Terrorism Week: Is It a Necessity or Not?

By Broadside Opinion Columnist Michael Gryboski

With Terror All Over, Do We Need a Week for it?

There are a lot of special months and weeks. This week can be added to those special times, for it is Islamofascism Awareness Week, or as it is also known, Terrorism Awareness Week. A strong focus is put upon Islamic extremism and, on many campuses, is highlighted with petitions, speakers and screenings of documentaries.

For some, this is troubling. Many question the need for a Terrorism Awareness Project, let alone a terrorism awareness week. After all, the large majority of Americans and Muslims consider terrorism a moral evil. Others feel Terrorism Awareness is one-sided, focusing only on jihadist atrocities and ignoring Islamophobia from the West. Lastly, some activists even believe terrorism awareness itself is a product of Islamophobia or xenophobia. These reservations have manifested in our community and they should be addressed.

Firstly, there is the suspicion-laden concern over the very existence of the Terrorism Awareness Project. No political party in the United States runs on a pro-terrorism platform, and the notion of suicide bombings as morally justifiable is rejected by a firm majority in every predominately Muslim country, with the exception of Palestine, of course.

Yet, spreading awareness about a widely disliked entity is not unique, as George Mason University itself has an Environmental Awareness student organization and an Amnesty International chapter, even though the vast majority of our student body opposes pollution and human rights violations. Nevertheless, there is a call to spread information about the devious underpinnings of these malevolent actions. Following in step with this reasoning, even though terrorism is widely opposed, should not stop people from organizing and holding events.

Secondly, there is the belief that terrorism awareness oversimplifies the war on terror by neglecting our contribution to jihadism. This wing of thought blames America and other western nations for the manifestation of modern terrorism via foreign policy. History tells a different story. Granted, missteps made by many have encouraged anti-west and anti-American sentiments, but core hatreds were pre-existing. Shi’ite and Sunni forces were slaughtering each other in what is now Iraq well before we had a substantial presence in the Near East.

The Muslim Brotherhood, a renowned international terrorist faction, was formed in 1928, 20 years before the United States had a chance to pick sides in the Middle East Conflict. Hassan Nasrallah of Hezbollah became a jihadist during the 1970s, which predated Israel’s first incursion into Nasrallah’s native Lebanon. The PLO Charter, which calls for the liberation of “occupied Palestine,” was ratified three years before the Israeli army entered the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It must also be stressed that the terrorists are not merely attacking Christians or Jews, but Muslims as well. In the last decades, major suicide bombings have struck the cities of Sanaa, Rawalpindi and Algiers. These cities are all but 100 percent Muslim and have been for centuries, which means they are not exactly bastions of racism against Islam.

Thirdly, many wonder if terrorism awareness is not some kind of bigotry for its strong emphasis on Islamic terrorism over other problematic ideologies. A critic would ask, when will we focus on other issues and reduce the emphasis on Islamic extremism? The answer can be found in the justification for the focus on jihadism. Let’s go under the assumption that Zionism is a malevolent ideology, the Hindu Caste System is a malevolent ideology and Christian Reconstructionism is a malevolent ideology.

These entities are regionally restricted, with Zionism restricted to the Middle East, the Hindu Caste System to rural India and Christian Reconstructionism to small pockets of the American Midwest and South. Jihadism, on the other hand, is found in many regions: the Middle East, Central Asia, New York, London, Indonesia and the Philippines, Chechnya, Pakistan and the Indian Subcontinent and other locations. It is, by definition, a global threat.

At one time, Communism took precedence over regional problems and if the time comes that jihadism is marginalized and another malevolent ideology becomes global, then the focus shall shift again.

Terrorism should be considered as horrific and as threatening to human civilization as global warming and world hunger. In the past, this university has approved events and organizations combating malevolent entities like poverty, pollution and hunger, with last semester alone having a Hunger and Homelessness Action Week.

If those things, and other special weeks and months, are observed, why is Terrorism Awareness Week not, as well? With reservations noted, let us march forward. We need a Terrorism Awareness Project, which will remind us that, like other global problems, jihadism is not just someone else’s problem or some political wedge issue, but rather a matter that human civilization itself must rise up and expel from its corpus.