Star Spangled Terrorism: Klan and Al Qaeda Bear a Striking Resemblance

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By Lamont Slater

Coming home from a long day of work, I usually break into the same routine. That routine consists of spending time with my wife and children, prayer, and winding down with the nightly news. Every night, the networks have decided to glorify extremists that give Islam a bad name. Tonight, as I write this piece, the first story on the Internet reads, “Terrorist group threatens beheading of three Turkish captives.” This has been a recurring story on the nightly news.

Within the past three weeks, alleged Al Qaeda members have beheaded innocent civilians as a show of defiance and opposition against foreign forces in the region. It saddens me to see these individuals participate in these acts of violence then state that they are doing this in the name of Islam. These extremist groups, with the help of a propaganda driven US media, have created a state of fear in this country by selling a belief system that is far from Islamic. Recent acts of cruelty to innocent civilians, combined with innocent lives taken during 9/11, paint an ugly picture for the Muslim. Because of the actions of a small minority of cavalier individuals that are not following the Quran or Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), Muslims on a whole are being branded as uncivilized savages whose sole intent is to wreck havoc amongst western interests.

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For the record, I am compelled to illustrate the following:

If anyone slays a person, unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land, it would be as if he slew all people. And if anyone saves a life, it would be as if he saved the life of all people. (Qur’an 5:32)

The individuals that follow leaders that advocate terror, without any understanding of the Quran, should heed to the following hadith,

Do not be people without minds of your own, saying that if others treat you well you will treat them well, and that if they do wrong you will do wrong. Rather, accustom yourselves to do good if people do good, and not to do wrong if they do evil.

Prophet Muhammad prohibited the harming innocent bystanders even in times of war—this includes women, children, noncombatant bystanders, and even trees and crops.

Taking the time to read is a good cure for ignorance. I occasionally run into these pro-Bush types at my workplace, whose nationalistic rhetoric flows like Niagara Falls when discussing this issue. However, one thing that troubles me is that while some of the people that I talk to continue to condemn the actions of Al Qaeda (rightfully so), they seem to suffer from a severe case of amnesia as well.

It wasn’t too long ago that the Ku Klux Klan, which is a home grown terrorist organization, conducted themselves in a similar manner. For example, the Klan was founded primarily to establish white supremacy in the south, and to prevent blacks from having any voting power whatsoever. The Klan was hostile to socialist Jews, sympathetic whites, and anyone that they identified as a foreigner; however, their hatred for Blacks took precedence over all things.

These individuals were known to drag blacks from their homes and kill them in ways that were beyond comprehension. Blacks were lynched, burned to death, decapitated and mutilated by Klan members. Often, these acts were photographed and sent to loved ones via a postcard with the picture of the sender actually at the lynching. The Klan used other forms of intimidation as well such as the use of explosive devices like the ones used in the bombing of the 16th street Baptist church in Alabama on September 15, 1963. Klan members wore masks and robes to hide their identity when committing these acts. The Klan also was involved in other violence, such as the Tulsa riots of 1921, in which Klan leaders participated (but were not proven to start the riot) in the burning down of an economically thriving black community in Oklahoma known as the Black Wall Street. These acts of intimidation intended to slow down economic growth, scare and divide the community, and oppress the voice of the community by limiting voter participation.

Al Qaeda bears a striking resemblance to their white supremacist predecessors. Like the Klan, Al Qaeda is angered by the unwavering support towards Israel by the US government. Al Qaeda’s goals are to drive out foreigners, in particular Americans, who they feel are interfering with the spread of their extremist interpretation of Islam. It is alleged that Bin Laden and his followers intend to spread this philosophy world wide with the help of other extremist groups. The Klan started in Tennessee and spread its philosophy of hate through the establishment of statewide chapters. Al Qaeda’s M.O is the use of bomb making material on soft or hard political targets to establish fear and get the attention of the government whose target has been attacked.

Al Qaeda uses other ways to establish fear:

• Planes were used as missiles to bring down the World Trade Center on 9/11. This action basically crippled the US economy, bringing down the travel, hotel and restaurant industry almost single handedly.
  
• The cowards that hold the suspects have their face covered. Like the Klan, they wear a uniform that covers their face, and then participated in acts of mutilation, decapitation, and public and private lynching.
  
• Members of Al Qaeda have misinterpreted the Quran to substantiate unwarranted attacks on individuals and targets throughout the world. An argument can be made regarding reasons that point to their frustration, but to commit these acts in the name of Allah is unacceptable. In the name of Christianity, the Klan committed similar acts of violence against targets and individuals in the African American community.

Ironically, while torturing a prisoner, a member of the US military forced one of the victims to stand on a box, wearing an outfit similar to a Klan costume, while telling him that he would be electrocuted if he fell off.

Terrorism according to Merriam-Webster is the act of systematic covert warfare to produce terror for political coercion. The word itself was coined by America just like the word “Al Qaeda.” In fact, the organization does not even refer to itself by that moniker. The name was coined and marketed by the US government, allegedly based off of a computer file that contained a list of contacts that Bin Laden made in Afghanistan in which he describes the group as the base of Jihad, or “Qaedat al-Jihad.” That said, terrorism is just as American as baseball and apple pie. Serial Killers, like Manson, Son of Sam, and the Unabomber were terrorists. Timothy McVeigh’s bombing of the Murrah Federal building in Oklahoma City was an act of terrorism. Sending Anthrax through the U.S Postal Service was an act of terrorism. When waging an alleged “war on terror,” we must confront not only these homegrown threats, but also their underlying issues, such as the easy access to guns and the culture of violence in this country. Instead of seeing it as a surface threat, we must begin to think of terrorism as an ideology, one that is not unique to the Muslim world.

Lamont Slater is a freelance writer from Dallas, TX. He can be reached at Humv30@aol.com

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