LOS TEROPONG: September, oh September ....

Hmmm .... September 11th? Ring a bell? Anything else. In the Sunday Star (11 September 2005), Guest Columnist, Prof. Shad Saleem Faruqi opened my eyes to a tale of September in the name of the advocation of human right - that of moral consistency and for us not to choose what we want to highlight and mourn and ignore the others as if their lives were of any less value.

Thank you Prof. Shad for your article was also an education for me. I hope you won't mind my summarising the events as written in your article (page 31). Let us take a look at 'SEPTEMBER' and you can make up your own mind.

1922 - 11 September - Uprooting of Palestinians - The British government, as a follow up to the 1917 Balfour Declaration which promised European Zionists a national home, decided to bequeath the ancient land of 700,000 Arabs to the Jews. Europe and America then watched with indifference as the Palestinians were forced to flee their homeland. On April 9, 1948, Jewish commandos attached a peaceful village between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and massacred one hundred and seven innocent residents in cold blood.

1982 - 16 September - Sabra, Shatila - Under the watchful eyes of their Israeli allies who had encircled and sealed the camps, Lebanese Maronite Christian militiamen entered Beirut's Sabra and Shatila refugee camps. There followed a three-day orgy of rape and slaughter that left nearly 3,500 innocent Palestinians and Lebanese civilians DEAD. No one was ever tried or punished for the atrocities and the chief perpetrator later became a Prime Minister.

1990 - 11 September - Iraq - George Bush Sr., on the authority of the UN, subjected (for invading Kuwait) Iraq to a month of devastating bombings and missle attacks. Apalling acts of inhumanity were committed by the allied forces.

2001 - 11 September - World Trade Centre, NY - Hmmmm ... there is much hype about this date as having changed the world. Surely, this was NOT the most grave tragic event of the last few decades. Many other 'September Events' of greater savagery and suffering (as described above) have gone unrecognised and unmourned.

We must not be selective in our commemorations and in our condemnations.

The western world practised slavery and apartheid. It annihilated indigeneous groups in three continents.
It committed genocide in Nazi Germany and Yugoslavia.
It is participating in the brutalisation of innocent people in Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Illegal wars, targeted killings and torture of suspects in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay are contrary to the basc values of a humanitarian age.

Whie condemning terrorism, we must seek to understand the root causes of this malady. The world needs to ask WHY some people have crossed that point of tolerance beyond which they are prepared to die on their feet than to live on their knees.

Thanks Prof.

[Prof. Dr. Shad Faruqi ia a Professor of Law at the Universiti Teknologi Mara, Malaysia]

LOS TEROPONG

Los Teropong (Teropong means binoculars) comments on current issues in Malaysia, and sometimes the world, and put forth another opinion and perspective. BY THE WAY - THEY HUNG THE WRONG GUY ...