This is something you cannot miss: an amazing act of courage by an Arab (Arab-American) scholar, a woman psychologist, who speaks up on the Al-Jazeera TV channel. I have never seen somebody so blunt and open about issues usually untackled. This is about questions the members of the Muslim religious group should ask themselves- and answer as well. The problem is that nobody does- at least not publicly- and this unfortunately includes also those- and I am sure they constitute the absolute majority- who do not support terrorist acts of any form carried out in the name of their religion. I entirely agree with the (main) standpoint- this is not about a clash of present-time religions or civilizations, but indeed it is about a clash of eras. On the one hand you have a side that evolved (in general, exceptions remain) incredibly– despite paying huge costs that came along with this evolution– from a similar fundamentalism that once materialized in the crussades, the Inquisition and the like; on the other hand you have the side that remained largely unchanged throughout the centuries…
The entire transcript of Wafa Sultan’s speech in this video on an Arabic online tv (don’t know for how long this link will be available) is available here. Excepts from it below:
The clash that we are witnessing around the world is not a clash of religions, or a clash of civilizations.
It is a clash between two opposites, between two eras.
It is a clash between a mentality that belongs to the Middle Ages and another mentality that belongs to the 21st century.
It is a clash between civilization and backwardness, between the civilized and the primitive, between barbarity and rationality.
It is a clash between freedom and oppression, between democracy and dictatorship.
It is a clash between human rights on the one hand and the violation of these rights on the other hand.
It is a clash between those who treat women like beasts and those who treat them like human beings.
What we see today is not a clash of civilizations. Civilizations do not clash but compete.
It is a clash between two opposites, between two eras.
It is a clash between a mentality that belongs to the Middle Ages and another mentality that belongs to the 21st century.
It is a clash between civilization and backwardness, between the civilized and the primitive, between barbarity and rationality.
It is a clash between freedom and oppression, between democracy and dictatorship.
It is a clash between human rights on the one hand and the violation of these rights on the other hand.
It is a clash between those who treat women like beasts and those who treat them like human beings.
What we see today is not a clash of civilizations. Civilizations do not clash but compete.
….
You are free to worship whomever you want, but the beliefs of other people are not your concern, whether they believe that the Messiah is God, son of Mary, or that Satan is God, son of Mary.
Let people have their beliefs.
The Jews have come from the tragedy (of the holocaust) and have forced the world to respect them; with their knowledge, not with their terror; with their work, not with their crying and yelling.
Humanity owes most of the science and discoveries of the 19th and 20th centuries to Jewish scientists.
15 million people, scattered throughout the world, united and won their rights through work and knowledge.
We have not seen a single Jew blow himself up in a German restaurant. We have not seen a single Jew destroy a church. We have not seen a single Jew protest by killing people.
Muslims have turned three Buddha statues into rubble. We have not seen a single Buddhist burn a Mosque, kill a Muslim, or burn down an embassy.
Only the Muslims defend their beliefs by burning down churches, killing people, and destroying embassies.
This will not yield any results.
The Muslims must ask themselves what they can do for humankind before they demand that humankind respect them.
Let people have their beliefs.
The Jews have come from the tragedy (of the holocaust) and have forced the world to respect them; with their knowledge, not with their terror; with their work, not with their crying and yelling.
Humanity owes most of the science and discoveries of the 19th and 20th centuries to Jewish scientists.
15 million people, scattered throughout the world, united and won their rights through work and knowledge.
We have not seen a single Jew blow himself up in a German restaurant. We have not seen a single Jew destroy a church. We have not seen a single Jew protest by killing people.
Muslims have turned three Buddha statues into rubble. We have not seen a single Buddhist burn a Mosque, kill a Muslim, or burn down an embassy.
Only the Muslims defend their beliefs by burning down churches, killing people, and destroying embassies.
This will not yield any results.
The Muslims must ask themselves what they can do for humankind before they demand that humankind respect them.
