It seems to be that there is an overarching belief that terrorism is most likely something that people of the Muslim faith partake in. The goal of these terrorists is to harm any other individual, group, community, or country that doesn’t practice the Muslim faith. In the United States, as a result of 9/11, many U.S. citizens started to believe that all Muslims were bad, and that people of the Muslim faith couldn’t be trusted. This of course is not true at all.
According to Hasan (29, March, 2017) the common stereotype of a terrorist is that is they are most likely Middle Eastern and have long shaggy beards. Hasan (2017) also states that a recent study that was conducted in the U.K. found that 2 out of 3 terrorist attacks that have taken place in the U.K. and were carried out by people who support the Islamic or Muslim faith, were executed by people born in the U.K. This certainly is an eye-opener and shows that people shouldn’t make assumptions about people when their beliefs are completely flawed and they have no evidence to support their claims.
According to Hasan (29, March, 2017), of the British born terrorists that have participated in these terrorist attacks, the majority of these individuals did not grow up in families that were predominately religious. I’m not saying that this idea directly relates to lone-wolf terrorism or that it doesn’t necessarily always mean that these individuals are self-radicalized.
The fact is that these terrorists are terrorists and it doesn’t matter whether or not they received help from another individual or group, if they received the necessary resources to infiltrate the attack on their target, or any other factors.
Terrorism in no shape or form can be tolerated and in these countries that are still being attacked terrorists must retaliate and think of alternatives to when they react to these events that take place during random times. Too many people have died on the basis of these individuals carrying out these attacks and they need to be stopped.
I’ve heard of several cases in the news that have occurred in which the attackers themselves were previously investigated by intelligence agencies but were deemed not a liable threat. Two large-scale terrorist attacks that come to mind that fall under this category are the Boston Bombers and the most recent terrorist attack that has been in the news, which occurred in London. The individuals in these specific attacks were self-radicalized and were stopped when it was already too late. In regards to the Boston Bombers, at least one of the attackers was caught hiding and taken into custody alive so that justice could take place for the individuals who were injured as a result of the bombings as well as for those who died on that day.
Another thing to consider when talking about Muslims and terrorism is that for those individuals who practice this faith and are good people, should not need to apologize for the few individuals that carry out the attacks.
According to Alnatour (2017), there are five reasons to why people of the Muslim faith should NOT NEED TO APOLIGIZE!
- It’s ridiculous to ask people of the Muslim faith to apologize for something that not all Muslims are responsible for. It is preposterous to apologize for something that an individual didn’t do.
- Not all Muslim people condemn terrorism. For the Muslim people who do partake in terrorist activities, they are peaceful people who do not want to harm others on the basis of being part of a western power or other source.
- Muslims are fighting against terrorism as well. Just like in #2, people of the Muslim faith who are peaceful are standing up for themselves and many move to the U.S. in light of a better life. This of course is very hard to do based on the current politics in the U.S. government.
- More Muslim people are killed by terrorists than any other group. This statement alone doesn’t need any explanation.
- If all Muslims should have to apologize for terrorism, then other religions that practice terrorism should have to apologize as well. This statement sets a very clear example on why Muslims who are peaceful should not have to apologize.
It is very evident that western powers should not make assumptions about all Muslims being terrorists. Since 9/11, terrorism has been used as a tool to make others fear, and is continuously changing based on what’s going on currently in the world. Terrorists are getting smarter and coming up with new ways to carry out these attacks, but that in no way gives a person the right to deem all Muslims terrorists on the basis of their looks, religion, and other factors discussed in this blog.
References
Alnatour, O. (2017). Why Muslims Should Never Have to Apologize for Terrorism. The World Post.
Hasan, M. (29, March, 2017). You shouldn’t blame Islam for Terrorism. Religion isn’t a Crucial Factor in Attacks. The Intercept.
Terrorism in the 21st Century 