Surviving 9-11

Nine years have passed since terrorists attacked the United States. Those behind the 9-11 tragedy corrupted the faith of 19 Arab Muslims with anti-US sentiments and led them to kill on a date that mirrored the 911 emergency hotline Americans call for rescue. With radical Islamism, not only did Osama bin Laden and Khalid Sheikh Mohammeds Al-Qaeda claimed 2,977 innocent lives, but they also fueled a lingering tension between Muslims and nonMuslims, defining the violent era of the 21st century. The journey indeed has never been a walk in the park after that fateful day. Discrimination against devotees of Allah has become more pronounced because of 9-11. Many were and are still being harassed, taunted, disrespected, and killed by those who do not even understand an iota of Islam. Such cruelty doubled, if not multiplied, the suffering Muslim families and communities have to endure within and beyond US shores. The world essentially ignores the fact that over 300 innocent Muslim employees, including firefighters and police officers, were among the dead at the World Trade Center. If Osama and company really cared for Allah, then they would have spared fellow Muslims the anguish but they did not. Millions of Muslims rejected what Al-Qaeda did. It was not about religion after all, nor about crushing US capitalism, power, and influence over Israel. More than making Americans insecure about their security, Osama knew what would happen afterwards. Retaliatory violence in Afghanistan and Iraq ensued, driving more Muslims to hate the US and non-Muslims. Yet those wars killed thousands of Muslim civilians, along with American soldiers and their allies. Apart from the billions of dollars the US spent for defense, how much money did Bin Laden and his cohorts invest in every terrorist attack they organized? Who really benefited from the 9-11 attacks remains unclear, as the conflict continues. The protracted war against terrorism also affected Muslims in Southeast Asia, particularly the Philippines. Al-Qaedas fight is carried over by the Abu Sayyaf, bandits whose leaders were trained by the US to augment their forces in Afghanistan. Coming from one of the poorest provinces of Muslim Mindanao, they engaged in kidnappings and beheadings of foreign and local civilians and military personnel acts rebuked by both the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). Such measures strike a parallel chord with Pastor Terry Jones proposed Quran burning, as well as with opponents of renovating the mosque at Park 51 in New York City. All use religion as an instrument to discriminate, to hate, and to sow violence against Muslims. In remembering the victims of 9-11, all survivors should take time out to ponder on what lies ahead. As initial steps to counter violence, prayer and reflection are realms that no warmongering capitalist can dictate and profit from. Surviving 9-11 is not about Muslims against the world. It is essentially about building peace with surviving non-violent Muslims who believe in freedom, and in the value of human life as well.