Fact and fiction

By Issam El-Eryan

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The recent Sinai bombings were an opportunity for people who like to mix fact with fiction. Sharon and his government were quick to blame the attacks on Al-Qaeda. Egyptian officials, for their part, made it clear that it was too early to say. Israel and the US would have us believe that a clash of civilisations is underway, that all acts of violence are terror, that all terror is related to Islam, and that Al-Qaeda is bombing everyone. According to Israeli and US accounts, Al-Qaeda is something with superhuman power, connections, and organisation. It can strike everywhere and anytime, from Bali to Casablanca, from Nairobi to Madrid, from Saudi Arabia to Egypt.

Interestingly enough, Sharon did not accuse Hamas and Jihad of mounting the Sinai attacks. Why so? Because Sharon doesn't want the world to contemplate the last fortnight of massacres in Gaza, in which 100 Palestinians were killed and 500 wounded. Sharon wants to sow confusion across the Arab world. This is why he has ordered the assassination of a Hamas leader in Damascus. And this is why he wants Egypt to help out with security arrangements in Gaza. But Egypt has its own agenda. It wants the roadmap revived as a condition for its involvement in Gaza, whereas Sharon wants Gaza to turn into a big detention camp.

What Sharon wants is to disassociate cause from effect, which is exactly what the US is doing in the course of its pre-emptive, worldwide war. As for the rest of the world, it is befuddled at the sight of continual carnage. To separate fact from fiction, let me state two things clearly: Islam does not condone random violence, and resistance in Palestine and Iraq is legitimate. We need to restore respect for all religions and cultures. And we need to seek stability and independence through responsible action.

* The writer is former People's Assembly member for the Muslim Brotherhood.