Muslims and terror : Killing innocent people is not Islamic 
International Herald Tribune
April 2, 2002
Mahathir bin Mohamad 

Armed attacks against civilians must be regarded as acts of terror and the perpetrators treated as terrorists, whether they act on their own or on government orders.

According to this definition of terrorism, the Sept. 11 attacks, the human bomb attacks by Palestinians and the Tamil Tigers, the attacks against civilians by Israeli forces, and the killings of Bosnian Muslims and others must be considered as acts of terror. And those supporting them must be condemned as terrorists.

The Israelis believe that by terrorizing the terrorists they can stop the carnage. But the suicide bombers consider themselves already dead and on the way to heaven. They are not likely to be deterred by the threat of death. Killing their leader is not going to help either. More violent leaders will replace the fallen leader and the terror attacks will go on.

Israelis must come to their senses and opt for de-escalation of terror, rather than escalating it.

If the Israelis won't do this, then the world must forcibly stop them. If we are serious about stopping terrorists, then we must stop both the Palestinians and the Israelis from mutual massacre.

There is a great deal of bitterness and anger among Muslims. The impotence of Muslim countries to do anything to remedy the situation adds to this frustration and anger. While the majority are resigned to their fate, a small number cannot help but feel the need to vent their anger in some way.

These people may be wrong in believing that they are fighting a jihad, a holy war. They may fail to end their grievances. Indeed they may actually be doing a lot of harm to their cause, to their co-religionists, to Islam itself.

The world must deal with these misguided people not just by hunting them down but also by removing the causes of their anger and frustration. The extreme disparity between rich and poor must be reduced. The insistence that everyone must accept the same ideology and set of values must be relaxed. The oppression of the Palestinians and the other Muslims and their countries must be brought to an end.

But Muslims everywhere must condemn terrorism once it is clearly defined. Killing innocent people is not Islamic. Bitter and angry though we may be, we must demonstrate to the world that Muslims are rational people when fighting for our rights. We must show that we do not resort to acts of terror.

The writer is prime minister of Malaysia. This comment was adapted by the International Herald Tribune from a speech in Kuala Lumpur on Monday which opened the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers' extraordinary session on terrorism.

[Not to be reproduced without the permission of the author.]

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