unpredictable democracies. At the same time, hoever, the virtues of democracy and freedom were celebrated by the Western world as well. The author argues that a new and more sincere Western approach is needed vis-a-vis democracy in the Arab world. If democracy is what the West wants from the Arab world, we should ask ourselves whether we will allow them a full democracy, including all the unpredictable and perhaps unpleasant consequences that may result thereof. The fear of an Islamic takeover on the basis of ‘one man-one vote-one time’ might be real but has never been proven. Moreover, the Western world should be perceptive of the notion that an ‘Islamic’ alternative to democracy be valuable and viable.

1 comment.

Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael | Publications

Posted on May 13th, 2006 by .
Categories: Religion Other.

Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael | Publications
Kunnen Arabieren, democratie en Islam door één deur? Maurits S. Berger

observes that whereas many countries in the world suffer from a democracy deficit, it is striking how prevailing this is in the entire Arab world. The author, after stating all the reasons that have so far been proposed to explain the Arab character of this deficit, concludes that none of them is exclusive for the Arab world. What makes the Arab world, and especially the Middle East and Gulf states so special, however, is that they have been treated by the Western world with ‘benign negligence’, meaning that stable dictatorships have been preferred over unpredictable democracies. At the same time, hoever, the virtues of democracy and freedom were celebrated by the Western world as well. The author argues that a new and more sincere Western approach is needed vis-a-vis democracy in the Arab world. If democracy is what the West wants from the Arab world, we should ask ourselves whether we will allow them a full democracy, including all the unpredictable and perhaps unpleasant consequences that may result thereof. The fear of an Islamic takeover on the basis of ‘one man-one vote-one time’ might be real but has never been proven. Moreover, the Western world should be perceptive of the notion that an ‘Islamic’ alternative to democracy be valuable and viable.

1 comment.

C L O S E R – Je loog tegen mij…

Posted on May 13th, 2006 by .
Categories: Some personal considerations.

C L O S E R

Het meest politiek incorrecte wat de “Linkse Kerk” tegenwoordig kan doen, is laten zien dat Hirsi Ali gelogen heeft over haar vluchtgeschiedenis tien jaar geleden. Ze heeft het immers zelf al toegegeven, dus waarom zou dat nog eens over gedaan moeten worden? En dan ook nog op basis van ons belastinggeld? Op basis van ons belastinggeld mogen immers alleen programma’s gemaakt worden die ons wel bevallen; anders is het verspilling. Net zo goed dat als op basis van ons belastinggeld alleen wetenschappelijk onderzoek gedaan mag worden dat ons bevalt en onze inzichten bevestigd. Anders is het onwetenschappelijke verspilling.

Nu mogen de Hirsi Ali aanhangers haar vaak gedwee en kritiekloos steunen als inderdaad een heilige Ayaan, sommige journalisten blinken uit in het tegengestelde. Daar had de Zembla-uitzending wel degelijk wat van weg. Met een titel als ‘heilige Ayaan’ wist je wel hoe laat het was: ‘die gaat eraan’. Zembla presenteerde de uitlatingen van familie en ex-verloofde als harde feiten met een suggestieve voice-over, maar in feite is het haar woord tegen dat van hen. Dat zien we bijvoorbeeld bij het verhaal over uithuwelijken. Haar ex-verloofde en familie zegt dat dat niet zo is en zij wel. Dat zij voor haar uithuwelijking naar Nederland komt, is geen bewijs. Niet voor het geen-uithuwelijking en ook niet voor wel uithuwelijking. Niet meer en niet minder. Dat is toch een wat smalle basis voor de beschuldigingen. Verder hadden ze best even mogen vermelden dat Hirsi Ali zelf al eerder had toegegeven gelogen te hebben over haar vluchtverhaal. Dus, zoals Ephimenco, gretig vermeld heeft Zembla gelogen! Foei, linkse kerk nog een regel overtreden: Gij zult niet liegen.

Dat is een mooi startpunt om nu maar eens te bekijken wat Hirsi Ali zelf heeft gezegd. Een mooi startpunt want we herinneren ons allemaal wel haar ‘10 geboden‘ gesprek in Trouw.

