The Medium is Not the (Only) Message

I'm starting to get a little worried as a brown guy who sports a beard; pretty soon I'll be looking over my shoulder for that angry pitchfork wielding mob. I think that Bush and Blair and the gang have finally convinced the average Joe that all Muslims are evil, irrational and completely and utterly focused on violence and the destruction of our way of life. I've come to this realization since hearing from friends and co-workers on the airline bomb plot in Britain. To counteract these bizarre statements given the facts, I think a little lesson is in order.

It seems to me that no one I run into can understand a suicide bomber or anyone that engages in violence. Personally I can understand this logic but I would never engage in it because I think that violence is counterproductive and doesn't lead, even when it is successful, to a positive result. Nonviolent action is clearly superior though much much harder. But sometimes the harder choice is the right one.

But still why can't moderately thoughtful people understand someone who clearly has political, secular goals? You can disagree with these bombers but to not even view them as having a legitimate motivation is ridiculous. Let's outline some of these goals with a focus on Islamists like those accused of participating in yesterday's plot:

• Most Islamists want Israel out of Palestine and now Lebanon; they don't want the Palestinians humiliated and exploited any more.
  
• Similarly, Iraq, Afghanistan and much of the gulf is occupied by US and other nations' militaries; again Islamists want them out.
  
• In Kashmir, Muslims are tired of occupation by both India and Pakistan; so they blow up trains in Mumbai.
  
• China mistreats its Muslim minority as well.
  
• Muslims in Central Asia are tortured for practicing their religion, demanding a say in their governments and demanding their human rights guaranteed them under international law.
  
• Inside Muslim states in the Middle East and North Africa, Muslims are tired of hearing about democracy when no one demands it of their kings and autocrats; when they stand up for themselves they are brutally put down and the west, generally, looks the other way.
  
• Even in Britain and much of Europe, Muslims are treated as second class citizens and despite the democratic nature of these states, they are sick and tired of it.
  

These are actual grievances that can't be ignored. Read Osama Bin Laden's speeches, or those of Sheik Nasrallah or any number of Islam-based violent political movements around the world. Obviously Allah and Islam will dominate the message but look closer and you'll see that they are making reasonable secular and practical demands of their opponents.

By disparaging them and ignoring these requests we just enrage them further. No one should give in to terrorism but one must accept that terrorists have a point not that they are just insane. I'm tired of living under "leaders" that spread this moronic, small-minded message. Shame on you Justice League!