A War against Islam? Or Victimhood?
DL Ennis
August 13, 2006
Montville defines victimhood as
a state of individual and collective ethnic mind that occurs when the traditional structures that provide an individual sense of security and self-worth through membership in a group are shattered by aggressive, violent political outsiders. Victimhood can be characterized by either an extreme or persistent sense of mortal vulnerability. [1]
Furious young Muslim men crowded around the local mosque on his street, surrounded by television cameras. They complained that their friends, other young Muslim men from Walthamstow, in East London, had been unfairly accused of plotting to blow up airliners. [2]
A complicating aspect of victimhood is that sometimes both groups in a conflict see themselves as the "victim" and their opponent as the aggressor. In dialogues, they may even compete over who has suffered more and who has been more victimized by the other. Each side will try to persuade third parties that the other group has been the obvious oppressor or aggressor. Many Israelis and Palestinians currently exhibit this mentality, due to their fear of the other and the memory of past encounters between the two groups. Both Israelis and Palestinians see themselves as having been "the victim" in their conflict since before Israel became a state.
Britain has become an incubator for violent Islamic extremism, fueled by dissatisfaction at home and growing rage about events abroad, including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In one of Europe's largest Muslim communities, young men face a lack of jobs, poor educational achievement and discrimination in a highly class-oriented culture. Prime Minister Tony Blair is the most outspoken ally of President Bush, and their policies in Iraq and Afghanistan are seen by many Muslims as aimed at Islam. [1]
These Muslims see US and UK foreign policies as a threat to Islam, so in their eyes what happens to one Muslim happens to all of them. We fight extremist Muslim factions and we are guilty of attacking Islam? I don’t think so!
I think that they use it to fall into their physiological safe place as victims. Face it victimhood and martyrism has been a part of life in the Middle East for all of recorded time. Generation after generation has been bread to live as victims; they are a dysfunctional breed of people who have never had any control over their lives and, they feel the need to blame it all on someone instead of taking control and responsibility for themselves and their actions. They angered their God somehow so He sent them floods…
A number of conflict theorists, among them Edward Azar and John Burton, stress the importance of fundamental human needs in the development and resolution of deep-rooted or intractable conflicts. [3] This theory states that "individuals and groups have undeniable needs and rights for security, dignity, respect in both physical and psychological terms, that is, involving identity, recognition, participation, and control over their own destiny."[4] If a group is suffering from the effects of victimhood, these human needs are clearly threatened or absent. Human needs theorists contend that correcting this problem is essential for successful conflict management or resolution.
In Volkan's work on the formation of group identities, he argues that identity groups have "chosen traumas" and "chosen glories."[5] Identifying these traumas is crucial because in most cases, groups have never properly mourned their losses or healed from their experiences. It has been found that a sense of victimization actually gets passed down from generation to generation, regardless of whether a person has physically experienced any trauma themselves. So, whether or not members of a group have suffered personally from specific instances of victimhood, certain traumas nonetheless become the "chosen traumas" of the group. These mental representations serve to connect the group while simultaneously creating hatred toward the aggressor. In order to move beyond conflict to peacebuilding, the group needs to properly mourn these past crimes and learn to see themselves in a new light and in a new relationship with the other.
A process of empowerment is important in addressing people's desire for some degree of control. Trauma causes its victims to feel a loss of control over their destinies as well as an inability to change their situations. Therefore, as Herman and others indicate, in order to recover from victimhood, victimized individuals or groups must feel that they have regained power and control over themselves. [6] This is necessary to enable better functioning and also to make dialogue and eventual coexistence with the enemy possible. Survivors of victimhood and trauma have a deep need to feel as though they are in complete control of their lives and future.
