In Pakistan the prevailing thoughts are that of suspicion and anger towards the United States. This comes from a feeling that the United States are back stabbers. This feeling began during the India and Pakistan war. India was backed by the Soviets who provided money and weapons. When Pakistan requested that its ally, the United States, send more weapons, the United States declined. Something as small as saying no to more weapons helps harbor feelings of hatred. Pakistan feels the same as most Arab Islamic countries, the only way for Muslims to give the United States any respect, is for the United States to provide the same support to Palestine as it does to Israel. Others feel there is no hope for the United States to be on good terms with any Arab Islamic country. Many have hatred due to losses of innocent lives during bombing raids.
Religion is also a major reason as to why Arab Islamic countries hate the United States. Many sources state that the reason for the hated based on religion started with the Crusades. Christians used to make pilgrimages to Jerusalem. “When Muslims took over Jerusalem in the year 638, Christians were still allowed to make the pilgrimage.” (, April 22, 2004) When the number of Christians making the pilgrimage was at its height, Seljuk Turks invaded and took control of Jerusalem and ultimately banned the pilgrimages. Pope Urban II assisted Emperor Alexus I in launching the first crusade. Pope Urban II made one of the most historic speeches in history during his call to arms. “Dr. E.L Skip Knox gives a summary of the Popes speech, which has been recorded differently in various sources.” (Streusand, 2003, p. 20)
The noble race of Franks must come to aid their fellow Christians in the East. The infidel Turks are advancing into the heart of Eastern Christendom; Christians are being oppressed and attacked; churches and holy places are being defiled. Jerusalem is groaning under the Saracen yoke. The Hold Sepulchre is in Moslem hands and has been turned into a mosque. Pilgrims are harassed and even prevented from access to the Holy Land.
The West much march to the defense of the East. All should go, rich and poor alike. The Franks must stop their internal wars and squabbles. Let them go instead against the infidel and fight a righteous war. God himself will lead them, for they will be doing His work. There will be absolution and remission of his sins for all who die in service of Christ. Here they are poor and miserable sinners; there they will be rich and happy. Let none hesitate; they must march next summer. God wills it!
“God wills it” actually became the battle slogan of the Crusaders. This speech bears a striking resemblance to most Muslim’s call to arms against the United States occupation in Iraq at this time. One wonders if this wasn’t the basis behind all of the current speeches printed in the newspapers and magazines.
This was the first of seven crusades that lasted until the year 1250. This on the surface is enough reason for the Muslim religion to resent Christians. The battles themselves made matters worse. Many descriptions of the battles are very graphic as to what the crusades did to the Muslims at that time. Heads of the enemy that had been cut off were lying everywhere. Muslims were shot with arrows, some tortured by burning and eventually thrown in huge fire pits. One rather gruesome story took place at the temple and portico of Solomon. Many historians refrain from telling the story but the common answer is men rode horses with blood to the knees. This all took place during the first crusade.
The second crusade took place between 1147 and 1149, this was lead by King Louis VII. This crusade turned out to be an utter failure in which one of the Latin Kingdoms was lost. The third crusade lasted from 1188 to 1192. This crusade was ordered by Pope Gregory VIII due to the failure of the second. The fourth crusade began in 1202 and ended in the year 1204. Constantinople was destroyed during this crusade. The fifth crusade lasted from 1217 to 1221. This one brought the defeat of Damietta. The sixth crusade was between the years of 1228 and 1229. The seventh and final crusade was led by Louis IX, and lasted from 1248 to 1250.
One should be able to conclude that after years and years of crusades to the land of Jerusalem, that Muslim hatred over religion began there. The author of this paper has never read the Koran, but did find articles on the internet that claim the Koran carries passages that tell Muslims never to accept Jews or Christians as friends. Instead it tells to kill the infidels. It instructs Muslims to cut Jews and Christians heads and fingertips off. This does not sound like a very friendly religion. Many Arab Islamic countries feel that another turn of Crusades is coming with the Bush administration. This is being taught in some universities in the Middle East. According to Abdul Mohammad, a neighbor of this author, this is untrue. Abdul does admit that Muslims are not allowed to drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes or marijuana. They are also not allowed to view pornography in any form. This means no Cinemax, no magazines, or DVD’s. Abdul admits that all of these have been tried since coming to the United States. Abdul also identifies these as a hatred for America. “When a young child in his country is caught with cigarettes, porn, or even marijuana the United States is blamed. Many of the items are imported to my country from the United States. Arab countries do not make cigarettes, the closest maker is Egypt.” A. Mohammad (personal communication, April 21, 2004) It seems a little ridiculous not to blame the child but to blame a country in which the items were manufactured. Another reason mention by Abdul was the way Muslim culture reflects on women. Women in the Muslim culture are not allowed to show the face or most other parts of the body. The hands and feet are the only parts allowed to be shown. Abdul states, “This depends on where in the Middle East you are. Many cities are modernized and have forgotten the old ways. The area that I come from has. The areas that still recognized are Taliban and other extremist group homes.” A. Mohammad (personal communication) For these reasons some parts of the Middle East do not like each other.
