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Date: Thu, 25 Oct 2001 18:22:39 -0700 (PDT)
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Subject: [iwar] [fc:Arab.world.poverty.--.whose.fault?]
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Larry Elder
October 25, 2001
Arab world poverty -- whose fault?
"I don't have the knowledge to blame a government," said Bakhtiar
Khan, an Afghan man in his mid-twenties. "I don't know about politics,
but for our problems I blame the world community. All humans should be
equal, but we are not. You ask me who is to blame. You find out who is
to blame." Khan, according to a recent New York Times piece on the
origins of Islamic extremism, earns a subsistence level income making
bricks in a pit outside the city of Peshawar, an Afghan city of 2
million, nearly 50 percent refugees. When asked about his life, he
says, "Life is cruel. You can see for yourself. You wear nice clothes
and are healthy. But look at us. We have no clothes to wear and we are
not healthy. Your question is amazing."
So, who is to blame?
A recent story on Afghan schools described a teacher who holds up a
wealth pie chart. America, she shows her students, controls this huge
slice of the pie, leaving a tiny sliver for us Afghans. The
not-so-subtle point? Afghans suffer poverty because of America's
disproportionate wealth.
But no, Khan lacks the "knowledge to blame a government." For, through
knowledge, Khan would discover that his poverty stems from corrupt,
dictatorial governments, the absence of capitalism and free trade, and
the lack of individual rights and the rule of law. But who, in the
Arab world, spreads this message?
Dr. Muqtedar Khan, director of International Studies at Adrian College
in Michigan, challenges American Muslims to set the masses straight:
"While we loudly and consistently condemn Israel for its ill treatment
of Palestinians, we are silent when Muslim regimes abuse the rights of
Muslims and slaughter thousands of them. Remember Saddam and his use
of chemical weapons against Muslims (Kurds)? Remember Pakistani army's
excesses against Muslims (Bengalis)? Remember the Mujahideen of
Afghanistan and their mutual slaughter? Have we ever condemned them
for their excesses? Have we demanded international intervention or
retribution against them? Do you know how the Saudis treat their
minority Shiis? Have we protested the violation of their rights? But
we all are eager to condemn Israel; not because we care for rights and
lives of the Palestinians, we don't. We condemn Israel because we hate
'them.'
"Muslims love to live in the U.S. but also love to hate it. Many
openly claim that the U.S. is a terrorist state but they continue to
live in it. Their decision to live here is testimony that they would
rather live here than anywhere else. As an Indian Muslim, I know for
sure that nowhere on earth, including India, will I get the same sense
of dignity and respect that I have received in the U.S. No Muslim
country will treat me as well as the U.S. has. If what happened on
Sept. 11 had happened in India, the biggest democracy, thousands of
Muslims would have been slaughtered in riots on mere suspicion and
there would be another slaughter after confirmation. But in the U.S.,
bigotry and xenophobia has been kept in check by media and leaders ...
"It is time that we acknowledge that the freedoms we enjoy in the U.S.
are more desirable to us than superficial solidarity with the Muslim
World. If you disagree, then prove it by packing your bags and going
to whichever Muslim country you identify with. If you do not leave and
do not acknowledge that you would rather live here than anywhere else,
know that you are being hypocritical.
"It is time that we faced these hypocritical practices and struggled
to transcend them. It is time that American Muslim leaders fought to
purify their own lot."
But only a few weeks ago, Arab leaders condemned Italian Prime
Minister Silvio Berlusconi for calling Western civilization "superior"
because it "guarantees respect for human rights and religion." Harsh
criticism forced him to recant his "racist" statement. But if we call
Berlusconi's remarks "racist," in what category do we place the
statement made by Abdulrahman Awadi, formerly a high-ranking official
in Kuwait? When Kuwait learned that Sulaiman abu Ghaith, a Kuwaiti
citizen, had become a top lieutenant with Osama bin Laden, Kuwait
revoked abu Ghaith's citizenship. Awadi said, "This is a wake-up call
that we have to be very careful with freedom. Democracy and freedom of
choice may be good for Western cultures, but for the Gulf countries,
those are dangerous things. These people are using freedom to achieve
their ends."
Who is to blame?
Countries like Saudi Arabia and Egypt suffer double-digit unemployment
rates, estimated as high as 25 percent. Grinding poverty and religious
zealotry, wrapped around a blanket of government-led scapegoating of
Israel, the United States and the West -- all combine to form a
dangerous and deadly Third World victicrat mindset. Blame triumphs
over enlightenment, and anger defeats reason.
©2001 Creators Syndicate, Inc.
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