I have posted a few pieces about
terrorism and its repercussions on society in general. Terrorism is an act perpetrated on the weak
and vulnerable by those looking for ideological acceptance and recognition,
those who seek revenge for some belief or another, and worst of all those looking
for financial gain and hegemonic power. These can be attributed to anyone from fundamentalist
Jihadi Salafists to global powers such as the US and the UK. I include the
Western powers because an illegal war perpetrated on innocent civilians is the
worst kind of terrorism, by virtue of its objectives and agenda.
There have been thousands of such
despicable acts in the MENA (Middle East and North African) countries since the
start of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars in 2002/2003. We hear and read about
this terrorism daily in newspapers or on mainstream television news channels and
sometimes witness the atrocities carried out on God fearing innocent civilians
in the region. Millions upon millions of civilians have died as a result of
these acts of wanton violence of which very little is mentioned in the mainstream
media. Occasionally the same or a milder version of such terrorism is
perpetrated on a European country where a few people are unfortunately killed,
and yet this makes headline news in every newspaper and television channel
around the globe. By no means am I excusing
the murder of a few Europeans, because any act of violence where a life is
taken should not be tolerated in the strongest of terms. After all we are a race of humanity and as
such should protest against the deliberate murder of any human being regardless
of ethnicity, race or religious affinity.
I am at odds trying to understand
the sudden wave of condolences for the families of the victims of the Paris
bombings recently, when worse acts of terrorism are perpetrated daily on similar
innocent victims in their thousands in the MENA region. But strikingly not one
word of condolence is mentioned or posted for these victims where whole
families and their livelihoods are wiped out without a shred of remorse. I’ve
seen some posts and condolences from god fearing Christians who feel it is
their ethnic and religious duty to send a “shout-out” to the Paris victims’ families.
Yet these same Christians are eerily silent in the other situations mentioned.
As followers of the Christian, Muslim
and Jewish faiths, I fail to understand why or how we can turn a blind eye to
the descendants of the people who gave rise to these religions since the dawn
of civilisation in the Middle East. If
anything, our allegiance and religious affinity should be to those victims in
the ME by virtue of their ascendancy from biblical figures from the
region. Countries like Iraq, Iran,
Syria, Libya, Afghanistan, Israel, Jordan, etc. have a direct bearing on our religious and
biblical beliefs. For those who read the
bible, some may not realise that the country called Iraq was actually the
region of Mesopotamia. Iran was the
region of Persia, and Syria was the region of Babylon, Canaan and Assyria. Israel is the region of Palestine and Jordan
still maintains its biblical name. The region is rich in Archaeological history
dating back to the birth of civilization. When searching for answers to our
religious heritage we mostly refer to the bible where we read about the birth
of the different religions and faiths originating from this region.
Although our religious heritage
based on the above is plain to see, we prefer to give precedence and allegiance
to a country or one of the European countries mainly responsible for endless
suffering through colonisation and imperial domination of millions of Africans
in North and Central Africa, and various parts of the ME. The question I cannot
answer is why we repeatedly embrace our colonial masters who subjected our
ancestors to brutal slavery, yet ignore the pure and real heritage of our
religious ancestors that gives real meaning and substance to our lives. From a
humane perspective I can understand the reactions, but why is this reaction not
universal for an act of terrorism against any single nation or culture?
