Do I Condemn Terrorism?
I have no problem condemning violent extremism. I have been condemning the violence behind 9/11 since the day it happened, now for more than half of my life.
What I do have a problem with is when your community’s violence is seen as aberrational and “not your problem” whereas mine defines 1.6 billion people and how loudly I condemn sets the standards for whether I qualify as being human.
I have a problem when the foreseeable deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent Muslim civilians is justified because a group of mostly rich white men said aye in a vaulted hall instead of “Allahu Akbar” in a dark cave.
I have a problem when burning an American flag results in ‘justifiable’ occupation, bombing, and defiling of Qur’ans and your slandering a religious figure is ‘just free speech.’
I have a problem when civilian deaths of Muslims abroad barely prompt introspection or calls for “controlling your people” or moderating ‘US values’ but my community is supposed to devote 99% of our money, talent, intelligence, and efforts to ‘countering’ an ‘extremism’ that does not affect us at a statistically higher rate than other communities.
I have a problem when my community’s religious and political leaders condemn terror, explain ad nauseam that killing one innocent soul is like killing all of mankind, and are much…
