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A striking analysis of the situation in Saudi Arabia by the redoubtable journalist Seymour Hersh appears today in The New Yorker. It lays bare the reality that although the Saudi royal family has channelled millions of dollars into fundamentalist groups including al-Qa’ida, the American and British governments continue to support the Saudi leadership. But if the aim is really to pull the rug from under al-Qa’ida and their ilk, why are we ignoring the protection they get from sources far richer and more powerful than the Taliban?Giving diplomacy another chance might not work immediately, but bombing is not working immediately. Yes, this campaign will topple the Taliban, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the networks of terrorists will be destroyed, and it does mean that thousands of children may die painful deaths this winter. We are asked to believe this war is a moral enterprise, but I’m suspicious of any so-called moral enterprise whose means are so cruel and whose ends so uncertain.n.walter btinternet . Muslims and Jews are still coping with the consequences of the terrorist assault on America.

But while there has been intense scrutiny of anti-Muslim attitudes, British Jews fear that the focus on Islamophobia has overshadowed another phobia. Muslims and Jews are still coping with the consequences of the terrorist assault on America. But while there has been intense scrutiny of anti-Muslim attitudes, British Jews fear that the focus on Islamophobia has overshadowed another phobia.
In the immediate aftermath of the atrocities, a laudable effort to stem the tide of anti-Muslim feeling was made on both sides of the Atlantic, and to a great extent it succeeded. The government is even contemplating a law that will make Islamophobic utterances an offence.

Little has been said, however, about the lies and abuse directed at Jews, Zionism, and Israel.While there is undoubtedly a connection between the hostility which many Arabs and Muslims feel towards America and Israel, the commonplace explanation for the atrocities in the United States of America and the animosity towards Israel have gone beyond the rational The mythic narrative goes something like this. The upsurge of radical Islam is a protest against Westernisation, American cultural hegemony, capitalism, and the State of Israel that only exists thanks to US backing. Terrorism will end when America ceases to impose its values on the world, helps to end poverty in poor countries, and compels Israel to give the Palestinian people what they want. This pre-conceived storyline bears little relation to actuality.Islamic countries have historically been both pro- and anti-American. It is as false to suggest that Islam is automatically anti-Western as it is to assume that there is a monolithic “Arab world” or “Islamic world”.The resurgance of Islam began in the 1970s, in a variety of countries, each with its own context. In Egypt, President Sadat courted Islamic groups to help replace secular left-wing ideologies. President Nimeiri in Sudan manipulated Islam to clothe his rule with legitimacy.