Defining terrorism requires balance

Source: The Daily Star, 07-12-2005.
"The whole story is one of exaggerating the campaign of combating terrorism in order to deny the right to resist occupation" ... (6)
By Bouthaina Shaaban
FIRST PERSON DR. BOUTHAINA SHAABAN
It is quite astonishing that last month`s Euro-Mediterranean Summit in Barcelona concluded by rejecting the right of a people to resist occupation and with an unprecedented bias toward "Israel". The British "hijacked the code on combating terrorism and refused to recognize the right to resist occupation in the final draft."
In short, the whole story is one of exaggerating the campaign of combating terrorism in order to deny the right to resist occupation. The beneficiary is not very hard to recognize when "Israel" is the main occupier of Arab lands.
Instead, a European strategy for combating "terrorism inciters" and censoring imams and extremist websites was announced. At the same time, the United Nations failed to draft an international treaty on combating terrorism. The failure was due to the insistence of some parties on denying the Arabs their right to resist occupation in Palestine, the Golan Heights and the Shibaa Farms.
In the weeks following the Barcelona meeting, U.S. President George W. Bush asserted he will not settle for less than complete victory in Iraq. This will only be achieved when terrorists and Saddam Hussein loyalists can no longer threaten democracy. Of course, Bush didn`t mention that America`s secret prisons will continue to accommodate more Muslim youths till he makes sure no terrorists are left amidst the billion Muslims on the planet.
In the meantime, the "Israeli" government has reaffirmed it will not withdraw to the 1967 lines, that the apartheid wall will mark the future borders of the "temporary" Palestinian state, and that there is no peace partner in the Arab world. The latter statement is surprising as 22 Arab states have documented their commitment to peace with "Israel", as soon as it withdraws to 1967 borders.
Conveniently, the European Union, at Italy`s request, has decided to delay a review of a British Foreign Office report accusing "Israel" of subverting the Arab identity of East Jerusalem (al-Quds) by constructing illegal "Israeli" settlements, in the aim of preventing it from becoming the capital of a future Palestinian state.
With these events and documents in mind, one can only wonder as to the strategies of "combating terrorism." More importantly, for Arabs in particular, is to investigate how those strategies have become interrelated with the right of resistance in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, the Golan Heights and Shibaa Farms. Arabs need to ask why their right to independence has all of a sudden been postponed until Bush has achieved complete victory against terrorism.
The United States should not run away from terrorists, as Bush has said. However, the U.S. should not be fueling further terrorism through occupation, discrimination, looting and continued violations of civilians` rights. As for those who count on speeches and documents, it might be worth remembering that resistance is neither instigated, nor silenced, by such means.
By all accounts, terrorism must be eradicated. However, it should first be defined, distinguished from legitimate resistance, and separated from religion and ethnicity. Then we should all cooperate in combating terrorism. To succeed we need to consider facts.
It is quite telling that Muslim youths in Britain have expressed their determination to combat terrorism, while at the same time remaining critical of British policies in combating terrorism. It is also telling that, statistics in advanced countries show that the number of deaths resulting from traffic accidents is 400 times the number of those resulting from international terrorism. Saying one will accept nothing less than complete victory in the fight against terrorism is akin to looking to reduce the number of traffic accidents to zero.
It is high time the current strategies for combating terrorism were reconsidered. Politicizing these strategies to persecute a certain nation, religion or race can only prove self-defeating to those very strategies. Documents and terminologies based on erroneous perceptions neither change facts nor improve the reality on the ground.
Dr. Bouthaina Shaaban is the Syrian Expatriates Minister.