Many extremist, like Bin Laden, believe that the world is divided into two, on half is the House of Islam and the other the House of War. Extremist believe that these two are close in that the House of Islam must always be at war. Extremist also feel they have a divine right form God to inflict pain or happiness on others. Extremist also believe that the West must accept Islam, even if it has to be done with force. Many also think the war with the United States is a holy war. Extremist believe that you must kill as many Americans and Jews as possible. Extremist also do not worry about killing their own. If you are killed in a battle, and are a good Muslim, you will be given a special place in paradise. Bad Muslims will be sent to Hell.” A. Mohammad (personal Communication)
The last of the three to be discussed is Capitalism. Capitalism seems to have the least amount of effect on the situation. Many people say that capitalism is the reason behind the new war. Many people calling the war on terrorism a fraud, something to take the place of communism. The war on terror just happens to have started where the anti-capitalist capital is. Many feel this is an obvious sign of the United States intentions. The same people say that the United States is trying to turn the Middle East into a capitalist place. The same Arab’s also claim that the September 11th attacks, on the World Trade Center, were conducted by US intelligence services. This gave justification to a global war on terrorism. The Anti-American Arabs continue to say that American was brain washed by the propaganda by newspapers and TV. Jumping in line behind the “new Hitler.” The war is not only blamed on the leaders but the American people as well. One would think most of the blame would be put on people who wanted the war. Arabs actually place the blame on Anti-war Americans for not doing enough. When asked what could be done about this, the response was to be nice and forgive and forget. The Arabs then go on to make snide comments about carrying on the relentless pursuit of money and SUV’s. Arab Islamic countries claim that the United States has no evidence to point to Islamic Fundamentalist Terrorists. “The growing suspicion between Arabs is that September 11th was an ongoing set up by the Bush administration to begin a war.” (Pryce-Jones, 2001, p. 20) Arabs also stated that this is not at all unlikely since this is the same situation as Pearl Harbor, which the United States knew about and did nothing. Arabs also say that this war was also started to justify the Israelis fight against the Arabs. The surprising part is actually that Arabs say this was the master plan that all began with Bush cheating his way into the white house. Even that is said to have been planned way ahead of time. It is even claimed that Jeb Bush was in on the whole thing. Helping his brother to steal a very important Florida vote. Then Bush loaded his cabinet with friends of his fathers who would not oppose his plan. Bush is also accused of trying to create and empire out of the United States. The war on terrorism is Bush’s way of taking over Asia and control natural gas and oil. Reports from Arabs say that a Houston oil company has been trying to run gas and oil pipelines throughout Afghanistan for a long time. The reason the deal has not gone through because a deal could never be reached with the Taliban to guarantee the safety of the lines. Once Bush was elected he gave the Taliban the option of getting a golden carpet or being buried under a carpet bombing. The Taliban obviously refused which started the war. Arabs also claim that other evidence exists. The USA Patriot Act is supposed to have been already written before September 11th. Arabs tell the American people that they should be afraid because this is the Bush administration trying to control them. Arabs also site that secret concentration camps have been built in most major U.S. cities. Moving on to more theories, Arabs claim that not one of the accused hijackers are listed on the passenger lists of any of the four flights. The Arab theory continues to speak of “homerun devices” which could bring a plane down safely. Instead of being used for that, it was used for the opposite. Evidence for this idea is derived from none of the 19 Arab hijackers having experience with such a big plane. Arabs say that pilots feel that only professionals could have flown those planes that well. Adding to the theory is that no high-ranking officials were killed in the collision with the Pentagon. Reportedly the offices were switched one week before the September 11th attacks. Another claim to the Arab conspiracy theory is that the World Trade Centers would have never collapsed the way they did without help. The steel would have never collapsed as it did without and expert demolition team helping. This is why none of the metal was ever examined, claims the Arab theorist. Another positive gain for Bush is a major share holder of the Carlyle Group. The Carlyle group is a defense company that picked up many of the new defense contracts. Surprisingly the theorists claim Osama Bin Laden has a large number of shares in the company as well.