9.Gij zult geen valse getuigenissen spreken tegen uw naaste

,,Ik beheers de kunst van het liegen, maar toen het liegen niet meer nodig was – er is geen God, ik hoef niet de waarheid te spreken omdat God dat van mij wil – heb ik er bewust voor gekozen om het nooit meer te doen.”

Nou dat is geen echt nieuws natuurlijk. Ik heb niet de quote van Barend en Van Dorp, maar in de bewuste Zembla-uitzending zei ze het volgende:

‘Ik heb hele verhaal verzonnen hoor. Ik  heb ook niet verteld dat ik Ayaan Hirsi Magan heet, maar Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Ik heb niet verteld dat ik geboren ben in 1969 maar dat ik in 1967 geboren ben.’

En het meeste heeft ze inderdaad al eens verteld, zoals dat ze in ’69 geboren en dat ze in Kenia geweest is. Dus dat is inderdaad geen nieuws. Het probleem zit ‘m, wat mij betreft, dan ook niet daarin. Er zijn volgens mij wel twee problemen voor Hirsi Ali. Dat is ten eerste de rechtsongelijkheid. Als anderen die betrapt worden op een leugen, de Nederlandse nationaliteit kan worden, waarom zij dan niet? In Trouw:

VVD-kamerlid Ayaan Hirsi Ali bezit waarschijnlijk ten onrechte het Nederlanderschap. Dit volgt uit jurisprudentie van de Hoge Raad uit 2005 over een zaak van een Iraaks gezin.

De Hoge Raad verwierp in november 2005 een beroep van een Iraaks gezin, dat na een beslissing van de Haagse rechtbank de Nederlandse nationaliteit was kwijtgeraakt. De ouders hadden valse namen en geboortedata opgegeven bij hun verzoek om naturalisatie.

Volgens naturalisatie-expert prof. René de Groot moet minister Verdonk (vreemdelingenzaken en integratie) ’ogenblikkelijk’ een onderzoek instellen naar het Nederlanderschap van Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

Iemand die liegt kan geen Nederlander worden toch? Immers, echte Nederlanders liegen niet (ja behalve de Linkse Kerk maar dat zijn dan ook landverraders). Nou ja voor mij niet echt een zwaar punt, maar het is vooral juridisch en daar heb ik ook weinig kaas van gegeten.

Een tweede punt is dat de autoriteit van Hirsi Ali niet alleen gebaseerd is op haar strijd tegen de radicale moslims en voor vrouwenrechten, maar ook op haar verleden. Soms wordt op basis daarvan haar autoriteit toegekend door anderen:

Hirsi Ali heeft al die achterlijke toestanden in haar vaderland meegemaakt dus als iemand recht van spreken heeft is zij het. En wie kaatst kan een kogelbrief verwachten??

Voor haar is het echter ook een bron van autoriteit, die ze soms aanroept:

Wie uit een cultuur van onderdrukking komt, staat de verworvenheid van het vrije woord niet meer af, ook niet bij de eerste de beste tegenslag. Ik spreek namens anderen en dat zal ik blijven doen.’

En dan weer ontkent:

U krijgt het verwijt dat u uw eigen ervaring projecteert op de moslimgemeenschap als geheel.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali: «Dat vind ik een drogreden. In mijn essays schreef ik nooit over mezelf. Wat ik slechts constateerde, was een onmiskenbare ongelijkheid tussen man en vrouw binnen de niet-westerse allochtone groep. Ik zag dat het veel te maken had met het geloof. Ik herkende dat. Journalisten vroegen telkens naar mijn verleden en dat werd vermengd met mijn denkbeelden. Boze conservatieve moslims gingen daar dan weer op reageren en plakten mijn zogenaamde frustraties, voortvloeiend uit mijn jeugd, op mijn uitspraken. Iedereen begint bijvoorbeeld altijd over de besnijdenis. Daar ben ik nooit zelf over begonnen. Het gaat steeds over andere aspecten dan de inhoud. Het gaat een eigen leven leiden. Je hebt daar geen vat op.»

