Through the Looking Glass: Muslim Timeline for World Rule?
by Sheila Musaji
J. Grant Swank on the MichNews.com website published an article entitled Muslim Timeline for World Rule which is an abbreviated version of a longer timeline published on the Obsession website entitled Timeline of Islamist Linked Terror. These do appear to be timelines of terrorist acts that may be linked to Muslims, but where the timeline for world rule comes in I was unable to ascertain.
The first item on these timelines is the 1968 assassination of Robert Kennedy by Sirhan Sirhan. How Sirhan who was (and is) a Christian could be part of a list of “Islamist linked terror” it is difficult to understand.
After just glancing down this list it was obvious that a box should have been at the top of the list saying “Readers Beware: We have an axe to grind!” as this was obviously based on selective manipulation and inclusion and exclusion of facts to prove a point. The point seems to be “Beware of Muslims”. Like my Grandpa used to say “figures don’t lie, but liars can figure”.
Both the shorter and longer lists on these sites did identify their agenda in the titles themelves. They were attempting to identify only acts of terror linked to “Islamists”.
I was curious about the “facts” presented and went to the the U.S. Dept. of State website where I found a chronology of significant terrorist incidents, 1961-2003 This site had a disclaimer stating that the list was incomplete, which would at least warn a careful reader that it is not a complete list of all terrorist incidents. What isn’t said is that someone (an individual or a committee) made choices as to what would and would not be included and these choices affect the overall perception of reality that the reader takes away. Even the decision to begin the list at the arbitrary date of 1961 needs explanation.
Between 1961 and 1999 there are a total of 129 incidents listed —of these 45 were carried out by individuals or groups who were either Muslim or Arab. This would be 34% if this were the total of all such incidents and not just a sample. From 2000 to 2003 - 117 incidents are listed of which 101 were either Muslim or Arab. This would be a dramatic increase not only in incidents but in incidents involving Muslims and Arabs 86% if this list was complete. However, in just a cursory look at the list I found a number of significant incidents that were not listed. In fact this list is very limited as in 1990 there were 162 incidents in South America alone.
Some attacks on churches were listed but none on mosques. Some assassinations were listed, but not others (e.g. the assassination of Lord Mountbatten by the IRA is not listed), in fact almost no political assassinations are listed. Civil rights murders by white supremacists were not listed. The attack on the USS Cole was listed, but not the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty. Very few JDL and IRA attacks were listed. Some terrorist acts in which a particular group is only “suspected” are listed while others are not. There are no listings for terrorist acts against Muslims in China, Serbia, Russia, Burma, India, Thailand, etc. Almost every attack by a Palestinian on an Israeli is listed, but only one attack by an Israeli on Palestinians. Surprisingly, not even the 1996 Olympic Village bombing is listed. Religious affiliation is often not mentioned (e.g. 90% of Rwandans were Christians and involved in an ethnic cleansing that killed at least 800,000 people.) A few incidents that were not listed are given below.
Some of the other nationalities and religions involved in the crimes that were listed were: Puerto Rican, Israeli, Guatemalan, Japanese, Brazilian, German, American, Uruguayan, Irish, Mexican, Greek, Chilean, Italian, El Salvadoran, Colombian, North Korean, Japanese, Indian, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist.
The only conclusion to be drawn from this is that all of us need to be very careful in looking at any statistics or lists not to form hasty opinions based on partial or misleading information.
There is a wealth of information available to us today but it requires thoughtful analysis to make good use of that information.
It is obvious that terrorism is increasing worldwide particularly since the start of the War on Terror. Some have even pointed to Iraq as the new breeding ground for terrorists. Suicide terrorism is increasing and may be the only form of terrorism more common among Muslims which is vey surprising since both suicide and terrorism (hirabah) are forbidden by Islam. Terrorism is increasing and the War on Terror is expanding and being called into question.
Attempts to sway public opinion by giving distorted statistics to create fear and hatred towards a particular group are pointless and a form of intellectual terrorism. This list on the MichNews site attempts to portray the villain as “the Muslims”, other sites with other ideologies attempt to paint the villain as “the Christians”, or “the Jews”, or Israel, or the U.S., or colonialism, or ... It goes on and on and gets us nowhere.
The bottom line is that terrorism is always wrong. There can be no provocation to justify attacks on innocent civilians. Retaliation, revenge, or pre-emption are not legitimate excuses. Who carried out the first act is not important. Most often the religious affiliation of the perpetrator is not important except in their own warped minds.
We can continue trying to put the blame on “them” and exonerate “us” but it is not only a waste of time, but an evil distraction keeping us from getting at the root of the problem.
“Terrorism is the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.” - US Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Even according to this definition we must at least question the actions of many individuals, organizations, and governments, including the U.S. Government, under that definition.
Terrorism cannot stop terrorism. Only justice and spiritual solutions have any hope of decreasing the current world crisis. We can continue to look for ways to place the blame for what is happening on some mythical villain. The truth is that there is a dark side to human nature that we must confront.
