Introduction
Juergensmeyer’s book is the most excellent in the discipline at offering a wide-ranging outlook on the part religion plays in various terrorists movements around the globe.
Juergensmeyer recalls his personal experience in Punjab in India where Sikh terrorists waged an undeclared war with the Indian government and his experiences while working with antiwar and civil rights movements in America.
Juergensmeyer book is trying to exert the religious outlooks and social commitment of some community which forces them to peruse actions that end in destruction and death.
Terrorism
The author demonstrates what terrorism means. The real meaning of terrorism is to terrify. It originates from the Latin word ‘.terrere’. For instance, an attack on civil order during the period of French Revolution can be called as terrorism. In other words, terrorism refers to the people who are terrified and not connotes to the perpetrators. Usually, it is the news media and public agents who emboss the tag on operations of violence that declares it as terrorism. Thus, terrorism can be explained as public acts of annihilation, unleashed without a concise military aim that provokes sense of fear. (Juergensmeyer, p. 5)
This fear frequently becomes anger as perpetrators later commit these acts of public brutality repeatedly and they justify their action by religion. Thus, religion, in the case of terrorist, not only offered political theory but also stimulus and organizational structure for terrorism. In normal sense, a religion should offer peace and tranquility and not a culture of fear. In some cases, terrorist activities are unleashed by government officials declaring it as state terrorism so as to overpower the laypeople thereby creating a culture of fear in their mind. Thus, plans of Stalin, the Russian government-encouraged death squads in El Salvador, the racial extermination of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, ethnic purifying in Kosovo and Bosnia, the government supported stimulated violence of Hutus and Tutsis in Central Africa and these were unleashed in the religious disguise had created a culture of fear and is called as state sponsored terrorism. (Juergensmeyer, p. 5).
It is fact that Judaism, like majority customs, rationalizes violence to some degree, especially in the instances of righteous warfare. Kahane, a Jewish liberation leader, who self proclaimed the state of Judea, called on Jewish people to stand up and retrieve the West Bank as a performance of’ fair war.’ He recalled the Jews that their assertion to the West Bank originated from 2000 years –old dream when Jews driven ‘out of the disgrace of exile and fear.’ (Juergensmeyer, p. 57).
In the terrorist ordeal unleashed by Sikhs in Punjab state in India claiming Khalistan, a separate country for Sikhs in India , Bhindranwale, the leader of the terrorist movement echoed the general fear that Sikhs would miss identity in a torrent of renascent Hinduism or worse , in an ocean of secularism. (Juergensmeyer, p. 99).
Further , in Sikh religion , the existence of custom to keep two-edged sword offer an symbol of the domestication of violence as in the case of Christianity as the Christians treat their symbol of destruction and triumph namely the cross and in the images of violence , the Sikhism also have resembled like their colleagues in Christianity. Thus, the fame wounds of Sikh martyrs, like those of Christian apotheosis, hemorrhage on in calendar art as a reminder that due to their blood shed, the faithful need fear no harm. (Juergensmeyer, p. 163).
The author also quotes the words of Aziz Rantisi, the political leader of Hamas that every story has an end and in the case of cosmic war, it carries an impetus toward its end and encloses the seeds of fear for its outcome. (Juergensmeyer, p. 168).
For Ayatollah Khomeini, for all issues that Iran was facing were due to the betrayal of “foreign colonialists’ and he coalesced his personal, political and spiritual topics in extrapolating about cosmic enemy- Western countries. He cautioned that the Western power was trying to inflict dreadful and black feature and let God Almighty prevent them all to safeguard the Muslim people and Islam. Ayatollah was under the mind set that American culture and economy is wielding its global domination and this would result in dreadful and black future for Muslim people. Here, the fear against globalization is one of the chief reason with which America is frequently targeted as a foe of Muslims in the world. (Juergensmeyer, p. 184).
One of the main reasons for religious fantasist resort to terrorism is the fear of social marginality in the ensuing future. (Juergensmeyer, p. 195). States under erstwhile USSR control, for instance, the phantom of the future beyond the socialist’s type of modernists has been one of the cultural mayhem. Thus, the fear of religious as well as a political anarchy at modernity’s center, has, in various parts of the globe, led to terror. (Juergensmeyer, p. 231).
This book views at common patterns and premises in the cultures of violence. One is the vision of violence as performance with symbolism frequently assuming priority over more tactical contemplation in such subjects as selection of objectives and dates. Further, these are commonly associated with the religious rites. One another thesis of the book is that rating of violence within the background of a cosmic battle, an emblematic and inspirational conflict; following this, the terrorist movement’s fatalities become apotheosis and their adversaries are demonized.
In religious violence, valorousness is involved by employing erstwhile military officials to unleash violence and fear. Though, religious terrorism recruits only male warriors and according to Juergensmeyer, terrorist groups incited by secular political dogma, women have taken an active role.
Juergensmeyer describes these violent operations as “performance violence” In mentioning of terrorism as “performance violence”, the author is not mentioning that such actions are unleashed impulsively or lightly. They have been performed as a drama like street theatre or religious rites intended to have an effect on the several spectators so that they feel distressed. Further, those who observe the hostility through television or news papers are hence be identified as a part and parcel of eyewitness to what is happening in the globe.
