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| You are here: 2004 / Workshops, Panels and Seminars / Track 1, Threats: Anticipating Genocidal Violence / Presentation, Opotion Paper, by Professor Yehuda Bauer | |||||||||
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Participants Countries and organizations Conference documentation Conference programme 
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Report from Workshop Track 1: Anticipating genocidal violence Presentation, Option Paper, by Dr. Frank Chalk Presentation Option Paper, by Ms. Helen Fein Presentation by Ms. Linda Melvern Presentation, Opotion Paper, by Professor Yehuda Bauer Presentation, Option Paper, by Mr. Magnus Ranstorp Presentation, Option Paper, by Alexander Alvarez Presentation Option Paper, by Professor Barbara Harff Presentation by Dr. Reva Adler Presentation, Option Paper, by Ms. Alison Des Forges Presentation, Opotion Paper, by Professor Yehuda Bauer Bauer, Yehuda Presentation by Yehuda Bauer 1. Background Current international terrorism is the product of a religious ideology that constitutes a mutation of Islam – not of Islam as such, which is a great and legitimate belief system. Such mutations appear in other belief systems as well – Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism. The characteristics of radical Islam go far beyond fundamentalist attitudes, which, again, are not uncommon in other religions. Radical Islam aspires to – world domination; totalitarian government exercised by clerics who have adopted the radical ideology, and abolition of all vestiges of democratic governance, which is considered to be blasphemous; abolition of national states and their replacement by Islamistic ones; and governance by males only. The method to achieve these ends are not just brute force, but genocidal murder. Jews, Americans, Christians generally,Hindus, and others, unless they completely surrender to the Islamicists, are explicitly declared to be the targets of annihilation. Radical Islam is, at the moment, a largely decentralized force operating in a large number of countries all over the globe, and the threat is therefore global as well as genocidal. There are obvious parallels between radical Islamic ideology on the one hand, and National Socialism and Communism on the other hand: all three are radical religious or quasi-religious movements, all three aspire to world dominance, all three are totalitarian, all three are opposed to the independence of national groups, all three are genocidal. However, the former is decentralized and does not currently control a state, though it hopes to achieve that, whereas the other two had clear territorial bases and publicly prominent leaderships. 2. General observation about policy A global, decentralized ideology cannot be fought by military means alone, though of course the use of force against individuals and groups that clearly plan or execute murderous acts are a necessary component of any plan of action. The first targets of radical Islam are non-radical Moslems and non-religious persons with a Moslem background, as well as all existing Moslem states. It seems therefore obvious that no progress can be made in the struggle against this genocidal phenomenon, unless the vast non-radical and anti-radical majority of Moslems join it. There are preconditions for that: full recognition of the equality of all cultures, including of course the Moslem one, and full, respectful, support of the international community for the development of Moslem society and Moslem culture on its own terms and in its own ways. 3. Possible steps to be taken – An ideological counter-offensive, obviously in the main by non-radical Moslems, that will open a discussion on the basis of Islam itself against the radicals. Such a counter-offensive might use all available modern means of communication – internet,TV, radio, radio-cassettes, newspapers. The aim would be to create a popular opposition to Islamic radicalism. – A serious attempt to deal with the vast masses of disaffected, frustrated, desperate, poverty-stricken populations in Moslem countries by generous economic planning, more or less on the lines presented by Minister Donald Brown of the UK in his recent article in the “Guardian”: help not on the lines of the Marshall Plan, whose beneficiaries would be the existing governments, not all of whom could be relied upon to use the means made available for the benefit of their populations; rather, ways should be explored to have the help offered reach the direct consumers. One of the aims should be the creation of social classes of farmers, whether independent or in co-operatives, and developers of small industry.Without capitalism there will be no independence, economic, educational or scientific, and without a middle class there will be no capitalism; without capitalism there will be no democracy. – A net of political alliances should be formed, primarily but by no means exclusively with non-radical Moslem states and governments, to ensure government educational policies designed to combat radical Islam. It is proposed that these general principles be discussed, and if agreed upon, turned into practical policy. >> Back to top |
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