Kashmirigirl - forgive me for getting political. I think the original post is very political (among other things).
AdbulMalick wrote: "Hatred for others and general societal decay triggered the Colorado school massacre... What triggers our own killing fields? What drives us to commit similar atrocities against fellow Muslims and others?"
Malick than went on to cite a number of examples. Implicated in each of the examples is 'Islam'. According to Malick, Islam is the ** sole ** source of violence in these particular countries. In particular, what Malick labels 'fundamentalist' Islam.
He assumes that the "atrocities" in Muslim countries are "similar" in nature to the atrocities committed in Denver. The murders in Denver were committed by upper class white teenagers in a rich suburb in rural America. Most are having difficulty understanding the reasoning behind these crimes (probably because such crimes can not be legitimized). Some blame the media, others blame poor parenting, and other's still blame psychological conditions impairing the children's judgment.
The "atrocities" in Muslim countries on the other hand are similar to those committed in other less developed parts of the world. Many brought on by poorly developed institutions, a lack of legal structures and law enforcement, poverty, undemocratic politicization, the remnants of years of foreign control, de-colonization, war, post-war and post-nationalist struggles. * It is a grave mistake to think that human rights abuses in Muslim countries are solely the product of religious intolerance and supported by what Malick terms 'fundamentalist' Islam. *
Malick goes on to cite Algeria as an example (among others), where "fundamentalist Muslims [are] killing Muslims [who are] seen as 'secularists'."
I'm assuming that he is labeling the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) 'fundamentalist Muslims'. Like other Islamic parties, the FIS emerged as a political force after disappointed youths witnessed years of failure of a government dominated by an elitist group well entrenched in the ways of their former colonial master - the French (who by the way, were probably the worst colonialists, in terms of human rights abuses and treatment of Algerians). The FIS agenda attempted to balance individual and societal interests and at the same time attempted to address Algeria's chronic unemployment and mal-distribution of wealth. The FIS seen secularism and related ideologies as a major cause for Muslim decline.
In its ** first multi-party elections since independence ** on June 12, 1990, the FIS won an overwhelming majority of seats. The people of Algeria had spoken, with resounding support for the Islamists, to the shock of the west. In fact the FIS won a majority in all major cities: 64.18 % in Algiers, 70.50 % in Oran, 72% in Constantine. The FLN only won 32% in municipalities and 29% in regional elections. Many voted for the FIS out of protest for the FLN, which did little to change the economic/social conditions in Algeria after the removal of the French.
The FIS did not issue radical Islamization programs. They did not impose veiling, or close public baths, close bars or prevent women from working or voting. As the new elections neared in June of 1991, the government introduced new election laws which redrew voter districts to weaken the performance of the FIS in favor of the FLN (John Esposito, The Islamic Threat). FIS called for a nationwide strike. The president called the army in to restore order. Madani and Belhadj (FIS leaders), and five thousand supporters of the FIS were arrested, and the elections postponed. The two leaders were charged with conspiracy against the state and sentenced to 12 years in prison. ** The Algerian military, disregarding voters intervened in a de facto coup to prevent the FIS from "enjoying the fruits of their democratically elected and earned power" (John Esposito). The military acted days before the next elections where the FIS were poised to win another electoral victory. **
The actions of the secular government led to ** human rights organizations criticizing the "mounting human rights abuses and calling for the release of FIS leaders arrested for acts of peaceful expression as well as all those who have been arrested for offenses involving nonviolent speech or association," ** (Human Rights in Algeria since the Halt of the Electoral Process - The Middle East Watch). Anti-Islamic death squads operating in Algeria, sponsored by the government, including the Organization of Free Young Algerians and the Organisation Secrete de Sauvegarde de la Republique de l'Algerie emerged. Their goal was to suppress the Islamists, and they have taken responsibility for attacks and murders of Islamists. The FIS in response instituted a military wing the Islamic Salvation Army, "which in the absence of dialogue pursued armed struggle against the regime" (Esposito). Attacks on civilians reflect cultural and class conflict as much as they did political circumstances. The violence has deepened the polarization of society in Algeria.
In terms of the ethnic tensions, groups consisting of Berbers also emerged. In particular the Assembly for Culture and Democracy (ACD) denounced the government and called for armed resistance against what they charged was the "fundamentalist genocide" against fellow Algerians (here they use your term - fundamentalist to describe a secularist government, John Esposito, The Islamic Threat). FIS leader Madani was released for a short period, but promptly thrown back in jail. John Esposito writes,
- "Algeria demonstrates the extent to which both a secular and a proposed Islamic state can be the source of division and conflict between secularists and Islamists, among Islamists, between Arab and Berber, between Francophone and Arabphone visions and values. Having survived a long and bloody war of independence, the Algerian people became locked in what some have termed a war of national identity, defining or redefining the nature of what it means to be Algerian. ** A spiral of state violence and Islamist counter-violence, of government-directed death squads and radical Islamist terrorism, produced a civil war which threatened the very fabric of civil society. It resulted in social polarization and radicalization, secular and religious extremism, in which the majority of the Algerian people were victims, a political situation with no clear winners and no resolution in sight ** ." *
The problem with your post is that it puts the blame of 'violence' in the Muslim countries you've cited, strictly on Islam. * If you'd like I can go through each of your examples and show how certain interpretations of Islam (what you call fundamentalism) are just one factor in a series of factors leading to human rights abuses in the Muslim world. And also that what you term 'Muslim extremists' face the same abuses as 'secularists' and 'non-Muslims' at the hands of those in power. * You should try to understand the development of 'Islamic fundamentalism', in terms of all factors involved - this will give you a better understanding of 'human rights' and possible solutions.
AdbulMalick wrote: "Eventually ** institutional violence ** will disappear, not as a result of external action, but thanks only to the calls of conscience of man who have awakened to the ** truth ** "
What do you mean by institutional violence? Whose truth? Awareness of conditions of oppression and violence is one step in a larger process.
Side note: AdbulMalick - what exactly does your nickname mean? If it is a name, the proper spelling would be Abdul (not Adbul) Malik (not Malick). I recall in an un-moderated forum I use to post in, a number of non-Muslims would take on the persona's of Muslims and use Muslim nicknames to legitimize their posts. Are you one of those people?
Achtung ;)
"** The Algerian's criminality, his impulsivity, and the violence of his murders are not the consequence of the organization of his nervous system or of the characterial originality, but the direct product of the colonial situation ** ...Once again, the objective of the native who fights against himself is to bring about the end of domination. But he ought equally to pay attention to the liquidation of all untruths implanted in his being by oppression ...Independence is not a word which can be used as an exorcism, but an indispensable condition for the existence of men and women who are truly liberated, in other words who are truly masters of all the material means which make possible the radical transformation of society." (Frantz Fanon)