In Reply to: i don't think they are enough posted by albert on Tuesday, 11. October 2005 at 06:35 Bali Time:
I'm not quite sure exactly who you're talking about, though.
Obviously, the leaders of JI or whatever organisation is behind the bombings have a propensity towards violence. I think it's fair to say they haven't exhausted non-violent options to achieve their aims, whatever they are, since very few people had heard of JI until 2002. Maybe they had tried other ways and no-one listened. I posted last week about why the standard theories about JI are at odds with the widely held belief that Bashir is their spiritual leader.
The idea that Islam spans borders negates the fact that these guys are from Malaysia and Indonesia. They will be as outraged about Muslim deaths anywhere in the world as Americans are about 9/11. I'm not sure exactly what you mean by asking if they were directly hurt. I don't know if they've lost family members or friends. But how many Americans (by whatever standard you are using) were directly hurt on 9/11? And do the rest of them still have cause to seek revenge? Or did they just choose to be enraged?
I think the motivations of the terrorists are very similar to our own. The leaders want more power and/or to defeat or inflict hurt on a perceived or actual enemy, and to achieve those ends they are prepared to manipulate others to do the dirty work, using whatever justifications motivate the little guys to act.
Our leaders say Saddam is about to cause mushroom clouds over New York. Theirs say the west is engaging in a war on Islam.
Both claim to act in self defense. Both cause the most damage to people who have never hurt them, nor pose any threat in the future. Both sets of leaders are cowards who don't do the fighting themselves, and only attack those who have no chance of fighting back on equal terms.
The best defense against violence perpetuated by both sides is to empower people to question the dodgy information and manipulation coming from the leaders who only care about their own agenda and have no real love for those they are manipulating and complete disdain for the innocents who die.
And the best way to empower ourselves is to meet as many people from as many different places and walks of life as possible, so that we can see for ourselves that there really is no enemy other than the individuals and groups who set out to divide us.
Most of the anti-Muslim sentiments come from people who have never known a Muslim in their lives. And I bet the guys who blew themselves up never had dinner with an Australian family and met their children. It's much easier to hate someone you've never met, or to hate an ideology you don't understand. And it's much easier to never meet someone you've been told is evil, and to never attempt to understand an ideology you've been told is wrong.
It's a self-perpetuating cycle that we as individuals must remove ourselves from. Our leaders like having us trapped in that cycle, because it's easier to make us do whatever they want.
So, whatever reasons and justifications and motivations you find on "their" side, look for the same, or analogous, things on "our" side. That way, we can try to fix things at home as well as abroad.