The Human Cohesion Project — 8 Apr 2022
The Tel Aviv attacks yesterday, much like every other act of violence, brings up the question of association of certain identities with violence. In this case, the popular interpretation is that it was an anti-Semitic attack and act of Islamic terrorism. Yet, that would merely be politics conveniently outsourcing the blame to religion. In a patronising statement, the Palestinian Authority was praised by the Israeli government for condemning the attack, while the Hamas praised the attacker.
It is important to pause here for a moment. While both governments and terrorists use the name of a religion (unfortunately, Islam, too often) to associate with violence, truly living through the Holy Month in an Islamic manner cannot lead to violence. Even as we grieve for the lives lost, can we also take the opportunity to de-link Islam from terrorism?
Some terrorist groups and individuals may call themselves Islamic, but it is up to us to discern if they truly live the message of Islam. They get their power because we accept their claim around religion. But at the end of the day, they are traumatised people, often scared and angry, with access to money and weapons. Our acceptance of their religious claim is how we collectively contribute to corruption of religion (and this applies to every extremist group in the world). Both media and its consumers need to challenge inauthentic labels of identities, and that entails investing effort in studying aspects of identities, including religion, even if that is inconvenient or uncomfortable. Terror comes from trauma, not from religion.
Ramadan Kareem. May we find the courage to reconnect with our religion.
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