As we’ve been pointing out over the past few weeks, concerns over events in the United States that are perceived as Islamophobic are global in scope – in this case, from South America. This article by Raul Sohr of Chile’s La Nacion warns that people both in and out of the Muslim world best tread carefully, so as not to allow the next attack to trigger events even worse than those we’ve already had to confront.
For La Nacion, Raul Sohr writes in part:
Al-Qaeda is as representative of Islam as the obscure pastor Terry Jones, who shot to ephemeral fame with his threat to burn several editions of the Quran, represents Christianity. But in an atmosphere of suspicion and animosity, some people are crazy enough to try and provoke major incidents.
Islamophobia in certain areas of the United States has risen to such levels that President Obama was obliged to point out that the country isn’t at war against Islam, but with certain terrorist organizations. This, by the way, also touches on the debate about the building of an Islamic center a few blocks from where the now-destroyed Twin Towers once stood. Some people object to the presence of a center of Islamic worship in such proximity to the place of the attack. But American Muslims – and there are about five million – whose roots go back to the slaves torn from Africa, have nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with 9-11-2001. To repudiate the presence of Islam is to punish believers that unquestionably condemn the attacks on their city.
The disagreements between cultures are exploited by those interested in deepening the gulf between religions. In the words of the classical German thinker Goethe, “Sin writes histories, goodness is silent.” Everyone knows that violence and threats get more attention than acts of solidarity. Few heard that the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish organization for defending civil rights, announced the formation of an interfaith coalition for mosques, designed to combat anti-Muslim incidents in the United States. For his part, Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick condemned attacks against the Islamists and warned that “intolerance will be felt by others as a message from Americans.”
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