The threat of violent extremism and terrorism has become a
global reality and no threat of use of force to achieve political or any other
goal should be ignored. But we must also think about the politicization of the
"war against terrorism", the manipulation of it, and errors in the
methods used to counter terrorism, says Muhamed Jusic, Islamic theologian and
analyst, commenting on the developments in the Middle East.
"One of the most common mistakes in this war is
generalization, or presentation of terrorism as something Islamic, supported by
all Muslims in the world. I'm not sure whether those who in our public do not
distinguish between small groups of radicals and all Muslims in the Balkans,
Europe and in the world, fall into this trap deliberately or not, or whether
they are trying to deepen the conflict between, conditionally speaking, all
Muslims and the West, rather than use joint efforts to condemn a small group of
fanatics and radicals. They do not see, or will not see, that these groups are
killing Muslims alongside non-Muslims, and that in fact, most of their victims
around the world are precisely Muslims. Those who choose to believe these
things, consciously or not, are making favors to terrorists and violent
extremists whose goal is to present themselves as representatives of Islam and
Muslims", Jusic said in an interview for Pobjeda daily.
According to him, the best response to the mad videos these
extremists post is to achieve more freedom, more inter-religious and
inter-ethnic cooperation and more work for a better common future of all
nations in the Balkans.
"Spreading fear, politicizing terrorist threats,
denying Muslim nations and communities in the Balkans their legitimate
political demands and problems because of their alleged links with global
terrorism, will only strengthen the terrorists and help them achieve their
goal. They want to see the world in chaos. They want to prove that Muslims are
threatened by others everywhere in the world, including the Balkans, and that
only they can protect them, by using force. By inhibiting Islamophobia and the
antis-Islamic sentiment, we are depriving terrorists of their primary weapon to
mobilize new followers. Broadcasting of footage whose main actors died in the
Syrian war a few months ago could not have occurred by chance in the days when
Pope Francis was scheduled to visit Sarajevo. This is the best proof of what I
just said, revealing the goal of the video's producers: to send a different
message to the region than the one Sarajevo and the Pope sent that day",
says Jusic.
The Balkans is a vulnerable area; close to the memory of the
suffering and chaos of the nineties in which extremists of all nations
"fed each other." However, Jusic said the rightists around Europe and
in the world are seeking justification for their xenophobic and no less violent
attitude towards all Muslims in the actions of a small group of extremists.
"Such an approach should not be repeated, especially
here in the former Yugoslavia, where we have long experience of
multiculturalism and coexistence of different religious and ethnic groups.
Especially now that we know where sowing fear and prejudice against "the
others" took us in the nineties. I believe the horrific crimes of the
period, which culminated with the genocide in Srebrenica, must be a lesson for
the future, that this region never again plays with hate and fear", said
Jusic.
http://www.cdm.me/english/jusic-our-actions-should-not-benefit-terrorists
