Human Rights are Human Rights

Filed under: Al Qaeda, Islam, Israel, Radical Islam, Terrorism — Michael van der Galien, Editor-in-Chief on March 30, 2007 @ 11:34 am CEST

Bradley Burston wrote a great column for the Haaretz about Muslims killing Muslims and the way Israelis / Jews deal with it. I’d like to broaden the debate and ask, why do we, Westerners, not speak out when Muslims are killing Muslims? Why do so many Westerners remain silent, or shrug their shoulders?

Quote: “This is what we should have been taught: Violations of human rights are violations of human rights, regardless of the cultural background of the perpetrator, regardless of the background of the victim…
In the end, those of us who excuse Muslim fanatics their outrages against their own, those of us who explain away their crimes by blaming them on the West, or on ourselves, are guilty of racism as well.

We are saying, in effect, that they cannot be considered responsible for their actions, as would any other human being.”

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5 Comments »

  1. 1 David

    March 30, 2007 @ 12:15 pm CEST

    Somewhere in the last 40 years a large section of the intelligensia in the West abandoned individual responsibility, the rule of law and just war theory and replaced them with a few simplistic cliches about imperialism, patriarchy and racism. The fact that individual responsibilty has become a controversial doctrine shows just how much “post-modernism” has in common with what used to be called “barbarism”.

  2. 2 domajot

    March 30, 2007 @ 1:55 pm CEST

    This is a ‘wake up’ column, to be sure.
    The reluctance to speak up is very much a little cousin to the Arab world’s silence on Darfur

    What the West has to be prepared for, however, is that one second after speking out, the words would be labeled as imperialist propoganda in the Muslim world.

    Even so, the silence is poisoning us.

  3. 3 mvdg

    March 30, 2007 @ 2:39 pm CEST

    David, I agree.

    Doma: sure, but that should not force us to remain silent, heck, it is all the more reason to speak out (don’t let yourself be silenced).

  4. 4 domajot

    March 30, 2007 @ 2:51 pm CEST

    MVDG-
    And I agree with you.
    I said: ‘The silence is poisoning us.”

  5. 5 mvdg

    March 30, 2007 @ 3:08 pm CEST

    Yes I saw but it’s a bit boring to say “David, I agree.

    Doma, I agree with you as well”.
    :D

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