Arab Responses to Terror
Arab Responses to Suicide Attacks in Riyadh and Casablanca, May, 2003. Excerpts from Editorials and Columns:
"Their filthy war is, in the first degree, a war against Islam itself and against Muslims wherever they are." --- "Groups Alien in History," al-Watan (Saudi), May 17, 2003.
"Among their lies in religion and reasoning is the claim that they are striving (yajahidoon) in the path of God. But, is it reasonable that innocent people be killed, that their blood be shed in vain, including that of children and women and the elderly, all in the name of God? --- "Is This Terrorism Contagious?," al-Watan (Saudi), May 18, 2003.
"Only by exterminating terrorism can the human race be set free from fear. When demons strike in the night, the more so must light remain a human value." --- Muhammad al-Ashaab, "Why Morocco?," al-Hayat, May 18, 2003.
"All Muslims recognize that these ugly hostilities committed by terrorists have no connection with Islam, but are the collective product of murderous extremists in the service of interests far removed from healthy religion." --- "The Struggle Against Terrorism is an International Responsibility," al-Ahram (Egypt), May 19, 2003.
"The time has come to face the essence of what it means to be Arab and Muslim with all honesty and truthfulness and without evasion, trickery, or lying. But, we know that confronting ourselves is always harder than blaming outsiders, which is probably why we continue to find ourselves in the state of affairs we are in...But, in the end, there is no other way out. The whole world, from east to west, has come to look upon us distrustfully, and regards us as fanatics, savages, and barbarians because of these bombings." --- Hasham Salih, "When Will the Era of Extremism and Compulsion in Religion End?," al-Sharq al-Awsat, May 23, 2003.
Translations by Ted Thornton
See also a note on the Muslim conference on terrorism that took place in Kuala Lampur in April, 2002, and remarks made by the Grand Sheikh of al-Azhar, also in Kuala Lampur, in July, 2003. See also why Saudi young were attracted to bin Laden. See article by Saudi journalist Suraya al-Shehry, June, 2004 . See also Bandar bin Sultan's response to the attacks of May, 2004. See also Abd al-Rahman al-Rashed writing on Sept. 4, 2004. See King Abdullah's TV interview on October 14, 2005. More on Saudi Arabia.