But is Islamic fundamentalism such a powerful threat to Europe? Or,
as in the United States, has the threat been exaggerated? Take for
example, the issue of suicide terrorism. Following the attacks of 11
September in the United States, the popular idea that somehow Islam
tended to foster fanaticism more than other religions became current in
both the US and Europe. Somehow it was felt, Islam tended toward a
fundamentalism that provoked irrational attacks on the apparent freedoms
of those living in the secular societies of Europe and elsewhere. Why
else, some questioned, would people commit suicide in attacks largely
directed at civilians?
The only extensive study
of suicide terrorism makes it clear that suicide terrorism is not
primarily linked to Islamic fundamentalism. University of Chicago
professor, Robert Pape, cataloged all available data on suicide terrorist attacks around the world from 1980 to 2003 in his recent book
Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism.
He found that every suicide terrorist campaign has been primarily
informed by nationalism rather than religious fundamentalism. The goals
are not religious, but secular and political – evicting a perceived
occupier from territory that is seen by those fostering the attacks as
their “homeland.” Interestingly, he argues that even al-Qaeda
fits this pattern as one of their major goals is to get American troops
out of what are considered Arab lands, including importantly, Saudi
Arabia.
So is there a clash between Islam and the West? Yes, of course there is, but it is primarily cultural as Hanif Kureishi, a Pakistani British Muslim, makes clear in the essays collected in
The Word And The Bomb.
However, ultimately he says that what disturbed him about Islamic
fundamentalists “is that they had access to the Truth, as stated in the
Koran.”
Many people sense that the rise of fundamentalism, not only in Islam,
but in other religions as well, is a response to the crisis of identity
that many in today’s world experience. If you’d like to read a very
thoughtful reflection on this, take a look at Amin Maalouf’s book,
In the Name of Identity: Violence and the Need to Belong.
We’d like to hear your reflections on some of the matters I’ve
discussed here, so please post your responses and let’s start a wider
dialogue.
