November 12, 2005 Blame Many in Jordan See Old Enemy in Attack: Israel By MICHAEL SLACKMAN ZARQA, Jordan, Nov. 11 - The Maktoum Mosque was crowded with worshipers for Friday Prayer as the imam sharply criticized the suicide attacks on three hotels in Amman, saying those who committed the crimes were not Muslims, no matter what they called themselves. Afterward, on the street, people agreed that whoever committed such an act could not be a Muslim. But many meant this literally, that the attack must have been carried out by outsiders, namely Israeli agents. "Who said it is them?" asked Ahmed al-Zawahrah, referring to claims that members of a radical Islamic group were behind the blasts. "It could be Israel." Zarqa is the birthplace of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia. His relatives and neighbors prayed in the mosque, so one could imagine that it might be especially hard for them to accept that Mr. Zarqawi had taken responsibility for killing so many civilians. But the sentiment heard here is echoed across this country and region. While most Arabs have long viewed Israel as their enemy, the extent to which Israel weighs on the regional psyche and diverts attention away from social, political, religious and economic issues that cannot be ignored, many social and political analysts say. Blaming Israel is not just a knee jerk, they say; for many Arabs, it is their reality. "People don't blame Israel out of a vacuum," said Rami Khoury, a Jordanian political commentator and writer based in Lebanon. "There is a very strong historical reason, because Israel has caused a lot of grief for Arab people one way or another." But he added, "The consequence is that this became an easy way not to deal with our problems that are based in our own society." The suspicion of some here over the hotel killings mirrors the unfounded rumor that thousands of Jews did not show up for work at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, because Israel was behind those attacks. In Egypt, Israel was also widely blamed for the bombing attacks in Taba and Sharm el Sheik over the last year, and for the recent sectarian violence between Coptic Christians and Muslims in Alexandria. In Syria, officials at the highest levels of the government have blamed Israel for killing Rafik Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister. While it appears that most Jordanians have accepted that Mr. Zarqawi was involved - with many saying they are sickened by his actions - there is little criticism for those who scapegoat Israel. A former prime minister, Tahir Masri, who said it was clear that Israel was not involved in this attack, said he understood why so many people blame Israel. "You have to understand, Baghdad was the capital for Arabs and Muslims for 1,000 years," Mr. Masri said. "It is occupied by Americans now. Jerusalem and Baghdad are both occupied. It is too much for ordinary people to bear. If you add to it the misery that people are facing because of the lack of democracy and humiliation by their rulers, that kind of scapegoat we have to have." Whether it is the Sharm el Sheik bombings or the assassination of Mr. Hariri, the theory is almost always premised on two ideas. The first is a logic that says those who benefit must be behind the deed. When Muslim residents of Alexandria in Egypt tried to attack a Coptic church last month after word spread that a play held in the church two years earlier denigrated Islam - and that the play was being distributed on videodisc - one local member of Parliament charged publicly that Israel was behind the strife. "Israel is the only country in the region that does not want Egypt to be stable," said Muhammad al-Badrasheni, the member of Parliament. "It wants to cause sectarian strife that would result in international intervention like what is happening in Iraq now." The second factor routinely pointed to as proof of Israel's involvement is the idea that Egyptians, Syrians or other Arabs are not clever enough to have carried out such an effective attack. Gen. Fouad Allam, former director of state security in Egypt, said, for example, that the attack on a Hilton Hotel in Taba last year - in which mostly Israelis were killed - had to be the work of the Israeli secret service, the Mossad. "It was very well planned, studied, professional, and with a very high capacity," he said. "We never had this kind of capacity over the past 50 years." One government official in Egypt, citing multiple military defeats, spoke of a deep-seated feeling of inferiority, even a kind of mental illness. The official also blamed Arab leaders who have deflected criticism of domestic issues by focusing public anger on Israel. Whatever the cause, the result is the same: "In the first place, people don't even recognize the reality around them," said Muhammad el-Sayed Said, a political analyst at the government-financed Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Egypt. "Secondly, they continue to overlook and ignore the problem without supporting a consistent anti-terrorism campaign, which the government might be seeking." Dawoud al-Shoryan, a prominent writer and journalist from Saudi Arabia, says he is not convinced that those who blame Israel really believe it. But, he added, many people are deeply angry at United States policy in the region, including its occupation of Iraq, and blaming Israel is a way of conferring some degree of legitimacy on a crime that would be considered unspeakable if committed by a Muslim. "They try to hide the hideous face of terrorism by hanging it on the United States and Israel," he said. "Shifting the accusation is nothing but a subconscious attempt to justify the act." Mona el Naggar contributed reporting for this article. Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company Home Privacy Policy Search Corrections XML Help Contact Us Work for Us Site Map Back to Top
i just read it too. interesting stuff. this quote basically i think is dead on. "People don't blame Israel out of a vacuum," said Rami Khoury, a Jordanian political commentator and writer based in Lebanon. "There is a very strong historical reason, because Israel has caused a lot of grief for Arab people one way or another." But he added, "The consequence is that this became an easy way not to deal with our problems that are based in our own society." obviously people who try put all the blame on israel/us are dead wrong. but similarly the approach that i think many times you show is just as wrong. these problems aren't in vacuum. history should be accounted for. and there are many wrongs that 'the west' can rightfully be blamed for which have caused many of these issues. does this mean that terrorism is justified? of course not. but it does mean to properly stop terrorism we should take a full approach which includes discussing our wrongs and seeing how we can alleviate the suffering which has been caused by our actions. but that approach does not deny the fact that it is a two way street.