Others have other problems with America’s capitalism. For example many Arab’s have a problem with Hollywood. Many Arabs feel that they are stereo typed in the movies. Movies sited are True Lies, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Executive Decision, The Siege, and Collateral Damage. Arab’s say that this helps to bring hate crimes against them. It also boosts the time Arabs spend being detained in Airports.
So one might ask how this all ties together. The United States supports Israel in the war for Palestine. Arab Islamic countries do not like the United States for that. So Arabs need a way to blame the United States. Most do it with Religion. Take the recent example in Muqtada al-Sadr. The man held up in the Mosque somewhere in the Middle East. He has an extreme hatred for the United States. His extreme hatred comes from his childhood in which his village was destroyed by Israeli forces. Did the United States do it or have anything directly to do with it. No, says Muquada al-Sadir in an interview with Time. (McGeary, 2004, p.46) Although he blames the United States because they did not step in to help his people. Muqtada is now challenging older clerics for power and has his own devout following. His following can be heard chanting Muqtad, “We will sacrifice our blood.”( McGeary, 2004, p.24) Muqtada’s motivation is clearly political but doesn’t use a political message with his people. He uses a religious one. Religious words are used to incite crowds and call for death to the infidels. He also uses his message to tie into the United States capitalism. In a religion that feels that women are inferior, it enrages him to see women allowed to own businesses and make profits. To be allowed to dress the way they do and to be equals to men. Also tied into this argument is the United States goods that make it into the country. Muqtada blames the United States as do many Arabs. Luckily for the United States Grand Ayatullah Ali Husaini does not believe in most of Muqtada’s beliefs. The leading cleric also feels that Muqtada just wants a major role in the new Iraq. Although, it seems that it would not be much of a change for the people of Iraq. Muqtada also claims to be a descendent of the profit Muhammad. Muqtada even lays out a family tree for followers to see that he is “chosen.” Muqtada also creates discontent throughout the Shi’ite population about the U.S occupation. Muqtada blames the breakdown of security, and the disruption of public services. It also does not hinder his master plan that he provides good meals and drink for those who follow him. Muqtada is trying to turn Iraq back into what it was hundreds of years ago. Maintaining that women must wear veils and be subservient to men. Muqtada has even gone as far as to set up illegal courts across the towns that he controls to try and convict people who challenge him. This all together is a dangerous situation.
Seemingly through research a big part of the problem would be solved by either removing support all together to Israel or to give equal support to both sides. Not all Arab Islamic countries have a stake in that part of the Middle East, but most know someone or knew someone who has fought in that battle. Islam teaches one for all and all for one. If one member of the religion is attacked then the entire religion must stand up for those being attacked. This might be the reason for the rise in suicide bombings around the world. At any rate someone has to give. The Arab Islamic countries cannot continue to believe that it can force Islam onto American or any other nation. American made need to rethink it’s stance towards the problem in Palestine. Then again why should the United States rethink its position when places like Palestine and Pakistan continue to breed terrorist? Maybe this is an issue that should be looked into. Promising governments more aid money for turning over terrorist. I firmly believe that some places would rather keep their terrorist than help America.
References
Al-Arian, L. (2004, April). Arab-American Activism. Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, 23(3), 77-79.
Christian Science Monitor. Resentment Rises, A Radical is Born (chap.). Retrieved from www.csmonitor.com/2001/097/p1s1-wogi.htm.
Karabell, Z. (2000). Fundamental Misconceptions: Islamic Foreign Policy. Foreign Policy, 77-93.
McGeary, J. (2004, March 29). Who's The Enemy Now? TIME, 24-29.
McGeary, J. (2004, April 19). New Thugs On The Block. Time, 46-50.
Pryce-Jones, D.(2001, December, 3). Islam in Action. National Review, 18(7), 20-26.
Streusand, D. (2003, July). The Clash of Civilizations? World & I, 18(7), 20-26.
The United Nations. Question Of Palestine: chap.. Question Of Palestine. Retrieved from www.un.org/depts/dpa/ngo/history.html.
