Muslims Address Silence on Europe Attacks

Alia Kdeih, 50, who came to Paris in 1977, at the height of a civil war in her native Lebanon, poses in front of the Eiffel tower in Paris, Tuesday June 20, 2006. Europe's Muslims have remained largely silent in the face of terrorist attacks that have killed 254 people in Madrid, London and Amsterdam. Europeans want to know why. (AP Photo/Jacques Brinon) (Jacques Brinon - AP)

Why, many Muslims ask, should they have to speak out against, or apologize for, actions of radicals who do not represent them _ people they do not even regard as true Muslims?

Many find the very idea of being asked or expected to denounce such acts "extremely offensive and insulting," said Khurshid Drabu, a senior member of the Muslim Council of Britain.

"I'm British," said Tuhina Ahmed, 24, a British-born Muslim in London whose family came from Gujarat in India. "I could have been blown up as well." Why, she asked, should she have to make a public statement to prove her objection to terrorism?

To many, the pressure to denounce acts of terror smacks of President Bush's warning that 'you are either with us or against us.'

"People and politicians say where are the Muslim people, why aren't they on the streets defending themselves? They say we should go into the streets and condemn what happened so they see us as good Muslims," said Karima Ramani, a 20-year-old Dutch born to an Algerian father and Moroccan mother. "I don't feel it's my duty. I'm not responsible for the death of Van Gogh."

Many European observers of Islamic communities agree.

"If they protest as a group of Muslims against these terrorist attacks, they take on an extra responsibility which is not theirs. So I can fully understand their reasons," said Ruud Peters, professor of Arabic and Islamic studies at the University of Amsterdam.

Yet the Internet is filled with blogs _ mostly from Westerners but also by some Muslims _ asking why Muslims are not expressing revulsion at the attacks. They see the silence as giving the terrorists strength.

"Isn't silence, justification, fear and hesitation in condemning terrorism, a factor in the encouragement of these individuals to appear on numerous platforms and satellite channels and claim that they represent a religion in the absence of active influential groups and institutions?" asked a blog entry by Ahmed Al-Rabei, a Kuwaiti journalist who works for London-based newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat.

"Isn't it a tragic crime to label the millions of European Muslims as guilty because of the rhetoric of a few professional lunatics, while the rest remain silent and wallow in self-pity? We have to admit that Islam has been hijacked particularly in European countries."

Muslim leaders say they and other Muslims have marched in a number of anti-terrorism rallies in Europe _ the largest was held on the first anniversary of Madrid's 2004 bombings _ and Muslims can't be expected to pour into the streets every day. They also say they have condemned the attacks in the media.

Surveys indicate a small but significant chunk of Europe's Muslim population supports the terrorists.