Public rites are customarily been the area of religion and this is one the aims that performance violence occurs so naturally to perpetrators from religious settings. The fatalities of terrorism are aimed not due to the fact that they are an intimidation to terrorists but since they are apparatus, signs corrupt individuals, symbols or animals that fasten to an exceptional picture of the globe, a precise consciousness that the activist owns.
The author mentions about rites and rituals by which he wish to emphasize that the unleashing of violence is well conceived ,methodically planned , scripted , timed and specially enacted for all who are engrossed: perpetrators , fatalities and spectators. The rites are applied symbolic connotation which goes far behind the pressing goal. Thus, in the name of religion, cruelty and carnage are transformed into something holy and magnificent.
Violence
Juergensmeyer advocates that the violence is related with religion which is not a distortion but originates from the basis structures of the faith structures of all the chief religions of world. More than fifteen globe’s treacherous terrorist groups assert religion as their motivating factor.
Religion offers the ‘symbols and mores’ idealism’ which result in terrible bloodshed and act as a platform to justify the terrorist’s dreadful actions. Thus, religion offers moral rationalization to unleash violence in the guise of a cosmic conflict between good and wicked.
Al Qaeda’s suicide bombing is mainly concentrated to make aggressors to leave the aggressive land as in the case of Iraq and Palestine. Finding a workable solution to Arab-Palestinians issue is a sensitive one and it requires more flexibleness to settle this ever ending struggle. Since the so called “Road Maps” wrongly assume that political confidence can be established gradually to solve the issues, it is doubted that whether “Road Map” really land in accomplishment for the purpose for which it is intended.
The crux of the Arab-Israel centres around a piece of a small slice of land which is situated on the east of the Mediterranean Sea and west of the Jordon River is considered to be holy place to the three religions namely Jews, Christians and Muslims. This piece of land is called by the name “Palestine” by some segment whereas it is christened by the name “Israel” by Jews. Despite of its name, it is regarded holy to Jews, Muslims and Christians and it plays a significant role in the origin of these religions.
Since 1948, Arabs were fighting for the retrieval of their land taken by the Jews. This is the main nucleus of Arab-Israeli conflict. Nationalism also played a dominant role in the continued Arab-Israeli conflict. Peace and resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict will be impracticable until both sides understand that they can coexist without the total annihilation of the opposite side.
Currently the peace progression is experiencing an impasse. This stalemate can be redressed by applying a regional solution to the conflict which includes the whole province of British Mandatory Palestine which is currently known as land of Israel. Thus, by applying a regional solution which has its fundamental on economic and geopolitical logic alone can offer the Middle East with long-standing stability, peace and prosperity.
Sanctions were imposed by the UN at the behest of US in order to secure US control over Iraq’s Oil. The Sanction imposed by U.N at the behest of U.SA killed thousands of innocent public as it had created a famine of food and medicines in Iraq. The Allies failed to understand the fact that they do not have an authentic base of support in Iraq.
Though the US is a super power, it is to be remembered that it was defeated by a barefoot army in Vietnam. The Great Britain was once the land of rising sun has to vacate their colonies in all most in all countries due to upsurge of the subjects of that nation.
After Iraq , US is now concentrating how to destabilize Syria on the pretext of extending military aid to Baghdad and harboring Ba’athist leaders who has escaped from Iraq ,but also of possessing weapons of mass destructions.
Again US is also trying to destabilize the Iran by accusing that it is under the way to add nuclear arsenals which is going to be great threat to world peace.
Thus, the foregoing U.S activities have created a tit-for-tat mentality among Muslim and they want to take revenge against allies in the name of religion.
Religion
The author main focus is that religion is being used by terrorist groups as a scapegoat for unleashing violence. He has not touched the topic to find an immediate solution to Palestine problem. Then only a permanent peace can be achieved and global terrorism could be put to an end. Further, American troops should leave from Iraq immediately and people of Iraq are to be allowed to choose their democratic government. The author has not suggested these relief measures so that feelings of Muslims could be assuaged and this would make the terrorist group to return to democratic life.
Mostly terrorist will have fundamental ideas and is being disturbed over the western culture and its dominance. They are against the dominance of other religions over their own and want their religion and customs should be practiced by all in the world. Many observers are of the opinion that combating global terrorism needs addressing its fundamental causes like economic downtrodden, restriction on political and social rights, violations of the rule of the law, undesired military occupations and radicalism.
Al Qaeda is regarded as potent threat to the U.S.A and its allies. But U.S.A has successful in clipping its feathers so that now Bin Laden is finding it very difficult to organize a new attack.
Al Qaeda being an amorphous system whose center of gravity is to be mutilated if it is to be destroyed by severing its leadership structure in the short run and its ideology in the long run.
United States and its allies must work relentlessly to keep weapon of mass destruction (WMD) out of the hands of al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups by cracking down on the smuggling of weapons and dual –use technologies.
U.N should try to educate Muslim world that either Prophet or Quran has advocated killing of innocent people for attaining a cause. U.N should address fundamental causes like economic downtrodden, restriction on political and social rights, violations of the rule of the law, undesired military occupations and radicalism so that terrorism is completely get ridden off from this universe.
Works Cited
Juergensmeyer, Mark. Terror in the Mind of God: The Global of Religious Violence, California: University Of California Press. 2003.