Why Political Islam Is the Problem, NOT Terrorism

It's nothing new for us, of course, to point out the manifold ways in which the low level of public discourse in the US in general, and towards all things Middle Eastern in particular --

a sad and incredibly self / destructive phenomenon in which Democrats have as eagerly and stupidly participated at the ruling BCRHB clique --

have made an already difficult and problematic global and regional scene much worse than it was already ...

An excellent -- if, as usual, disturbing and sad -- example of this confusion between the challenges presented by political Islam and "terrorism"

is this piece in the New York Times about growing -- and increasingly violent -- tensions between the historic minority [ 10% ] Coptic Christian community in Egypt and the dominant Muslim majority ...

This would be dismaying in any case, but it's particularly so because, for quite a long time, there were relatively few problems between the two communities, and those were relatively minor ...

As the article shows, however, this is no longer the case, and it only points to the extent to which political Islam is continuing to create problems throughout the Arab / Muslim world for non-Islamic minorities ...

If the US had taken a different tack after 9/11 by correctly identifying the problem as political Islam, and not some amorphous "terrorism",

there is little doubt the polarization and animosity that has become so prominent since that day would be considerably smaller and much less of a real problem,

which, as the article shows, even anti-Islamist governments like Egypt's, do everything they can to sweep under the rug ...

So while the piece might be about what's going on in Egypt, don't have any illusions:

a major factor contributing to the problems there are rooted in the failure of the US elites to make even the slightest effort to understand what is actually going on there ...

As more and more conflicts pile up and as the tensions of daily life increase, many people in Egypt and around the region said the problem of sectarian clashes had become more urgent.

They said that ordinary conflicts had become more bitterly sectarian as religious identity had become more prominent among Muslims and Christians alike.

“It is as if there is a struggle — each against the other — and it creates a sectarian atmosphere,” said Gamal Assaad, a former member of Parliament who is a Coptic intellectual and a writer.

“This tense atmosphere makes people ready to explode at any point if they are subjected to any amount of instigation or incitement.”

Egypt is the most populous Arab country, with about 80 million people. About 10 percent are Coptic Christian. ...

For most [ Copts ], the tension is personal, a fear that a son or daughter will fall in love with a Muslim or of being derided as “coftes,” which means “fifth column.”

“We keep to ourselves,” said Kamel Nadi, 24, a Coptic who runs a small shop in the Shubra neighborhood of Cairo.

“Muslims can’t say it, but it’s clear they don’t accept us. Here no one can speak the truth on this issue, so everybody’s feelings are kept inside.”

Christian Arabs have increasingly complained of being marginalized in the Middle East, with large numbers leaving over the decades.

Now it appears that pressure on these communities is spiking, whether in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan or the West Bank. In each, Christians speak of specific national behavior that has made them feel less welcome.

While governments are generally regarded as more accommodating than they used to be, the overall environment is seen as less hospitable.

“Yes, we are feeling marginalized,” said Dr. Audeh Quawas, a surgeon in Amman, Jordan, who serves on the central committee of the World Council of Churches, a Geneva-based group.

He rattled off a list of grievances, from the refusal of the state to acknowledge Easter as a national holiday to the insistence that Christians abide by Islamic law regarding inheritance. ...

Many Egyptians around Cairo and in the south said that conflicts often arose over everyday matters — a dispute between farmers, an argument between students — but that once sparked, they deteriorated into sectarian name-calling, sometimes worse.

That is partly because religious identity is paramount now, more important than a common citizenship, Mr. Assaad [ the Coptic writer ] said. ...

“When something happens, it always comes back to Muslim and Christian,” said Tharwat Taki Faris, 45, a subsistence farmer in Mansafees, a village of about 33,000 people five hours south of Cairo. ...

Frustrated by the official posture of denial, a small group of Egyptian bloggers decided in January 2007 to try to bring Muslims and Christians together to talk.

The group, which calls itself Together Before God, began with about 20 members of both faiths.

They posted an Internet survey to gauge Muslims’ and Christians’ ideas about each other and received about 5,000 responses. Two-thirds were from Muslims, the rest from Christians.

The survey showed profound misunderstanding on both sides, said Sherif Abdel Aziz, 36, a co-founder of the group.

Some Muslims declared that Coptic priests wore black to mourn the Arab invasion of Egypt in the seventh century.

Some Christians believed that the Koran ordered Muslims to kill all Christians.

Did the group discover a sectarian problem?

Absolutely, and it was compounded by the lack of frank public discussion, Mr. Abdel Aziz said.

“The religious discourse has to change from both sides because it incites hatred, even if it does so indirectly, increasing fanaticism from both sides,” Mr. Abdel Aziz said.