YOURSAY | ‘These terrorists are not even fighting the Palestinian cause.’
Dr M blames creation of Israel for deadly rampage in France
Rojak:
While the establishment of Israel is certainly on the minds of many terror groups, IS' activities are not about liberating the Palestinians: if Israel disappeared tomorrow would IS disappear too?
As for terrorism, former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad reveals his poor and typically selective understanding of history. Does he really think the long history of action-through-violence groups arose only in 1948?
The one thing he is right about is that the military action by western countries is likely to result in violent attacks on ordinary citizens by disgruntled groups. But isn't he also among the first to complain when western countries do nothing in situations of conflict?
Is he happy to let IS go on killing thousands of fellow Muslims in the Middle East, let alone kill others elsewhere?
By all means, let Mahathir go and negotiate peacefully with IS if he thinks he can persuade them to stop. His famously selective memory and ability to give different opinions to different people should come in very useful.
Pemerhati: The history text for year 10 and 11 British school students, like Mahathir, states, “Terrorism began in earnest after the Six Day War. Until then most violence had been directed against Israelis troops and civilians. From the late 1960s terrorism was directed against any country that supported Israel. The aim was to force countries to withdraw support from Israel and so isolate it in the Middle East.”
In the 1967 war, the Israeli armed forces which had superior weapons (from their US backers) and a much larger army (300,000) attacked Egypt, Syria and Jordan (total army of 180,000) without warning and captured large tracts of their territory.
That said, much of the present-day terrorism has nothing to do with Israel but seems to be due to varying interpretations of Islam.
Now you have Islamic terror organisations like IS, Taliban, Boko Haram, etc, in different parts of the world who terrorise and kill people who do not follow their beliefs.
Anonymous_1421806811: I really wish for once in his life, Mahathir will not use the excuse that Israel is the cause of Islamic terrorism.
The IS are nothing but losers who have failed to create their caliphate in war-torn Syria and now are venting their frustrations all over the world. The sooner he condemns the IS, the better it is.
Bamboo: This opinion by Mahathir reveals his similarly warped thinking like the IS terrorists, as usual blaming everyone else but themselves.
Hplooi: To blame IS solely on the creation of Israel (the result of Western colonialism) is simplistic.
In truth the rise of Salafist (inward-looking autarchic) ideology in Islam in the modern era can be traced to the disintegration of the Ottoman empire, the rise of secular Islam (Kemal Ataturk) and subsequent failures of the said secularist can be identified as one of the major cause.
Note: The failure of the secularist in Muslim-majority states (corrupt dictators who ran the gamut of socialist, nationalist, fascist and democrats). This caused Muslims to look inward as their failures become more apparent ("Blame the whole world", "Look back to the golden age", etc).
Other civilizations were also highly impacted by colonialism (more so) in the pre-modern era (for example, China and Vietnam) but yet they react differently.
Look too at the form of Islam, some strains of which are so extreme that they repudiate even other variants of Islam itself. The buttress my argument that it is not only about Israel.
Negarawan: It is the same kind of hatred that Mahathir has in his mind and heart that is fuelling the madness of IS.
When IS terrorists viciously rape and mutilate thousands of innocent women and children, tell me Mahathir, what type of jihad is this? When IS terrorists steal and rob the assets of their enemies for their personal gain, what sort of jihad is this?
Anonymous_1371477558: Mahathir, I totally disagree with you. These terrorists are not even fighting the Palestinian cause.
There can be no justification for such acts. If there is, there is even less reasons for the European Union (EU) countries to accept Muslim refugees from the Middle East.
Not Confused: The Jews have been persecuted for centuries, culminating in the systematic elimination of over six million of them by yet another international maniac (Adolf Hitler).
The 1948 solution was maybe not the best solution, but I think its links to the current threat by IS is tenuous to say the least.
The current threat from IS is basically a declared intention to eliminate one group of Muslims and create a Muslim caliphate stretching from north Africa to the Indian border.
The methods used by IS are reminiscent of those employed by Hitler, involving the systematic murder of innocents, butchery, rape, torture, forced conversions, forced marriages - the list goes on.
The rest of the Islamic world looks on and says very little unless their own brand of Islam is in direct threat from IS. As usual, Mahathir is showing his disjointed view of the world, or is it just senility?
Odin Tajué: In times of peace, millions of Muslims have been emigrating to Christian countries. In times of unrest, as is right now due to their fellow Muslims (the IS), they are also fleeing to Christian countries.
Why haven't they fled to Muslim countries nearby, such as Saudi Arabia, UAE and Afghanistan? Or a little farther away to Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Maldives? Why haven't they, Mahathir?
Turvy: Israel is a pariah state. But what about this country of ours? Israel usurped the rights and possessions of the Palestinians on imagined notions built on ancient beliefs. Is this country not doing the same of those who have legitimate rights to this country?
How do you explain the gradual exclusion of parts of our society on imagined racial grounds from official positions in government and government institutions? Are these actions reasonable and fair?
Has there not been a usurpation of similar proportions to that of Israel and other abominable countries? This country has veered so far away from principles and practice of fairness and justice to its people that it can only be described a pariah state like Israel.
Can all this now be a justification for violence of the kind we saw happen in Paris?
Haveagreatday: "But please remember when you (the West) dropped bombs on people, that is also terrorism."
This will not endear this ex-dictator to the west, but yet if one is objective, is this not a fact and part of the problem?
No, this is in no way to justify the evil in the actions of those terrorists and how they smear the name of Islam by their demonic actions.
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