09-05-2004, 02:04 AM
You're missing the point entirely. I sympathize with people trying to gain their freedom. Palestinians, Chechins, Northern Irish, and American Indians. What I'm trying to say is that the way Islam goes about gaining its independence and freedome is counerproductive. Look at Chechnya. They recently invaded a Russian grammar school and killed hundreds of children (Russia was also responsible for this atrocity.) Does killing a bunch of kids make people more sympathetic to your cause? Does slandering an entire ethnic group with xenophobic slurs make people support your cause more?
Contrary to what many people believe, we do not live in ancient times anymore. No one nation can do anything alone, and everyone's actions affect one another. In the days of long ago, Celts could wage a civil war, and it did not affect the Nubians one bit. Today, countries that go it alone (i.e., the United States) end up worse off and more hated than before. Look at the U.S. in Iraq. Bush thought that the U.S. was being threatened by Iraq, so he bombed it to bits. Did the rest of the world become sympathetic to the American cause? No! In fact, most of the Western World (out old allies) and pretty much ALL of the rest hates the U.S. Palestine IS dependent on what the rest of the world thinks, because the events in the middle-east affect practically everyone. Jews in Brooklyn, Jews in Europe, Arabs and Muslims in America, etc.
A problem Islam has (which it shares with the United States) is that it cares not what the rest of the world thinks and if refuses to accept that we live in a cosmopolis.
In my efforts for Irish independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain, I went from supporting the militant IRA, to denouncing them. And in doing so, I've found a larger audience for my cause. Ireland can hash it out with England all it wants, but its who makes the most allies who will win (recall the old saying, "you catch more bees with honey.") If Palestine is to free its people and live in harmony with Isreal, it needs to make friends FAST. Honestly, I do not care for Isreal. They use U.S. made weapons, displace thousands of native people, and support corrupt governments. But I'll tell you one thing, strapping on a stick of dynamite isn't going to stop Isrealis from shooting a missile at your house. It will only make them want to do it more.
The people I'd admire are Gandhi, the Dalai Lama, Martin Luther King Jr., all of whom made huge progress for their people through sound reasoning and sanity. I suggest some of the more radical of you try it.
Salaam. And when I say that, I truely mean "PEACE." It seems oxymoronic to say salaam and support violence.