When even one child in the West dies due to acts of terrorism, we learn about the tragedy and our hearts bleed and we wonder about the future of Islam in the West and Muslims' abilities to integrate into the fabric of Western culture. Somewhere subconsciously (if not consciously) perhaps, we both wonder at with suspicion and hold the entire global Muslim population responsible for that one act of terrorism that seems to be a part of a random series of acts of terrorism that has continued to be perpetrated. But what about non-Western children when we as the West (U.S. and U.K.) directly support their deaths through genocide - do their lives not matter and should we then not hold ourselves responsible for their genocide? Human rights should not only be catchphrase that we use for a political purpose. We should ascribe to ourselves a lack of concern for human rights when we allow such atrocities and travesties such as the Yemeni genocide to continue taking place before our eyes and let our governments offer arms deal to a reprehensible regime directly participating in this genocide. Senator Paul Ryan plans to oppose the arms deal offered to Saudi Arabia, a state that I consider criminal and sponsor of state terrorism, and yet the last time he did that, the vote in Senate by a large margin favored the deal being offered to Saudi Arabia. History is likely to repeat this time.
President Trump read a speech off the teleprompter asking the Muslim world to fight radicalization and terrorism, and I have no congratulations to give him because his speech not only ignored the Yemeni genocide taking place with apparently our political blessing but carried no rebuke for Saudi Arabia that is the number one exporter of Wahhabism, an intolerant literalist fundamentalist ideology, that is at the least an auxiliary factor in terrorists being inspired to commit their terrorism around the globe.
Today, as I fast for Shahru Ramadan, I know that while I will be able to eat at sunset and be able to have peace this Memorial Day weekend because I'm dipped in First World privilege, and yet I know that many Yemeni children will not have either option. And I will with a certainty know of course that we, the people of the West, have allowed our governments (U.S. and U.K.) to support the Yemeni genocide while simultaneously the mainstream Western media has continued to also widely ignore the horror. Maybe President Trump's constant disparagement of the media has some truth in basis - the media pays attention to what it wants to shape our perception of the world and politics and future, but it continues to show apathy concerning sharing of other stories that are not feel-good and expose our own hypocrisy in terms of globally touted concern for human rights - we express that concern when it suits us, not when it is ethically right. We sleep better that way, and of course our leaders are reassured that that is what really matters.
Peace.
