By David Singer ——Bio and Archives--December 26, 2014
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"I direct a message to our generous brothers of the Islamic State in Syria: to host my son, the pilot Mu'ath, with generous hospitality. I ask God that their hearts are gathered together with love, and that he is returned to his family, wife and mother. We are all Muslims."This desperate cry for mercy stands in stark contrast to what President Obama stressed at a media conference in August:
"Let's be clear about ISIL. They have rampaged across cities and villages killing innocent, unarmed civilians in cowardly acts of violence. They abduct women and children and subject them to torture and rape and slavery. They have murdered Muslims, both Sunni and Shia, by the thousands. They target Christians and religious minorities, driving them from their homes, murdering them when they can, for no other reason than they practice a different religion. They declared their ambition to commit genocide against an ancient people. So ISIL speaks for no religion. Their victims are overwhelmingly Muslim, and no faith teaches people to massacre innocents."
"We should be clear: this is not the "War on Terror", nor is it a war of religions. It is a struggle for decency, tolerance and moderation in our modern world. It is a battle against a poisonous ideology that is condemned by all faiths and by all faith leaders, whether Christian, Jewish or Muslim."Abbott was eager to support Obama and Cameron's statements--telling a media conference during the Martin Place siege in Sydney last week:
"But the point I keep making is that the ISIL death cult has nothing to do with any religion, any real religion."These Presidential and Prime Ministerial statements had followed a most explicit condemnation of Islamic State by Iyad Ameen Madani - the Secretary General for the Organization of Islamic Cooperation--the collective voice of the Muslim world - representing 57 countries over four continents comprising 1.4 billion Muslims - the second largest inter-governmental organization after the United Nations. As Vatican Radio reported on 25 July:
In a statement, he [Madani] officially denounced the "forced deportation under the threat of execution" of Christians, calling it a "crime that cannot be tolerated." The Secretary General also distanced Islam from the actions of the militant group known as ISIS, saying they "have nothing to do with Islam and its principles that call for justice, kindness, fairness, freedom of faith and coexistence."Yet the simple plea of one distraught Jordanian parent pleading for his son to be set free - stressing that "we are all muslims" --will certainly sheet home the distinct unease being felt by non-muslims living in Sydney--still reeling from the Lindt Chocolat Café siege and subsequent shoot out in Martin Place killing two innocent civilians and the self-styled Islamic cleric who perpetrated the siege. Such unease subsequently found the head of the Australian Defence League and two other people being charged over a brawl near a mosque in Sydney's Islamic heartland--Lakemba. The news that Sulayman Khalid, 20, was one of two men arrested on Christmas Eve as part of an ongoing counter-terrorism investigation into the alleged planning of a terrorist attack on Australian soil--has only increased such unease. As the Daily Telegraph reported:
"Khalid, also known as Abu Bakr, appeared earlier this year on SBS's Insight wearing a jacket emblazoned with the Islamic State flag and stormed off the set when questioned about his support for IS fighters."France has this week also seen three supposedly "lone wolf" incidents allegedly involving "deranged" Muslim perpetrators in:
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David Singer is an Australian Lawyer, a Foundation Member of the International Analyst Network and Convenor of Jordan is Palestine International—an organization calling for sovereignty of the West Bank and Gaza to be allocated between Israel and Jordan as the two successor States to the Mandate for Palestine. Previous articles written by him can be found at: jordanispalestine.blogspot.com