by MEMRI
In response to ISIS's November 13, 2015 terror attacks in Paris, Ghassan Charbel, the editor of the London-based Saudi daily Al- Hayat, wrote that these attacks are graver and more horrific than all the terror attacks the world has previously experienced, including 9/11, because of the intolerable ease with which they occurred and could occur again, and also because they could lead to a terrible clash between Arabs and Muslims and the rest of the world.
Charbel harshly berates the world's countries,
and particularly the superpowers, who he claims allowed ISIS to establish
itself and gain strength in Syria and Iraq. ISIS, he says, has declared war
against the entire world, a war that threatens its security, stability,
economies and human progress at large, and therefore the world must wake up
before it becomes too late and declare a world war against terror. He states
further that the Arabs and Muslims must be partners in this war, which
threatens them no less than the Nazis once threatened Europe and the world. In
this context, he urges them to eliminate all disseminators of extremism and
hatred in the schools and mosques, on television and websites, and to conduct a
thorough self-criticism and comprehensive ideological struggle against
extremism.
Below are translated excerpts from the article:[1]
Ghassan Charbel (image: al-Arabiya.net)
"The raid on Paris was worse than the
[9/11] raids on New York and Washington. Murdering people after looking into
their terrified eyes is much worse than crashing a plane into a building. The
Paris massacre was much more horrifying than 9/11 in America. It involved
barbaric field executions that could recur in any capital, without requiring
planes or pilots. All it takes is a pack of benighted wolves that have drunk
from the river of absolute hatred.
"The Paris
raid was the worst, [for the following reasons:] It took advantage of the
wounds already inflicted by the previous raids, pouring upon them heaps of salt
and sulfur; it deepens the plan to segregate the Muslims and Arabs from the
rest of the world; it pushes the Arab and Muslim communities into a terrible
confrontation in the countries that host them; it built another tier in the
plan to ignite religious wars and inter-civilization wars that negate [the
other], and it heralds waves of hatred towards the refugees who have fled our
cruel wars and societies. [This attack] is a deadly threat to the relations
between countries, peoples, religions and individuals. It is a plan for global
suicide. [ISIS leader] Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi is more dangerous than [the late
Al-Qaeda leader] Osama bin Laden. ISIS is more dangerous than Al-Qaeda. The
world perpetrated a terrible crime when it allowed this black killing machine
[ISIS] to become entrenched in large parts of Iraq and Syria, when [U.S.
President] Barack Obama opted for the policy of abstaining [from action] and
when [Russian President] Vladimir Putin waited for hunting opportunities in the
Syrian lake of blood. What is true for them is also true for many other
[leaders]."
"The world
committed a major crime. It allowed 'Al Baghdadi's state' to feel safe and
secure the minute it declared itself. It allowed it to seize oil fields,
regulate tax collection and use the banks and the armies that it took control
of. It allowed it to build itself strongholds and recruit extremists capable of
placing technology in the service of [ISIS'] hatred and destruction program. It
allowed [ISIS] to woo extremist officers from armies near and far, and gave it
the time to set up planning centers and war rooms and create new generations of
suicide [attackers].
"Do
not say your country is far [from these events]. Do not delude yourself that
your capital is well-protected. This is a war unlike anything we have
previously experienced or read about. This is a world war [declared by ISIS] in
order to clash with the entire world: with anyone who does not adopt its
inflexible and closed-minded thought patterns and anyone who does not drink
from the same fountain. Its objective is to take countries back to the Stone
Age and transform [the members of] the Muslim diaspora and Muslim minorities
into [living] bombs. [This war] is an comprehensive plan to eliminate the right
to differ [in opinion or belief], as well as any possibility of coexistence and
progress. This war is a pitch black night that is trying to extinguish the
lights of liberty and dignity.
"In a
war of this kind you have to choose sides. Don't evade and don't wring
your hands. There is an urgent need to understand the origins of this predatory
dinosaur. But take care not to justify the murder with the excuse that Muslims
in Europe are marginalized and frustrated, and suffer from poverty and
oppression here or there. Oppression does not justify the spreading of
darkness. Nothing permits this itinerant slaughter.
"The
matter does not concern [only] Syria, Iraq and the region where beheadings
occur. The entire world is threatened. This is no exaggeration. Security,
stability, tourism, the economy, coexistence and the world's prospects for
progress are all under threat. Handling [this threat] must surely
transcend the conflict between the Syrian regime and its opponents and between
[Iraqi PM] Haider Al-'Abadi and his bitter foe [former Iraqi PM] Nuri
Al-Maliki. [ISIS' decision] to launch a world war must be met with a decision
of the same kind [on our side].
"The world
must unite now, before it is too late. The UN must save the world's security
and stability. The Security Council must resolve to launch a world war against
terror. The superpowers must be responsible for carrying out this decision.
This war requires a fleet of ships and planes as well as financial and media
support. The Arab world has no choice but to help in saving itself, [by
participating] in a war that will shut down all the strongholds that provide
the extremists with the ability to fortify themselves, proliferate and carry
out attacks. Alongside this war, we have no choice but to shut down the
platforms of hatred towards the other and [engage in] a comprehensive
ideological confrontation. There is no choice but to conduct thorough
self-criticism that requires recapturing the universities, the schools, the
mosques, the television screens and the websites from the control of those who
spread takfir and deny the other…
"This
is the hour of great decision. The world should launch this war now rather than
later. The Security Council should formulate a firm international position and
leverage all the nations' capabilities to defend human progress. The threat
currently facing the Arab and Muslim world is no less great than the threat that
Nazism [once posed] to Europe and the world. The world is at a crossroads. The
decision to save human progress requires [statesmanship of] uncommon stature.
Far more is required than [Sergei] Lavrov's adroitness and Kerry's naiveté.
What is necessary is a world war against darkness, alongside an international
willingness to wind up disputes on the basis of dialogue, justice and
partnership. A delay in launching the war will only inflict new 'raids' upon
the world."
Endnotes:
[1]
Al-Hayat (London), November 15, 2015.
MEMRI
Source: http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/8858.htm
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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