Moslem animosity
towards non-Moslems in the Middle East has been a growing problem for
over a century. It wasn’t always that way, but it’s been getting worse.
Before the Ottoman Empire collapsed in 1918, Christians and Jews had
been free to do business in Moslem areas and these minorities were the
main source of economic growth in the region. There had always been
animosity towards non-Moslems in Arab countries, but for centuries the
more tolerant Turkish Moslem overlords allowed the Christians and Jews
to do business in part because the Turks realized these two groups were
the source of a disproportionate share of economic growth. Once the
Turks were gone, discrimination against non-Moslems intensified. Many
Christians left, most Jews who did not leave were driven out. There were
economic consequences (the Moslem world has been underperforming for
centuries) as well as social ones (the Christians and Jews were wrongly
blamed for many social, political and economic problems).
Even after Israel conquered the Palestinian territories in the
1967 War Moslem persecution of Christians continued, even though most
of those Christians were Arabs. In the last 13 years the percentage of
the Palestinian population that is Christians has gone from two percent
to one percent.
Bethlehem, which for centuries was largely Christian
(Arab Christians for the most part), is now only 15 percent Christian.
When Israel was founded in 1948, Jerusalem was 15 percent Christian, now
it is only 1.5 percent Christian. The decline is not just in the
traditional Christian holy places but throughout the Middle East and
Moslem countries in general. This is all the result of long standing
Islamic disdain for other religions. During the last century that
disdain has increasingly turned to violence and outright hatred. Most
Christians, and other religious minorities, fled to the West, often the
United States. Until recently most Arab-Americans were Christian.
Iraq is another example. Before Saddam invaded Kuwait in 1990,
there were 1.5 million Christians in Iraq. Now there are fewer than
400,000. Many were expelled by Islamic fanatics because they were not
Moslem but there was also Iraqi Moslem hatred of Christians because they
were supporters of Saddam. Religious and ethnic minorities are often
recruited by tyrants, or foreign invaders, to prop up a dictatorship or
colonial rule.
When the British took over Iraq from the Moslem Turks in the
1920s, they trusted the local Christians (and other religious
minorities) more than the majority of Moslems for security chores and
government jobs in general. The Turks did the same thing but to a lesser
extent because the local Christians were also Arabs, and all Arabs
resented centuries of rule by the alien Turks. But Shia Moslem Iraqis
also hated their fellow Moslems (mainly the four million strong Sunni
Arab minority) who supported the Turks and later Sunni Arab dictators
like Saddam.
Alas, throughout the Moslem world there is an ancient
antipathy against non-Moslems or Moslems who are different than your
group. The infidels (non-Moslems) are seen as potentially disloyal, and
what happened in Iraq over the last century just confirms that attitude.
Currently you find Moslems attacking Buddhists in Thailand, Jews
everywhere, Baha'is in Iran, and Christians in Egypt, Iraq, the
Philippines, Pakistan, Malaysia, and elsewhere (even Europe). This is
not a sudden and unexpected outburst of Moslem violence against
non-Moslems. It is normal and at the root of Islamic terrorism. While
this violent behavior represents only a small number of Moslems, it is a
large minority (from a few percent of a population to over half,
according to opinion polls). Moreover, the majority of Moslems has not
been willing, or able, to confront and suppress the Islamic radicals
that not only spread death and destruction but also besmirch all
Moslems. This reveals a fundamental problem in the Islamic world, the
belief that combining righteousness with murderous tactics is often the
road to power and spiritual salvation. Throughout history when these
tactics were applied to non-Moslems they often failed. The non-Moslems
were unfazed by the religious angle and, especially in the last five
hundred years, were better able to defeat Islamic violence with even
greater violence. Thus, until quite recently, the Moslems fought among
themselves and left the infidels (non-Moslems) alone. But after World
War II that began to change.
During the Lebanese civil war of 1975-1990, Christian and
Moslem Arabs fought bitterly over political, cultural, and, ultimately,
religious differences. Few realized it at the time but this war was but
the first of many between Christians and Moslems in the 20th and 21st
centuries.
Many of the earliest Moslem converts were Christians. And many
of those that Moslem armies unsuccessfully sought to conquer were
Christian. The original Crusades, which modern Moslems portray as
Western aggression, were actually a Western attempt to rescue Middle
Eastern Christians from increasing Islamic terrorism and violence. But
Islam as a political force was in decline for several centuries until
the 1970s. Then things changed and they continue to change. Fueled by
oil wealth and access to Western weapons and technology, Islamic
radicals saw new opportunities. Islam was again on the march and few
have noticed the many places it was turning into religious war with
Christians and other non-Moslems.
The Middle East still contains many non-Moslems. None have
their own country, except for Israel. But Egypt contains over five
million Copts, native Christians who did not convert to Islam. Similar
small Christian communities exist throughout the Middle East, and
growing hostility from Moslem neighbors cause many to migrate or get
killed.
Moslems also have turned their righteous wrath on dissident
Moslem sects. The Druze and Alawites are considered by many Moslems as
pagans pretending to be Moslems. Similarly, the Shias of Iran and
neighboring areas are considered less orthodox, not just for their
admitted differences but because many adherents openly practice customs
dating of the pre-Islamic Zoroastrian religion. These differences are
less frequently overlooked today. To survive the many Druze have allied
themselves with Israel, and most of the current Syrian leadership are
Alawites who pretend to be more Shia than they really are.
Radicals throughout the Moslem world continue to take
advantage of dissatisfaction among the people and recruit terrorists and
supporters. To help this process along they invoke the ancient grudges
popular among many Moslems. Most of these legends involve Christians
beating on Moslems. To most radicals it makes sense to get people
agitated over faraway foreigners rather than some strongman nearby who
can quickly have you killed.
Most radicals lack the skills, money, or ability to carry
their struggle to far-off places. So most of the agitation takes place
among Moslem populations. Any violent attitudes generated are easily
directed at available non-Moslems. The more violence you generate, the
more really fanatical fighters are developed. These are the people who
are willing to travel to foreign lands and deal with non-believers and
kill them for the cause. We call it terrorism; the fanatics call it
doing what has to be done, defending Islam with jihad.
Not surprisingly Moslems get motivated to do something about
Islamic radicalism when the violence comes to their neighborhoods.
That's why terror attacks in the West are so popular. The infidels are
being attacked without any risk to those living in Moslem countries.
Iraq changed all that and during the course of that war (2004-7) the
popularity of Islamic terrorism, in Moslem countries, declined sharply
because the terrorists were killing so many Moslems. That, in the end,
is what has killed, for a while, most Islamic terrorism in Iraq. But
this time around it would be nice if the Moslem world got their act
together and expunged this malevolent tendency once and for all.
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