This is the part that most intriuged me considering my whole debate the past week or so with Tigermission:
and that dude is from saudi. the point is viewpoints in the mid east aren't homogenous. people have different viewpoints and different ideas. just as israel isn't. haaretz has editorials on how hamas should absolutely be allowed to participate in elections. this notion that all these people hate the west and support terrorism is naive.
actually, I was making a similar argument and getting called a Islamaphobe. But here you have a Saudi saying essentially the same thing. It's interesting ya know... No one claimed all these people hate the west and all that - of course they don't. But one thing I am seeing guy is that you and many others have a hatred...or at least anger toward the west that you aren't fully admitting.
I guess this is why some Jordanians are suspicious? http://www.latimes.com/news/nationw...ngs10nov10,0,2022733.story?coll=la-home-world Suicide Attacks Kill at Least 57 at 3 Hotels in Jordan's Capital The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Israelis staying at the Radisson on Wednesday had been evacuated before the attacks and escorted back home "apparently due to a specific security threat." Amos N. Guiora, a former senior Israeli counter-terrorism official, said in a phone interview with The Times that sources in Israel had also told him about the pre-attack evacuations. "It means there was excellent intelligence that this thing was going to happen," said Guiora, a former leader of the Israel Defense Forces who now heads the Institute for Global Security Law and Policy at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. "The question that needs to be answered is why weren't the Jordanians working at the hotel similarly removed?"
Are you saying that if Israel warns its own citizens of possible attacks then they should be suspected of actually carrying out the attacks?
They should be harshly criticized for not warning everyone else of the attacks. They had foreknowledge of the attacks and only elected to tell certain people. That should raise questions and suspicions. I think we know that it wasn't Israel who carried out these attacks. We know who did it. But anyone who has foreknowledge of a crime and doesn't alert the proper authorities should be viewed with suspicion. If you heard of a guy who knew before a bank was robbed that told his sister, an employee of the bank, to miss work that day but didn't alert any other authorities, then it wouldn't beyond the bounds of reason to question whether or not this guy had some involvement.
Do we know that Israel "only elected to tell certain people", as you claim? The LA Times clip did not say that, it only said that the Israelis left. Perhaps the others did not take the threat seriously. I wouldn't be so quick to jump on the conspiracy theory as you have done.
I hope that I am wrong. I wasn't saying there was any conspiracy at all. In fact I said I don't believe Israel was involved. I also said that imo we know who did this, and it wasn't Israel. I just said that it is understandable why some people would be suspicious.
IIRC there were charges that people were warned to leave or not go to the WTC on 9/11. Something about the ATF or military people not going that day? I don't think anyone seriously thinks that equates to the US government being responsible for 9/11.
Ummm...okay. You jumped to conclusions based on your preconceived biases. You should look at things objectively instead of sympathizing with the terrorists and looking for other places to lay blame.
At no point did I sympathize with terrorists, and you haven't even offered up anything in an attempt to prove that I have. Instead you've offered up another baseless claims with zero evidence or facts to back it up. In the future you should have before making such a pitiful attempt to slander me. All of you guys who making the same claims with no facts, or statements to back it up should either put up or shut up.
I still wouldn't think Israel carried out the attacks. You guys are defending the ridiculous conspiracy theories and paranioa against Israel.
wasn't netanyahu also warned before the attacks in london to not go to certain areas where he was scheduled to give a speech?
But there's no way at all Israel did this so I don't see what basis they have for being suspicious. People who know the facts aren't suspicious at all, so why are the Jordanians? Actually I DO understand that this kind of misinformation and anti-Israel paranoia is rampant in the Middle East, so on THAT level I do understand.
I agree that Israel did not do this. But isn't because of propoganda that the people suspect Israel. It is because of what happened in the hotels and why only Israelis were taken away prior to the bombing.
