September 11

A genocide that has no moral justification whatsoever

Thank you Mr. Chairman, and thanks to the Rector for providing this opportunity to share out our thoughts, feelings, and hopes on the anniversary of this tragic event. Today we meet to commemorate the lives of those who perished in the Sept 11 atrocity a year ago.  The horrifying images of that fateful day will remain in our memories forever, and our thoughts will always be with the victims and their families. On that otherwise normal peaceful day, a tragedy of unprecedented impact, if not in scale, began to unfold live on TV screens and the Internet to be witnessed momentarily by the entire world. The calamity of the fast moving events and images were beyond human comprehension, and the world seemed to be on the brink of a new holocaust and uncontrollable global conflicts. The horrific images of the collapse of the two towers and the sight of victims jumping to certain death cannot be erased from memory and should have strengthened our resolve and determination to prevent the repetition of such mindless acts of barbarism being committed against us or against anyone else.

September 11, naturally triggered the most extensive debate in the mind of individuals and engulfed every culture and nation throughout the world. How could any group of people give themselves the right to commit such heinous crimes against so many innocent non-combatant humans? Why target the US? Is there a clash of culture? Does the responsibility for this crime lie with the individual perpetrators or with their religion? What is terrorism, and what is not? etc… I am not sure that I, and indeed anyone, can answer these complex questions in 7 minutes. My modest knowledge of Islamic scripture does convince me that Islam as a religion cannot be held responsible. The perpetrators of this tragedy have demonstrated beyond any doubt that they do not have respect for human life, a basic pillar of Islam, (a short verse from the Quran in Arabic). Many people argued, and still do so, that this was a consequence of US policies such as their support for Israel. No nation deserves to be attacked in this way because of the policies of their government. And those who make such arguments are indeed harming the very causes that they claim to support. Associating these atrocities with the just cause of the Palestinian people harms, rather than helps, their struggle against occupation.

Although, September 11 is an historic event it was not the first terrible crime committed against innocent humans in recent history. Many Americans compare it to Pearl Harbour, but Noam Chomsky (American Philosopher, and MIT Professor of linguistics) doesn’t agree with this analogy. He points out that the last time the national territory of the US was under attack and threatened when the British burned down Washington in 1814. Many of us can remember tragedies closer to home, and more recent. Though on a much smaller scale, many tragedies happened in this country during the conflict in Northern Ireland. On the morning of March 16,1988, Saddam’s planes attacked with chemical weapons the Kurdish town of Halabja and more than 4000 people met sudden and horrible death. In the late 90’s, and over a period of few weeks, over 800000 people were slaughtered in Rwanda. The list that includes atrocities in Bosnia and Congo seems endless.  

But is September 11 going to be the last atrocity? The real tragedy is that this may not be so, as we don’t seem to learn from those tragedies.  If there’s one thing I, and many people, prayed and hoped for in the aftermath of September 11 is to see NO repeat of such events.  Sadly, and much to our dismay, this atrocity is currently being used and abused by many, around the globe in ways that cannot but seed more conflicts. Today, and under the pretext of “war on terrorism” we witness individuals of certain race or religion being ill-treated, abused and denied the most basic of human rights. A spokesman for Amnesty International has noted recently that "War on terrorism has become a licence for repression". War on terrorism is used to justify the continued occupation and destruction of Palestinian territories and the daily humiliation of its population. Suicide bombing and violence against innocent Israeli civilians cannot be condoned, and do not belong to the vocabulary of legitimate resistance. Peace, security, and stability cannot be achieved by more missile attacks and collective punishment or by suicide bombs. Eventually, and hopefully very soon, these two nations will have to live together in peace and harmony. For that, both Israelis and Palestinians should reject extreme factions on both sides. 

Post September 11,Islamo-phobia seems to have gained grounds in the west, and this deepens the perception among Muslims that they are being unjustly blamed and targeted. The concept of "you are either with us or against us" does not help and goes against the spirit of civilisation. Muslims and others do have strong feelings about some of the above issues but that doesn’t mean that every Muslim is a potential terrorist. The current atmosphere of suspicion cannot be conducive to the much needed healthy cross-culture dialog. Muslims throughout the world, on the other hand, have a duty to isolate and reject the alien interpretation of Islamic scripture presented by the perpetrators of Sept.11. We must all denounce the views and actions of extreme groups that use religion (any religion) as a mean to achieve political power.

In recent days the nuclear superpowers seem to be poised for a destructive war against Iraq. The daily war-rhetoric in the media is escalating fast with no comparable consideration for the well-being of the people of Iraq and their future. As an Iraqi, I am deeply concerned and worried about the future of the cradle of civilisation. I am confident that the Iraqi people, more than anyone else in the world, would welcome the toppling and removal of the murderous regime of Saddam, but war is not the way. War cannot bring but more misery to an already war ravaged nation. What is even more worrying, is the dangerous talk of "an all out war on terror" and of "reshaping the Middle East".    

My friends, whilst the future is uncertain… one certainty you can be sure of is that dreadful tragedies such as September 11 will continue to take place unless we all work together, fight poverty, promote peace, and isolate extremism throughout the world.

Finally, I bow to the memory of the victims of September 11, and all innocent victims of terror and repression throughout the world. May peace be upon you all, and thank you all.