[Peace-discuss] Stephen Schwartz on Focus 580 - please call in!

[Green, David]

Stephen Schwartz, author of "Two Faces of Islam," will be on Focus 580 on
WILL-AM tomorrow (Friday) at 11. He argues that Wahhabism, as practiced in
Saudi Arabia and radicalized by Osama bin Laden, is the primary cause of
terrorism.

 

This argument is simplistic in its denial history and social context, as
well as American support for people like bin Laden beginning in the 1970s.
How did "traditional" Wahhabism become radical Wahhabism? But it is
comforting for many to attribute political violence to essential evil and
the ideas, religious or otherwise, that are used to justify violence. How
can his argument avoid considering oil (assuming that it does)?

 

I think it's important for people to call in and politely question or
challenge his views. You don't have to be an expert on Islam or the Middle
East. You just have to raise obvious issues about oil, the U.S. relationship
with Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Israel/Palestine, etc. Why is he focusing on
Islamic fundamentalism rather than Jewish or Christian fundamentalism?

 

I'm writing this partly because I won't be available to call, or even
listen. But authors like this should know that there are lots of people not
buying his simplistic and racist analysis-whether or not he is advocating
war. You don't have to argue with him. Just see it as a poll to register
your concerns about how this sort of analysis is used in a racist way, and
how it avoids U.S. responsibility and justifies war. Give him a wake-up
call, so to speak.

 

David Green

 

 

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