THE TERRORIST ATTACK against the French newspaper Charlie Hebdo created diametrically opposite reactions among Jordanians. The two assailants constitute the same phenomenon of Salafi Jihadists that Maan and Zerqa accommodate , lone wolves on the loose. It was not surprising the Moslem Brotherhood, the strongest political party in Jordan, expressed a strong condemnation, through its political arm, the Islamic Action Front, expressing the short sighted policy of such violence. The Lebanese Hizbollah issued an equally strong condemnation. But many observers point to the failure of the French educational system that allowed a Moslem born in Paris, educated in schools there, and had his formative years impacted by totally French ethos, and yet had to become an Al Qaeda member. A thorough study might reveal the accumulated burden of alienation, deprivation, and marginalization that six million Muslems there suffer from. The true assailants are not only the two brothers Kouchan, but another accomplice is the negative stereotype of Arabs, with all its components of barbarism, savagery, sub humanity and degradation that precluded total integration into civil society and public French life, in the same way that Moslems in other countries managed to do. The impact of Islamo phobia might be one contributing factor to create justifications for persecution and distrust of those six million Moslems, but the last two decades witnessed many political resolutions that Paris adopted but angered many members of the Moslems community there. Though the French newspaper Charlie Hebdo had indulged in what is considered “ freedom of provocations” , and spared no efforts to humiliate Moslems and their prophet, yet nothing justifies the murder of twelve journalists working in the paper. One of the assailants shouted during his shooting spree “this is in revenge for the prophet”. But actually it turned out to be “a revenge against the prophet” since the European Moslems will be subjected to all forms of discrimination by racists and rightists including the French National Front, the German anti Islamic PEGIDA extreme rightist coalition, (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West), and the British racist movements. The Charlie Hebdo massacre might have appealed to those who saw their identity and prophet humiliated by that paper, but the answer to that can not be achieved by atrocities that distort the image of all Arabs and Moslems, but by legal means that the freedom of the press stipulates. Stereotyping the Arabs and Moslems as killers and murderers is the direct result of such a heinous crime. Moreover, nothing justifies penalizing Paris for the pro Arab stands during the last two decades. The French support for Arabs and Palestinians at the United Nations Security Council two weeks ago, deserves acts of gratitude rather than bloodshed. Greetings and my best personal regards to you, Musa. ---------------- Dr Musa A Keilani, Editor-in-Chief, Al Urdon Newspaper, Post Office Box : 815414/11180, Jebel Amman, Amman - Jordan. Telephone :(+9626) 5 624 655. Fax :(+9626) 5 624 707. Email Address musakeilani@gmail
Posted on: Sat, 10 Jan 2015 07:24:08 +0000
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