Muslims can adapt to the new century [Archives:2002/50/Focus]
BY JUDITH BROWN
I would like to reply to the article in this week’s Yemen Times by an American, Dr. Arthur Bellinzoni, in which he asks the question, “Can Muslims adapt to the 21st Century?” (Issue 43).
He states, inaccurately, that Jewish and Christian fundamentalism are things of the past, and the only fundamentalism we have to worry about is Islam.
Oh, no, Dr. Bellinzoni, you are just looking at things from your own very one-sided view. Jewish fundamentalism is alive and well, as I and many European friends have witnessed when we see the way settlers behave in the Arab territories that Israel occupies, killing, torturing, dispossessing Arabs, all with the excuse that “God gave them this land”.
Let’s get it straight. Their God told them they could have the land providing they looked after the land and the people of it, but instead they choose to humiliate Arabs who are prepared to share the land with them. This type of Jew destroys Arab lives and the land they live on. This is not true Judaism which is firmly based on a system of justice.
American Christian fundamentalists on the other hand think that if “The Promised Land” is fully occupied by Jews, then there will be another Messiah who will come down and convert the whole world to Christianity.
They use the far from perfect American democratic system to tie the hands of the political leaders forcing them to support the truly evil regime in Israel, all in the name of their God.
This does not mean that Jews and Christians are inherently wicked. Here in the UK and also in Israel there are many organizations where Jews, Muslims, Christians and others work together respectfully for peace. We are the ones who are not fundamentalists.
I have many Muslim friends in Yemen, they are like sisters to me. The thoughtful love and consideration which they unfailingly demonstrate to me, a non-Muslim, proves that they are far from fundamentalist, and I can assure you they are the vast majority.
Dr. Bellinzoni, over many years I have worked closely with Muslims and I do not find them less progressive than my British and American friends and relatives. I do not find them less able to adapt to this century.
It is a sign of your own racism and religious prejudice that you think so. All people, of all races and religions, are the same mix of good and bad. Muslims react against the West because our nations vilify them and arrogantly act as if their land and resources are ours, not because of religious fervor.
Until you and those like you realize that, there will be no peace in the world. It is you who have to adapt to reality of the times we live in, not Muslims.
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