Er zit voor de goede lezer natuurlijk wel een verschil tussen beide fragmenten. In het eerste gaat het erom dat zij ervaringsdeskundige is en dat op een rationele manier wil omzetten voor haar strijd. In het tweede gaat het erom dat zij verwijten alsof zouden haar emoties op basis van het verleden de overhand hebben, verwerpt.

Het feit dat ze heeft gelogen over haar vluchtgeschiedenis, stelt haar autoriteit ter discussie, Zembla met een zeer slappe uitzending doet dat nog eens flink over (natrappen heet dat ook wel).

Het lijkt er sterk op dat als het over Hirsi Ali gaat, we allemaal een collectieve kramp schieten, een hysterie. Zembla doet dat door één van de meest slappe uitzendingen uit haar geschiedenis, de Ayaan-fans doen dat door Zembla van alles te beschuldigen waar Hirsi Ali ook van beschuldigd wordt: leugenachtig gedrag. Tips:

1) Zembla: Als je een uitzending maakt, ga dan wat minder uit van slappe welles-nietes discussies en laat je niet verleiden door het op de persoon spelen als je je punt niet heel hard kunt maken.
2) De politiek-incorrecte kerk: Kijk eens in de spiegel. Niet iedere vorm van kritiek op Hirsi Ali komt voort uit een politiek correct, linksig gedachtegoed. Er is geen kwestie van zwart-wit, er zijn ook nog grijstinten. Dat de uitkomst van een docu of wetenschappelijk stuk je niet bevalt, is geen verspilling van belastinggeld en maakt het ook geen slechte journalist of onwetenschappelijk.

Met andere woorden, doe eens wat minder hysterisch: Hirsi Ali is niet heilig en ook niet de duivel.

2 comments.

Protected: De Standaard.be – Racistische moord (?)

Posted on May 11th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: Misc. News.

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Mike Davis | The Poor Man's Air Force

Posted on May 10th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: International Terrorism.

Mike Davis | The Poor Man’s Air Force
You have shown no pity to us! We will do likewise. We will dynamite you!
– Anarchist warning (1919)

On a warm September day in 1920, a few months after the arrest of his comrades Sacco and Vanzetti, a vengeful Italian anarchist named Mario Buda parked his horse-drawn wagon near the corner of Wall and Broad Streets, directly across from J. P. Morgan Company. He nonchalantly climbed down and disappeared, unnoticed, into the lunchtime crowd. A few blocks away, a startled postal worker found strange leaflets warning: “Free the Political Prisoners or it will be Sure Death for All of You!” They were signed: “American Anarchist Fighters.” The bells of nearby Trinity Church began to toll at noon. When they stopped, the wagon – packed with dynamite and iron slugs – exploded in a fireball of shrapnel.

read the whole article on Truthout.org

0 comments.

Mike Davis | The Poor Man’s Air Force

Posted on May 10th, 2006 by .
Categories: International Terrorism.

Mike Davis | The Poor Man’s Air Force
You have shown no pity to us! We will do likewise. We will dynamite you!
– Anarchist warning (1919)

On a warm September day in 1920, a few months after the arrest of his comrades Sacco and Vanzetti, a vengeful Italian anarchist named Mario Buda parked his horse-drawn wagon near the corner of Wall and Broad Streets, directly across from J. P. Morgan Company. He nonchalantly climbed down and disappeared, unnoticed, into the lunchtime crowd. A few blocks away, a startled postal worker found strange leaflets warning: “Free the Political Prisoners or it will be Sure Death for All of You!” They were signed: “American Anarchist Fighters.” The bells of nearby Trinity Church began to toll at noon. When they stopped, the wagon – packed with dynamite and iron slugs – exploded in a fireball of shrapnel.

read the whole article on Truthout.org

0 comments.

AlterNet: ForeignPolicy: The Hard Truth About Suicide Bombers

Posted on May 10th, 2006 by .
Categories: International Terrorism, Religious and Political Radicalization.

