TERRORISM: LET'S FACE THE UGLY REALITY

Na-Allah Mohammed Zagga has this star post!

France is once again under terrorist attacks. In the latest incident, a Muslim extremist of Tunisian origin has killed around 80 innocent people in Nice on Thursday. He was described as a 31-year-old resident born in Tunisia, according to French newspaper Nice Matin.

According to Sputnik News, "The attack occurred when the driver plowed through a crowd celebrating Bastille Day during a firework display along the city's waterfront. He drove for more than a mile before being shot dead by police, according to French Interior Ministry spokesperson Pierre-Henry Brandet."

The frequent or repeated terrorist attacks by Muslim extremists around the world is worse than embarrassing. Of course, Muslims are also victims of terror attacks elsewhere around the world, including the recent deadliest terrorist attacks in Baghdad, but the internationalisation of terrorism by conducting attacks on Western cities have far graver repercussions than one can imagine.

Honestly speaking, nobody can deny that Muslims are not beneficiaries of Western multiculturalism. In Arab Monarchical societies, even mild criticisms of rulers can send you to jail. In London, nobody would jail you for criticising government. In London, nobody would deny you the right to build a Mosque or open Islamic schools because you're a Muslim, or because you're a minority in a Christian dominated society. These democratic and social rights guaranteed by Western democratic systems and multiculturalism are luxuries in Arab countries.

In addition, these Western democracies give you citizenships after escaping the oppressive conditions of your own countries. Western democracies or societies are not altogether perfect, but they are more tolerant of diversity, a major component of multiculturalism that positively helps the rights of Muslims.

Do we, however, realise the implications of these incidents on innocent Muslims in Western democracies? We say we hate Donald Trump because he hates Muslims. Was he born hating Muslims, or are there events and incidents that influence the way he thinks?

Terrorism is having an influence on Western politics and policies. You're welcomed into Western societies to become citizens, but you owe your allegiance to terrorist enemies of your host country! How realistic is that attitude? I cannot understand why anyone would do that. Imagine you're a Saudi, Moroccan or Tunisian by origin, and you're  granted a French citizenship, but you use the privilege to harm your host country! Are not your own enemy?

No wonder why immigration is a key issue on Western politics and policies. In fact, immigration is also a key security issue for the affected countries. Terrorism is not only heightening the threats of Islamophobia, but is also going to produce more Donald Trumps and other extreme nationalist politicians in the US and Europe.

Faced with these realities, would any sincere person criticise Trump for his stand on immigration, although innocent people might get affected for the monstrous crimes of a fringe group. Only a united action by Muslim countries can neutralise terrorism. Unfortunately, sectarian divisions have destroyed that unity. In the Middle East and the Arab world, terrorists are even celebrated if their victims are members of another sect. Osama Bin Laden became an instant popular figure in the eyes of thousands of Arabs and Palestinians around the world in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre in New York. His face caps, T-Shirts, posters and stickers were selling like hot cakes. Arab Parents proudly hailed their sons that participated in suicide attacks. I was genuinely outraged by such naivety.

That was the moment the Muslims lost the will to fight terrorism. Some Muslims even claimed that the war against terrorism is a Western declared war against Islam as if Bin Laden's terrorist cause is synonymous with Islam! Now a so-called minority has hijacked the  religion, creating the worst perception crisis for Islam and making everyone else helpless as we suffer the consequences of their atrocities. Now we have monsters we can't tame as a consequence of our own fatal indifference to their criminal activities.