Terrorism, dead-end with no future [Archives:2003/652/Opinion]

Yahya Rabah
Ambassador of State of Palestine
For the Yemen Times
Terrorism, an accusation that we in the Arab world carry and pay a heavy price for. Terrorism that distorts the image of the Islamic and Arab world and makes us scared creatures hiding in caves of the past and it does not allow us to move forward and see the light. From the beginning we say that this terrorism has nothing to do neither from objectives or from reasons with the legal resistance which nations maintain to fight for their freedom against occupation and injustice that they face.
On occasions like that, when cruelty prevails and evil dominates, freedom fighters will to sacrifice their lives for the sake of their countries even if it means losing everything. And so they are forced to carry whatever arms they could avail in order to combat occupation. And this is a noble mission that has no relation whatsoever to terrorism. Because terrorism, a phenomenon which some extremist groups adopt in order to impose themselves under a religious, social or national umbrella or to appoint itself as a decision maker with no legal authority has become a reason for all other legal and justified groups to be fought because their image is distorted and they are put in the same category.
Although our holy religion respects human life and glorifies humanity and defends all aspects of ordered life, terrorism uses this religion against its principles as a cover for its so un-Islamic acts through taking bits and pieces of incomplete texts of the Quran or interpreting Quranic verses to suite their own whims.
It is astonishing how this religion that had come to unite humanity and to establish peace and justice is used as an excuse for war and conflict. Yet in order to combat all those misconceptions and establish awareness of the true essence of Islam that must be spread and stand against any forces that aim to spread terrorism in the name of Islam. It is enough to review honestly the recent history of our countries to realize the amount of unjustified deaths and mass killings that were committed because of this conflict. Not only within the Arab and Islamic nations but also this has given the external powers authority and means to interfere in our internal affairs and look down upon us.

Confusion
This terrorism has stamped our Arab and Islamic nations in the eyes of world with an ugly image. And in order to rectify the situation we need to join forces and work hard to establish real Islamic nations and retrieve the essence of Islam for us and to show the world what the truth is. This is essential for the happiness and development of our nations' future. We know clearly that terrorism is not linked to a certain community, but it could exist in any form and in any place or time. And to link terrorism with Islam is only a trick played by certain powers that aim to destroy Islam and the Muslim world. What the terrorists fail to realize is that this is a double-edged weapon that eventually harms all. And consequently no one is saved from the harms of it. We must act quickly, all must ask themselves questions and answer honestly. Because only if we are true with ourselves we can find the core of the problem and eliminate it. We should have freedom in thinking and in action, and not be isolated or confounded within red lines and be run around the same circle. We should break through and join the rest of the world in the developments of this century, and combat terrorism whatsoever without falling in the traps made by the image and stereotypes. Firstly we must admit that yes terrorism exists, then we must understand it and start arming ourselves in this hi-tech world where mass destruction weapons and star wars are dominating. Where a uni- pole system is dominating and controls the world. We must stand up for ourselves and our nations and not drown in our blood arguing about issues that have been decided and solved by our ancestors 15 centuries ago.
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