Is a French life somehow more valuable?
WHY is there always a request for our Muslim leaders to condemn Islamist inspired terrorist atrocities? This is racist. Why are Jewish leaders not asked to condemn the killing of Palestinians in occupied Palestine ? Or why is the American embassy not asked to condemn the killing of innocent civilians in drone attacks? The only reason I can think of is that a French life is more valuable than an Arab, African or Asian life. This is the racism inherent in the knee-jerk reaction of expecting our Muslim leaders to condemn the terrorists whenever they kill Europeans. Acts of terrorism and Islamic State are symptoms of a malaise in the western world, Russia and the Islamic world, rooted in history and which comes from: The asymmetrical distribution of political, economic and military power; The use of the UN Security Council vetoes by the US and Russia to continue the oppression and killings of the Palestinians and Syrians respectively; and
The continuous interference of the West and Russia in the affairs of the Middle East to control their oil reserves and destroy Israel’s enemies. The underlying malaise in the Islamic world comes from: ý Literal interpretation of Koranic text; An inability to change and reform their political, legal, economic, social and educational systems; An inability to set up democratic institutions; and The lack of political and religious tolerance and the inability to unite. Unless we move to a world based on justice, equality of opportunity and democratic rights for all, endless condemnation will be futile and will fall on deaf ears. Because there is inertia for change in the West, in Russia and the Islamic world, the revolutions, wars, invasions, oppression, tyranny and terrorism will go on. It would be more productive to ask our Muslim leaders in South Africa to provide the leadership required to modernise the curriculum taught at the colleges and madressahs where they are still teaching ninth century philosophy, politics, law, ethics and theology and which, ironically, forms the bedrock of IS’s ideology.
