10 Reasons Muslims Get Militant

[Valeoz]

This was a post off of Newsvine. What you think?

1. Continued dependence on the sale of oil, which polarizes the middle East into haves and have-nots, with governments gaining favor not through fairness or justice but simply by spreading oil money around.

2. European formal and informal colonization of the Middle East circa WWI, which stunted Middle Eastern economies and installed a series of illegitimate puppet governments.

3. US and European support of oppressive regimes like those of Assad, Mubarak, the House of Saud, the Shah of Iran, and, formerly, Saddam Hussein, making militant Islam look like a viable alternative to western-backed dictatorship.

4. The general ineffectiveness and corruption of the above regimes, and their inability to provide social services, which paved the way for groups like the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas to gain favor by dispensing these services.

5. Social and economic isolation of Muslims in Europe, caused in part by a European mistrust of Islam in particular and immigration in general.

6. Growth of education in Muslim countries without a corresponding growth of economic opportunity, leading to large-scale youth frustration and the increased popularity of al-Qaeda-style training camps.

7. The actions of France in North Africa, and the low status of north Africans in France.

8. The exodus of Palestinian refugees after 1948, spreading resentment against Israel all around the Muslim world.

9. The absence in many Middle Eastern nations of any tradition of peaceful protest or open political debate, resulting in large part from government denials of free speech and free press.

10. Radical Islamic concepts of jihad.

The first nine of these reasons can be addressed and discussed rationally. They deal with problems we in the West can address, or help Middle Eastern governments to address. The 10th reason is outside the realm of rationality and debate. We can't fix it; we can't even really discuss it.

Luckily, it's only one of 10 reasons. To deny the importance of the other nine is to misunderstand the situation, and to hamper our search for a solution.

The first nine reasons are not justifications for terror. Terrorism is never right, and it should never be excused. However, it can be understood, and it must be understood before we can combat it. Until we grasp the importance of the first nine reasons, we will harbor a mistaken and simplistic view of Islamic terrorism. Until we see that today's battles have more roots in the world then they have in the Koran, we will never have peace.

 

[Jokerman]

Sounds fair and balanced to me. I would probably add the Clash of Religions, or Cultures. The Muslim history of invasions, the Crusades, all influenced the present situation.

 

[Khaled]

interesting, i can't say i disagree.

a few notes:

3. US and European support of oppressive regimes like those of Assad, Mubarak, the House of Saud, the Shah of Iran, and, formerly, Saddam Hussein, making militant Islam look like a viable alternative to western-backed dictatorship.

this is true to some extent, but there are no militias in any of these countries (except in Iran under the Shah's rule, which lead to the islamic revoluttion). Under Dictatorship rule, in geneal, internal control is generally pretty strong, so militias are quasi impossible to form.

this also applies to reason 4

8. The exodus of Palestinian refugees after 1948, spreading resentment against Israel all around the Muslim world.

definitely, Palestinian exodus dragged a lot of countries in to the conflict, countries which didn't necessarily feel concerned before.

9. The absence in many Middle Eastern nations of any tradition of peaceful protest or open political debate, resulting in large part from government denials of free speech and free press.

this is the only point i disagree with.
It seems that the West has long been incapable of grasping the cultural diversity in the middle east, trying to banalize every political system into a duality like Democrates-Republicans.
When you have in small countries 10 to 20 different political parties, with completely different ideologies, and with the absence of a clear majority, it is very difficult to apply traditionnal democratic concepts like majority rules, as any form of power is bound to alienate more than 60% of the population. The problem is not the lack of political debates, but rather the failure of these debates, which leads to the absence of an active political life.
So the lack of productive politics often results into the creation of armed militias meant to protect each sect's interest.

there's also another important point:
there are restrictions from the US on several middle east countries to prevent them from building a strong and powerfull army. So many people rely on militias to protect their backs.

 

[Amara]

Nice summary I think.