09/10/2002
EDITORIAL NUMBER=0-10120

TERRORISTS’ TRUE INTENTIONS

It has been a year since al-Qaida terrorists, falsely claiming to be acting in the name of Islam, hijacked four airliners and attacked the World Trade Center and Pentagon. More than three-thousand people from more than ninety countries were killed. At this time of remembering, it is important to shine a spotlight on the true intentions of the hijackers and their sponsors. These evil-doers, as Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said, are targeting "not just America, but Muslims and Islam -- by [seeking to destroy] the ideals of tolerance, justice, and openness as they apply to Muslims the world over."

The terrorists, said Mr. Wolfowitz, "aim to impose a new kind of violent tyranny, a tyranny that pretends to be based on Islam, but which owes more to the totalitarian impulses of the twentieth century than to the great religion the terrorists are attempting to hijack. The hundreds of millions of Muslims who aspire to modernity, freedom, and prosperity are, in reality, themselves on the frontlines of the struggle against terrorism."

One such Muslim cited by Mr. Wolfowitz is Mona Eltahawy [el-tah-HAH-wee], a young woman from Egypt who recently became a permanent resident of the United States. As she wrote in the New York Times newspaper, "When the World Trade Center towers crumbled to the ground, they brought down with them the denial of many Muslims. Many at first could not believe that Muslims had committed such an act. But over the past year, moderate Muslims, realizing that they had been silent for too long, have spoken out against the extremist element in the religion."

Ms. Eltahawy pointed out that she and Mohammed Atta, one of the nineteen hijackers of September 11^th, represent two forces "tugging at Islam today." Both were born in Egypt, a year apart. Both lived abroad for several years, and both called themselves Muslim. But while Ms. Eltahawy says her faith is one of tolerance and acceptance of others, Atta was filled with hate. "His backward-looking faith," as Ms. Eltahawy put it, was "stripped of compassion."

Many American Muslims have spoken out against this false view of Islam. But Ms. Eltahawy says she is "saddened that such a debate has not taken off with much vigor in other parts of the world." Indeed, in far too many countries, she says, "the clerics who should lead Muslims away from the hatred of Mr. Atta and his conspirators are disappointingly silent."

It is time for those Muslims -- and others -- who believe in compassion and tolerance to speak out. "Only by reclaiming our own voice," as Mona Eltahawy said, "can we silence the zealots."