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August 03, 2005 |
Simon PottingerA basic and immediate human response leads us to express unequivocal solidarity with the victims of such atrocities and with their loved ones. Such instincts motivate the search for democratic socialist solutions to conflict the world over. Any political movement, for the perpetrators seek to create such a movement, which wilfully targets innocent civilians must be exposed and opposed. However they and their apologists portray themselves they are not radical or progressive but instead represent the barbarism against which we must test our socialism. And we have a responsibility for the political and moral hygiene of the British "left". There are those who, by their equivocation, effectively regard such victims as "legitimate targets" in their idiot's war against "imperialism". They and their allies have no place in our movement. |
Frans de SmitEvery human person on this world has a fundamental right of respect and integrity for the person he or she is. Nobody has ever the right to take someone's life. This is my view of people as an image of God. But these are also fundamental human values, if you are religious or not. Now I am confronted with people who are thinking the opposite and who are rejecting these fundamental rights. More than that, they are denying the right of existence of everybody who doesn't join them in their world of darkness where the words 'love your neighbour', have no meaning. Killing everybody who has the bad luck to be in the neighbourhood of their bombs, they are killing innocent people in the name of Islam. I refuse to believe this. This is not Islam. I think it is time that we, people of this world, religious or not, stand up and unite us against this terror, which is a complete denial of everything that is good and valuable in this world. And once and for all, stand up against their denial of the value of human life. |
Omar (Iraq the Model)When I received the invitation to sign the statement posted on this site I didn't waste a minute and I signed with my name at once. A large part of my enthusiasm when it comes to confronting terrorism is basically because I live in Iraq; a country that has been suffering the most from terror attacks through the last couple of years, thus I can feel for people when they become under terror attacks even though those people lived thousands of miles away. Unfortunately some of us bear the misconception that the war waged by terrorists puts ethnicity or religion in consideration and that is far from being accurate. Terrorism is not a Sunni vs. She'at conflict, it's not Muslims vs. Christians and/or Jews and it's not East vs. West; that's what events have revealed to us. Terrorism is targeting every beautiful and good thing in our world, from Indonesia to Baghdad to Jerusalem to London and to New York. I am Muslim, I am Sunni, I am Arab and I am determined to do whatever I can to stop the terrorists from destroying our world. Some of us already enjoy their freedoms and live in democratic societies; others (like my country-men and women) are working hard to protect and extend their freedoms and establish a strong democratic nation. But all of us have a common enemy; that is terrorism and no matter what differences exist among our different societies and cultures, we must stay alert and unite our efforts against terror. Please do not think that I'm supporting this administration or that policy, what I'm trying to defend is the way of living we all want for ourselves and our children. |
Nick Cohen (The Observer)The Michael Moroonification of the majority of leftish opinion might not seem to matter greatly. Obviously, anyone concerned with upholding basic principles is going to want to oppose the apologists for the extreme right, mock their perfidy and correct their errors. Yet Britain still has a Labour government. It isn't going to be out of office anytime soon, however loudly its opponents scream, and its policies are generally sensible. Why bother with the battle of ideas? The answer lies in the world beyond the polemics on the net and the hysterics in the media. What we have witnessed is a sinister attempt by liberal opinion to deny legitimacy to the very liberals, feminists and socialists who have a right to expect support. The authentic Muslim has become the blood-crazed fanatic rather than the reformer. The authentic liberator has become the fascist rather than the democrat. This is a betrayal on an epic scale which casts doubt on whether it is now possible to have a decent left. Fighting back proves that a pulse still flickers. You can expect to lose a few friends and have many rows, but at least you will be on the side of best and the bravest. With a bit of luck you will enjoy the struggle and learn the truth of Lady Bracknell's words: 'On an occasion of this kind it becomes more than a moral duty to speak one's mind. It becomes a pleasure.' |
Christopher Hitchens (Writer)Association with this statement and with many of its fellow-signatories involves two commitments. The first is the elementary duty of solidarity with true and authentic resistance movements within the Muslim world, such as the Kurdish guerrillas in Iraq and the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan, who were fighting against Ba'athism and Talibanism (and the latent alliance between the two) long before any American or British government had woken up to the threat. It should go without saying that, though the suffering of their peoples was intense, neither Jalal Talabani nor Ahmed Shah Masoud ever considered letting off explosive devices at random in foreign capitals. I have my political and ideological differences with both groups, but these differences are between me and them, and are not mediated through acts of nihilistic murder. My second commitment is equally elementary. The foreign policy of a democracy should be determined only at election times or by votes in Congress or Parliament. It is one hundred per cent unacceptable even to imply, let alone to assert, that a suicide-murderer or his apologists can by these means acquire the right to any say in how matters are decided. Both of these observations, and indeed this very statement, would be redundant if it were not for the widespread cultural presence of a pseudo-Left, and an isolationist Right, both of whom have degenerated to the point where they regard jihadism as some form of "liberation theology". The old slogans are often the best, and "Death to Fascism" is life-affirming in these conditions. |