Some terrorist events not listed on the Dept. of State website
1952-1960 Mau Mau uprising and massacres in Kenya
1955 Emmett Till murdered, KKK
1957 Assassination of Patrice Lumumba, guilt disputed
1963 Medgar Evers murdered by Byron de la Beckwith
1963 Four little girls killed in Birmingham church bombing by white supremecists
1964 Three civil rights workers murdered in Mississippi by KKK
1963 John F. Kennedy assassinated in Texas by Lee Harvey Oswald
1964 Malcolm X murdered in New York, responsibility unknown
1967 Israeli attack on USS Liberty
1967 Martin Luther King is killed by white supremecist James Earl Ray
1968 Robert F. Kennedy assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan (a Palestinian Christian)
1969 Dennis Michael Rohan of the Church of God (Protestant) sets fire to Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem
1970 pipe bomb exploded at NY offices of Aeroflot, JDL suspected
1971 Bomb attack on British soldiers in Belfast, IRA
1972 JDL members firebombed NY offices of Sol Hurok
1972 Bloody Friday Bombings, IRA
1974 Biringham Pub bombings, IRA
1976 Bomb kills British Ambassador, PIRA
1976 - 3 pipebombs found near UN library, JDL claimed credit
1978 firebomb on stairwell of Soviet tourist office in U.S., Jewish Armed Resistance claimed credit
1979 Earl Mountbatten killed in bomb attack by PIRA
1980’s Ted Kaczynski, the Unibomber
1980’s 20 bombings in NY area alone attributed to JDL
1981 Israeli attack on Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem
1981 Iranian bank in San Francisco firebombed, JDL
1981 - 2 bombings in London, IRA
1982 IRA bombing in Hyde Park, London
1982 JDL claimed responsibility for an attack on Air France offices in Paris
1982 JDL claimed credit for a bomb that exploded outside the Lufthansa offices in Manhattan
1983 bombing of Harrod’s in London, IRA
1983 JDL claimed responsibility for a bomb explosion at the Aeroflot Soviet airlines
1984 Brighton Hotel bombing, IRA
1984 Anti-Sikh riots and massacres in India
1986 Bombing of ADC offices in Santa Ana, California killing Alex Odeh, JDL suspected
1986 Firebombing outside Lincoln Center, New York, JDL suspected
1987 Tear gas grenade fired into Metropolitan Opera House, New York, JDL
1987 “Enniskillen Massacre”, the PIRA bombs a Remembrance Day parade
1988 Iran Air 655 shot down by USS Vincennes
1989 bombing of Royal Marine base in Kent, IRA
Genocide of Bosnians by Serbs (Christians)
1990 car bombings in Northern Ireland, IRA
1991 Victoria Station Bombing, PIRA
1992 London Bridge Railway Station Bombing
1994 PIRA bombing in Warrington
1994 Paul Hill murders abortion doctor
1994 Rwandan genocide of 800,000 Tutsi’s by Hutu’s
1995 thousands of Bosnian Muslims murdered by Serbian soldiers at Patachari
1995 Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin by an Israeli (Jewish)
1995 Srbenica massacre of Bosnian Muslims by Serbs
1996 Olympic Village Bombing, Eric Rudolph
1996 Belgrade, Serbia Mosque bombed
1997 Bombing of Abortion Clinic in Atlanta, Eric Rudolph
Human Rights lawyer killed in car bombing by Protestant Red Hand Defenders in Ireland
1998-1999 massacres of Kosovo Muslims by Serbs
1999 Buford Furrow attacks Jewish day camp in Southern California
2000 Memphis, TN Mosque attacked by shotgun fire
2001 Dallas, TX Mosque firebombed
2001 Three Palestinians killed in roadside ambush by Jewish settlers
2001 Halifax, Canada Mosque attacked
2001 James Kopp indicted for murder of abortion doctor
2002 Charles Franklin drives truck into Florida mosque
2002 Riots and massacres of Muslims in Gujarat by Hindus
2002 Jewish settlers kill 14 year old Palestinian girl and injure 9 in funeral rampage
2002 Robert Goldstein plots to blow up 50 mosques in Florida
2002 Jewish settlers plant bomb in Palestinian school yard
2002 massacres of Muslims at Ahmedabad, India by Hindus
Mossad agents arrested inside Mexican Congress carrying explosives
British UN official shot in back by Israeli soldier
2003 Rachel Corey murdered in Gaza by Israeli
2003 Chicago Mosque attacked, unknown perpetrator
2004 Mosque attacked in Katmandu, Nepal
2004 - 630 Muslim nomads killed by Christians in Nigeria
2004 Islamic School bombed in Holland
2004 Israeli forces fire on peaceful Palestinian protest in Rafah
2004 Jewish Settler kills Palestinian driver
2005 Israeli West Bank settler kills 4 Palestinians
2005 Jewish settler shoots 15 year old Palestinian boy in the back
2005 Palestinian child stabbed to death by Israeli settlers
2005 Israeli soldier kills 4 Arab bus passengers
2005 Jewish terrorists attack Al Aqsa mosque
2005 arson attacks on 2 Mosques in England
by courtesy & 2005 The American Muslim
Published originally at The American Muslim : republication allowed with this notice and hyperlink intact.”
Sheila Musaji is the editor of The American Muslim
see entire list of articles TAM has published under this heading at Through the Looking Glass - Index