[Peace] Focus 580 Guest

[David Green]

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
explicitly 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.



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