September 11, 2001 — the day the War on Terror “officially” began. In this election year, 3 years later, the two main Presidential candidates (as well as their political parties) are debating over what has been done and what should be done next. The Republican Party incumbent, President George W. Bush, wants use to believe that everything is going according to his master plan and that we must reelect him in order that we can stay this course. His Democratic Party challenger, Senator John Kerry, wants use to believe that the path that we are on is totally wrong and that he must become President in order to steer us in the right direction. We the voters may be divided on whether or not what our politicians have done so far is right or wrong. We may also be divided on what they need to be done next. But ever voter in America is in agreement on one thing: WE WANT THIS WAR ON TERROR TO END ASAP! So, what do I think needs to be done to end this war? There are a number of things that I believe need to be done. Some need to be done by our politicians, but following lists are things that I believe need to be done by the ordinary citizens of the world:
The ordinary citizens ON all sides need to do the following:
1. Stop making and supporting those who make inflammatory speeches about the other side: From 2001 - 2003, I was watching the Israel-Palestine crisis especially closely. With all of the Muslims I was helping while assisting the refugee community; I need to stay up to date on this issue because I was being constantly being questioned about Israel’s conduct. The thing that I found to be most telling about the character of both side was their public relations campaigns. The Israelis and the Palestinians shared a common motto that went something like this: “If you do not have something bad to say about the other side; then do not say it at all!” Whenever one side would do or say something productive; a media reporter would ask an official representative form the other side to comment. In every occasion, that representative would brush aside question about the other side’s productive action or statement and would refocus the interview on something negative about that side.
It did not take me long to figure out that neither side was trying to inform the outside world as to what the truth was. All they were doing was making statements designed to stir up anger and hatred in the hearts of the listeners. Some of it was geared towards getting more outside support for their cause; but most of it was geared towards their side’s own radicals. Motivating them to keep fighting the “good” fight to the bitter and bloody end no matter what! Is this the first step to making peace with your neighbor?
2. Stop making and supporting those who make excuses for the sins that have been made by their side — and start demanding that everybody “plays by the same set of rules”: Another thing that the Israelis and the Palestinians shared is a hypocritical use of civilian casualty statistics in order to justify the murderous acts of their side. The Palestinians place bombs in places were there is a high amount of Israeli civilian traffic. The Israelis denounce these murders only to then retaliate by launching rocket attacks against a single car being used by those believed to be responsible for those bombings. These strikes often occur while the streets are crowded with Palestinian civilians and therefore guarantees that many of them will get hit by shrapnel. The Palestinians then use these retaliatory murders as an excuse to call for more bombings. At the end of the day, 90% – 95% of all casualties caused by both sides against each other are unsuspecting, innocent, and defenseless civilians.
While condemning these Palestinian bombing, the Israelis neglects to point out the fact that the Palestinians are using the same tactics against them that they used against the British while pushing for their own independence. In 1946, Menachem Begin participated in the bombing of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem. Ninety-one unsuspecting, innocent, and defenseless civilians were murdered. Another 45 were injured. In 1977, Begin was elected Prime Minister of Israel. In 1978, he won the Nobel Peace Prize. In an interview made in the last year or two, Begin walks around this hotel and proudly shows a reporter the exact spots that he placed the bombs and how he concealed them. He never expressed any remorse for those that he had murdered because “he was doing what needed to be done.”
3. Stop trying to provoke one another in to doing something that we can then use against them in the court of public opinion: When the current intifadah started back in 2000, the Palestinians were condemning the Israelis for their use of excessive force against Palestinian civilians. They claimed that their civilian protestors — including children — were armed with nothing but stones. Israel on the other hand; was clearly seen using guns, tanks, and even helicopter gunships. It may be true that the civilians were only armed with stones, but they forgot to mention where the Palestinian Authority’s “Security” Forces were at the time. These “Security” Forces were supposed to be charged with keeping the peace. If they would have been out there doing their job when the unrest started; the Israelis would not have had come in and have done it for them. So, where were these “Security” Forces? They had taken up sniper positions against the Israeli Security Forces. So it is not accurate to say that these stone throwers were innocent and defenseless; but rather that they were bait. There job was to bait the Israelis into sniper ambushes. How then is it fair to condemn Israel for the deaths of these stone throwing children when their parents permitted — and in some cases even encouraged — these children to go into harms way in the first place?