AlterNet: ForeignPolicy: The Hard Truth About Suicide Bombers
The Hard Truth About Suicide Bombers

By Nichole Argo, AlterNet. Posted May 8, 2006.

Though many Americans assume otherwise, most suicide bombers are not poor, violent Muslims, as explained in this special report from MIT’s Center for International Studies.
Suicide terror has become a daily news staple. Who are these human bombs, and why are they willing to die in order to kill? Many observers turn to Islam for an explanation. They cite the preponderance of Muslim bombers today, indoctrination by extremist institutions, and the language used in jihadi statements.But these arguments fall short. At present, bombers are primarily Muslim, but this was not always so. Nor does indoctrination play a strong role in growing today’s selfselected global jihad networks. Rather, militants and bombers are propelled by social ties. And even when jihadis use the Qur’an and Sunna to frame their struggle, their justifications for violence are primarily secular and grievance-based.

So what is religion’s role? Almost 100 years ago, Emile Durkheim contended that religious ideation is born of sentiment. This is worth considering in the current context. Against the repression, alienation and political helplessness of the Muslim world, jihad speaks of individual dignity and communal power. ‘Against the Goliaths,’ martrydom says, ‘even one bursting body can make a difference.’ The Muslim street is buying it, though sometimes ambivalently. To stop the bombers of today and tomorrow, we need to figure out why.

Why Religion, and Why Not

Since 9/11, the notion that terror is bound to religious extremism has almost become an implicit assumption. This is easy to understand. If bombers were once “normal” people, then religious indoctrination could explain their fanatical behavior. Moreover, the numbers are powerful: 81 percent of suicide attacks since 1968 have occurred after 2001, with 31 out of the 35 organizations responsible being jihadi. Even the London and Bali (II) bombers who acted independently of terror organizations were Muslim. It would be difficult to deny that Islamic inspiration is at work in the motivation and mobilization of rising terror. But how? Inspiration is not causation, and a growing body of data suggests that Islamic indoctrination and belief are not the answer. Below, I audit several arguments commonly offered in support of the religious terror thesis.

1. Muslims perpetrate most of today’s terror, so most terror must be motivated by Islam.

2. Indoctrination: madrassas, mosques and terror cells manufacture suicide bombers.

3. Terrorists justify their violence with the language of Islam.

Religious beliefs do not simply mold individuals. They exist as “sets of ideas that ‘are there,’ as if on the shelves of a supermarket waiting for someone to make them their own.” Individuals pull them off the shelf when their old frames no longer make sense of the world around them.

If beliefs are not born of sacred texts alone, neither are behaviors like marytrdom. Rather, would-be bombers place jihadi values — fighting for life, dignity, equality — above all else. It is not the commandment that is sacred, but the emotional reward it bestows. We need to be asking new questions: For what are normal individuals able to kill? A plausible answer is: their community, under threat. When does a person make costly sacrifices to do so?

Within a social structure — a terror cell, a military unit, a family, or group of friends — that continually regenerates conviction to a cause, a feeling of obligation to do something about it, and a sense of shame at the idea of letting each other down. Whether one lands in a social group with jihadi tendencies may be random. But the prerequisite for this path is perceived injustice.

The social networks theory has several implications for policy. First, because commitment to jihad is rarely a cost-benefit decision, or an explicit decision at all, military deterrence will likely fail. Terrorists and insurgents forge loyalties that are difficult to betray, and like our own military units, many would prefer to fight to the death rather than leave their brothers. Second, under urban conditions of asymmetrical engagement, military missions almost inevitably entail civilian casualties. Military leaders must re-conceptualize the effect civilian casualties have on the populations surrounding the terrorist or insurgent. They are frequently interpreted by the population as offensive, and thereby engender an impulse to fight back. As one Palestinian told a reporter: “If we don’t fight, we will suffer. If we do fight, we will suffer, but so will they.”

Lastly, findings about the way in which people acquire beliefs suggest that a war of ideas will mean nothing unless it resonates emotionally with our targets. Emotional resonance only comes when the values we promote reflect our role in the local realities on foreign ground.

Read the whole article on AlterNet

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