Asghar Bukhari of the Muslim Public Affairs Committee, which advocates Muslim involvement in the democratic process and opposes violence, said, "It's not hard to comprehend the mind of a Muslim." He said young British Muslims look around the world and "everywhere they are getting bombed," so they increasingly respond by saying, "Don't just sit down and take it -- let's fight them." [2]
"Don't just sit down and take it -- let's fight them." What a way to think…after all, if you are a law abiding citizen and you are trying to make life better for yourself and family and not strapping dynamite to yourself and setting out to kill as many people as you can, then the fight is not against you. Innocent people die in any kind of war, it’s true and it’s a cliché, but, we see more innocent lives being taken in the war against terrorism because the terrorist are Muslim and they do not hesitate to put their fellow Muslims in harms way in order to satisfy their own agenda.
Muslims, who are angry with the west, for innocents dying, are directing their anger in the wrong direction. I live in the US and if we were fighting a war within our boundaries and my neighbors homes were being bombed because the US military had their weaponry placed between my neighbors homes, then I would be angry with our military for using my neighbors as shields. More Muslims are responsible for getting innocent Muslims killed than anyone.
I would say to Muslims who are feeling anger over what is happening, to use that anger in a positive way. Stand up and display your anger, but be angry at those within the Muslim faith who are doing the most harm to your religion and people, and help the rest of the world to stop them. After all these extremist are criminals of the worst sort, not because they are Muslim but because they perpetuate hate and death. Separate yourselves from the radicals and work for a better world for all. Show the world that not all Muslims are responsible for what the hate mongering few are doing. Show the rest of us what Islam really is and should be.
Stand tall and take responsibility for yourself, life, and faith; don’t be a victim!
1] Joseph V. Montville, 'The Psychological Roots of Ethnic and Sectarian Terrorism" in the Psychodynamics of International Relationships. Vol. 1, Eds. Montville Volkan and Julius (Lexington Books, 1990)
2] Kevin Sullivan and Joshua Partlow “Young Muslim Rage Takes Root in Britain” ‘Unemployment, Foreign Policy Fuel Extremism’
Washington Post Foreign Service
3] Ronald J. Fisher, The Social Psychology of Intergroup Conflict and International Conflict Resolution (Spring-Verlag New York, 1990)
4] Ibid.
5] Volkan, Enemies
6] Judith Lewis Herman, Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence from Domestic Abuse to Political Terror (Basis Books NY, 1992)
a state of individual and collective ethnic mind that occurs when the traditional structures that provide an individual sense of security and self-worth through membership in a group are shattered by aggressive, violent political outsiders. Victimhood can be characterized by either an extreme or persistent sense of mortal vulnerability. [1]
Furious young Muslim men crowded around the local mosque on his street, surrounded by television cameras. They complained that their friends, other young Muslim men from Walthamstow, in East London, had been unfairly accused of plotting to blow up airliners. [2]
A complicating aspect of victimhood is that sometimes both groups in a conflict see themselves as the "victim" and their opponent as the aggressor. In dialogues, they may even compete over who has suffered more and who has been more victimized by the other. Each side will try to persuade third parties that the other group has been the obvious oppressor or aggressor. Many Israelis and Palestinians currently exhibit this mentality, due to their fear of the other and the memory of past encounters between the two groups. Both Israelis and Palestinians see themselves as having been "the victim" in their conflict since before Israel became a state.
Britain has become an incubator for violent Islamic extremism, fueled by dissatisfaction at home and growing rage about events abroad, including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In one of Europe's largest Muslim communities, young men face a lack of jobs, poor educational achievement and discrimination in a highly class-oriented culture. Prime Minister Tony Blair is the most outspoken ally of President Bush, and their policies in Iraq and Afghanistan are seen by many Muslims as aimed at Islam. [1]
These Muslims see US and UK foreign policies as a threat to Islam, so in their eyes what happens to one Muslim happens to all of them. We fight extremist Muslim factions and we are guilty of attacking Islam? I don’t think so!