4. Take a fair and balanced look at history and freely admit when our side was in the wrong: I know full well that many sins have been committed by my beloved country and those claim to adhere to my religion of Christianity, but let us be fair about this. There is no sin that has been committed by America or by Christians that not been committed by everybody else. This does not excuse it, but talking like America is the most evil major power ever in history is both erroneous and unfair. The same can be said for those that think Christian is the only religion that has had wrong done in its name. We have a saying in America, “THOSE WHO LIVE IN GLASS HOUSES SHOULD NOT THROW STONES!” Yes, America and Christians do live in glass houses, but so does our accusers!
Now, answer for me the following questions: When natural disasters strike, who are the first ones that are call upon to help? America and the “Christian” west. When the masses want to flee from their oppressive home lands, where do they all want to go? Again, America and the “Christian” west. When an oppressive government crosses the line and the people cry out for protection, who do they cry out to? Once again, America and the “Christian” west through the formality of asking the United Nations. One last question, which country is looked upon to send in the first troops under the UN banner? On most occasions, America. Should not any of this be taken into account when discussing the history of how the various religions, ethnicities, and nationals of the world have conducted themselves?
Now, answer me this question: Does anyone ever ask our accusers for help? No, because the only thing that our accusers are good at doing is destroy nations and reputations! OUR ACCUSERS HAVE NEVER LIBERATED ANY OPPRESSED PEOPLE! THEY HAVE IN FACT EXPLOITED THEM! The best example of this is when the al-Qaeda, who condemns America for interfering with internal matters of other nations, sent in foreign fighters to back the Taliban faction in the Afghan civil war. This in spite of the fact that most Afghans did not want to live under the Taliban’s oppressive rule. Al-Qaeda also condemns us for backing any government that lets us build military bases in their countries — especially those who oppress their own people and Israel for oppressing the Palestinians. Yet, al-Qaeda backed the oppressive Taliban so they could build terrorist training camps in Afghanistan.
None of this is offered to you as an excuse for any of the sins committed by America or by Christians. The fact is; nobody can say that their side has always been in the right and that every wrong has been committed by the other side. We Americas and Christians have over the past half century been leading the way in our willingness to not only admit such things, but also to repent of these sins and to try and make restitution for them. There is even more that we need to in this area, but at least we have started. Now; the rest of the world needs to get going and then catch up.
Ordinary Christians must get their focus back on following the teachings of Christ that are recorded in the Bible! “LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOU HEART, SOuL, mind, AND STRENGTH!” and “LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF!” The Arabs and Muslims are our neighbors too and we should therefore love them every bit as much as everybody else. Yes, Israel does have the right to defend its self, but giving them a license to sin is unbiblical! We should not be making excuses for Israel when they use tactics that would result in our own troops being court marshal if they ever used them. Most American/European Christians say that the Bible commands us to Bless Israel. So I ask you this, do you bless a hard core alcoholic or drug addict by giving them $20 in cash? No! Why not? Because you know that they are going to use that $20 to buy more of the same alcohol and drug that they have been ruining their live with. If Israel kills 20 unsuspecting, innocent, and defenseless civilians for every one terrorist that they kill, are they not giving their enemies more ammunition to use against themselves in the court of public opinion? Is this not a self-destructive path for them? Another thing to take into account is that not all 20 of the dead are Muslims; 2½% of all Palestinians living in palestine are Christians! Most of these arab Christian bothers and sisters are upset That American Christians support those that persecutes not only them, but all other Christians living under the Israeli flag! Does this not constitute Israel sinning against Christianity? Is this what god commands us to bless?
Ordinary Muslims must take control of their religion! Peaceable Muslims have been saying for years that their religion has been hijacked by the radical extremists. The same could be said about Christianity after the Roman Emperor Constantine declared Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire. He, as well as subsequent Emperors, used Christianity to increase their power base which got in the Church side tracked from its original mission. It took several centuries of the Bible being made available to the common people for the Christianity to get back its original mission. Now, it is up to the Muslims to do the same. As far as I can tell, all of the Muslim leaders with large followings preach the use violence in the name of Islam, but those who preach peace have no followers. If this is true, and if those who preach violence are in error, then stop following them! forbid them from holding teaching positions! Those who preach peace in the name of islam need to rise up and take charge!
I hope that you have found this to be informative. My intension was not to blame any one side, but to show all sides that there are things that we can all do to extinguish the hatred that the terrorists feed upon! After all, these terrorist claim to be fighting on behalf of the poor and oppressed common people. It is therefore up to all of us, the common people, to tell them: “We do not want terroristic solutions to our social Ills! We want people of wisdom and reason to speak and act on our behalf to cure them! WE just want TO Glorify God by RAISE up our children in peace and safety!”
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