POLITICS: Islamic World under Siege by West, Internal Divisions

By Baradan Kuppusamy Reprint | | Print |

Baradan Kuppusamy

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 14 2003 (IPS) - Leaders of 57 Islamic nations are gathering here for their summit, amid mistrust, and a sense of betrayal, fear and danger that Islam and the ‘ummah’ or community are on trial and under siege – not just by the west but also by its own lethargy and deep divisions within it.

The leaders, representing over 1.3 billion Muslims, will be meeting Oct. 16-17 at the 10th summit of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), held for the first time in this country.

Muslim leaders last met in Doha, Qatar in 2000 and their key concern then, as it has always been, was the Palestinian struggle against Israel. Today, however, they speak not just of the survival of Palestine but of the very survival of the Muslim ‘ummah’.

In opening remarks on Monday, OIC Secretary-General Abdelhouahed Belkeziz said that the Muslim world is threatened by ‘‘enormous dangers”.

‘‘They are so overwhelming that they are probably unequalled in contemporary Islamic history,’‘ Belkeziz said. ‘‘Islam itself stands accused.’‘

Much has changed between Doha and now.

Muslims deeply sympathised with and genuinely grieved for the victims of Sep. 11 terrorist attacks, but their resentment of U.S. policy also grew as Washington displayed raw power and attacked and occupied Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq this year.

Preliminary statements by senior officers and foreign ministers indicate the summit would be preoccupied with the U.S. occupation of Iraq and Israel’s military occupation of Palestine, as well as the recent bombing of Syria.

‘‘The threats of unilateralism, globalisation and terrorism, the precarious situation in the Middle East and the uncertain future of Iraq have all served to threaten our very survival,’‘ said Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar.

The occupation of Iraq kindles deep resentment among Muslims around the world, especially with the news of almost daily killings and suicide bombings in that country after its supposed liberation by U.S.-led forces.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who chairs the OIC summit, is expected to attack the United States and call for it to hand over the management of Iraq to the United Nations.

Muslims nations say they are willing to commit troops in Iraq but only under U.N. mandate. Like Malaysia, most Muslim nations, except perhaps Turkey, have refused to cooperate with the United States in Iraq.

A proposal by Pakistan, a newfound ally of the United States after Sep. 11, to send troops under an OIC mandate has already generated heated debate among senior officials at preparatory meetings.

‘‘We want to sent troops to Iraq but only under a OIC mandate,’‘ a Pakistani diplomat told IPS. ‘‘The American have requested us to dispatch 10,000 troops but there is substantial domestic opposition. However, the people would accept sending troops under a OIC mandate.’‘

But the U.S. government is not without friends at the OIC. For instance, the powerful Arab bloc has succeeded in getting a delegation from the U.S.-picked Iraqi Governing Council to attend the summit – despite backroom protests from some countries including host Malaysia.

Rotating foreign ministers Hoshyar Zebari and Ayad Alawi will represent Iraq.

The OIC meeting is expected to pass a resolution welcoming Iraq’s U.S.-backed Governing Council, but will include words demanding that the United States hand over full sovereignty to Iraq, including control over its oil.

‘‘We want the foreign occupation of Iraq to end as soon as possible,’‘ Syed Hamid said. ‘‘Muslims find the occupation intolerable.’‘

Elsewhere, the scepticism of U.S. foreign policy is shared by many Muslim nations, especially in the years after Sep. 11

Muslim anger is further inflamed by the Bush administration’s unequivocal support for Israel and its aim to oust Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.. Senior officials also said the OIC will as before condemn Israel over its military occupation of Palestine and its continued ‘‘vicious military campaign, provocations and destruction of Palestinian homes”.

The OIC is expected to also condemn Israeli threats to deport Arafat, whose message will be read at the opening by Palestine Liberation Organisation political bureau chief Farouq Al-Kaddoumi.

A key issue in the OIC debates is suicide bombings.

One side of the debate argues that, threatened and under attack, Muslim feel helpless and resort to suicide bombings. OIC officials will grapple with this phenomenon and, while endorsing the struggle of the Palestinians and the Iraqis, are also expected to voice concern at the death of innocent bystanders.

‘‘Resorting to violence as a means of fighting the United States hegemony only undermines the values that Islam professes,’‘ said peace activist Chandra Muzaffar, president of the JUST World Trust, an independent think tank.

‘‘Using violence will subvert the quest for a civil society which could not be accomplished through blood and iron, especially since Islam is a religion which cherished peace,’‘ he said, while conceding that the U.S. reliance on force is persuading more Muslims to answer with force and violence.

‘‘Fortunately such Muslims are far and few,’‘ he told a conference of Islamic scholars on the sidelines of the OIC summit. ‘‘Violence will tarnish the beauty of Islam.’‘

In a message quoted by the Malaysian state news agency Bernama, Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri said: Despite the media focus on this problem (about Islam) it is up to us in the coming years to prove that we are not a problem to the world, but rather that we are interested in contributing to its progress and peace.