I think that they use it to fall into their physiological safe place as victims. Face it victimhood and martyrism has been a part of life in the Middle East for all of recorded time. Generation after generation has been bread to live as victims; they are a dysfunctional breed of people who have never had any control over their lives and, they feel the need to blame it all on someone instead of taking control and responsibility for themselves and their actions. They angered their God somehow so He sent them floods…
A number of conflict theorists, among them Edward Azar and John Burton, stress the importance of fundamental human needs in the development and resolution of deep-rooted or intractable conflicts. [3] This theory states that "individuals and groups have undeniable needs and rights for security, dignity, respect in both physical and psychological terms, that is, involving identity, recognition, participation, and control over their own destiny."[4] If a group is suffering from the effects of victimhood, these human needs are clearly threatened or absent. Human needs theorists contend that correcting this problem is essential for successful conflict management or resolution.
In Volkan's work on the formation of group identities, he argues that identity groups have "chosen traumas" and "chosen glories."[5] Identifying these traumas is crucial because in most cases, groups have never properly mourned their losses or healed from their experiences. It has been found that a sense of victimization actually gets passed down from generation to generation, regardless of whether a person has physically experienced any trauma themselves. So, whether or not members of a group have suffered personally from specific instances of victimhood, certain traumas nonetheless become the "chosen traumas" of the group. These mental representations serve to connect the group while simultaneously creating hatred toward the aggressor. In order to move beyond conflict to peacebuilding, the group needs to properly mourn these past crimes and learn to see themselves in a new light and in a new relationship with the other.
A process of empowerment is important in addressing people's desire for some degree of control. Trauma causes its victims to feel a loss of control over their destinies as well as an inability to change their situations. Therefore, as Herman and others indicate, in order to recover from victimhood, victimized individuals or groups must feel that they have regained power and control over themselves. [6] This is necessary to enable better functioning and also to make dialogue and eventual coexistence with the enemy possible. Survivors of victimhood and trauma have a deep need to feel as though they are in complete control of their lives and future.
Asghar Bukhari of the Muslim Public Affairs Committee, which advocates Muslim involvement in the democratic process and opposes violence, said, "It's not hard to comprehend the mind of a Muslim." He said young British Muslims look around the world and "everywhere they are getting bombed," so they increasingly respond by saying, "Don't just sit down and take it -- let's fight them." [2]
"Don't just sit down and take it -- let's fight them." What a way to think…after all, if you are a law abiding citizen and you are trying to make life better for yourself and family and not strapping dynamite to yourself and setting out to kill as many people as you can, then the fight is not against you. Innocent people die in any kind of war, it’s true and it’s a cliché, but, we see more innocent lives being taken in the war against terrorism because the terrorist are Muslim and they do not hesitate to put their fellow Muslims in harms way in order to satisfy their own agenda.
Muslims, who are angry with the west, for innocents dying, are directing their anger in the wrong direction. I live in the US and if we were fighting a war within our boundaries and my neighbors homes were being bombed because the US military had their weaponry placed between my neighbors homes, then I would be angry with our military for using my neighbors as shields. More Muslims are responsible for getting innocent Muslims killed than anyone.
I would say to Muslims who are feeling anger over what is happening, to use that anger in a positive way. Stand up and display your anger, but be angry at those within the Muslim faith who are doing the most harm to your religion and people, and help the rest of the world to stop them. After all these extremist are criminals of the worst sort, not because they are Muslim but because they perpetuate hate and death. Separate yourselves from the radicals and work for a better world for all. Show the world that not all Muslims are responsible for what the hate mongering few are doing. Show the rest of us what Islam really is and should be.
Stand tall and take responsibility for yourself, life, and faith; don’t be a victim!
1] Joseph V. Montville, 'The Psychological Roots of Ethnic and Sectarian Terrorism" in the Psychodynamics of International Relationships. Vol. 1, Eds. Montville Volkan and Julius (Lexington Books, 1990)
2] Kevin Sullivan and Joshua Partlow “Young Muslim Rage Takes Root in Britain” ‘Unemployment, Foreign Policy Fuel Extremism’
Washington Post Foreign Service
3] Ronald J. Fisher, The Social Psychology of Intergroup Conflict and International Conflict Resolution (Spring-Verlag New York, 1990)
4] Ibid.
5] Volkan, Enemies
6] Judith Lewis Herman, Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence from Domestic Abuse to Political Terror (Basis Books NY, 1992)
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