Muslims are evil. Let’s kill them all!
Later on he said he was being sarcastic. That was Erik Rush, a conservative columnist and frequent guest on Fox news and he made that statement in reaction to the Boston bombing. Quickly apportioning blame on the Muslims before the investigation into the bombing was even underway, Mr. Rush spoke what some people in the US and Europe were undoubtedly thinking. Islam viewed as radical, fanatical and extreme by many in the western world has been under harsh censorship ever since Sept 11. Any bombing , assassination or indeed violent act is immediately attributed to Muslims. Fear of a Muslim takeover of Europe and other such wild stories that have abounded prove that some people are more focused on hearing false alarm bells than on accepting the facts. Take the case of the Boston bombing no sooner did it happen than a Saudi present at the scene was “ accused ‘’. Even though that Saudi was hurt and in hospital, like many others – that didn’t stop the police from searching his apartment inside out – the question is why did this Saudi merit different treatment- was it the color of his skin, or was it because the word “ Allah ‘’ was used by him in his hour of fear and need?
In the past, there was hatred for the Jews with horrific consequences. It seems that the Muslims now have taken their place – would Mr. Rush have made a similar statement about the Jews – would the world not have immediately screamed racism, anti- Semitism , bigotry and what have you. Wouldn’t the influential and wealthy Jews of America not have taken him to court ? But no need for all these questions since Mr. Rush to begin with would never dare make a statement like that about the Jews – about the Muslims yes- after all not many will rush to the defense of Muslims.
But having said all of this did the Muslims themselves not contribute indirectly in a very small way to all of this – did they not isolate themselves in Muslim enclaves in Europe, where for the most they were unwilling to integrate with society and were therefore treated as outcasts which in turn further distanced them from the societies they lived in. And today don’t a lot of Jihadists come from Europe to fight and kill on Syrian soil. For a fight that is not theirs and a cause that they cannot fathom. Was Islam the religion not abused and were these naïve Muslims not told that the war in Syria is between the God fearing and the Godless. Take the case of Dr. Khan a medical graduate of kings College London- British but of Indian Muslim origin. Dr. Khan, married and with child, smuggled himself into northern Syria to help in a fight far removed from himself, his country or his culture. He chose on religious and unfortunately sectarian ground. He never thought of entering the country legally and joining the Syrian Red Crescent a neutral organization which helps all parties involved in the conflict , an organization which undoubtedly would have been happy to rely on his services in his field of medical expertise- instead Dr. Khan opted to help only a certain group of people urged to do so not by humanitarian reasons but by religious reasons .
It is time for some of the fanatical Muslims of the world to reconcile themselves to living within their societies and accepting the other- then the west would not have an excuse to group all Muslims under one heading and horrific statements like those made by Mr. Rush and indeed many others would find no place in our society and such individuals would be shunned and rejected.
Reem Haddad