Human Rights Foundation

12th Sept, 2001

MEDIA RELEASE

The Editor

Dear Sir,

Re : USA Tragedy

The tragic assault on innocent civilians in the USA must be condemned in the strongest possible terms . Warfare should be confined to the battlefield. The perpetrators of this heinous crime should be condemned in the strongest possible terms . We need a new world order  based on the sanctity  of all human life and not based on George Orwells horrific scenario where some people are deemed to be ‘more important’ than others. All attacks on civilian life , be it America or anywhere else in the world should be condemned and abhorred in the strongest possible terms as follows :  

(1)               The loss of innocent civilians in the casualties resulting from the horrific disaster in the USA , which includes the passengers on the planes as well as the civilians in the collapsed buildings, should be condemned in the strongest possible terms

(2)               The loss of innocent civilian lives in Palestine , by attack helicopters shooting their homes and heavy weapons unleashed on innocent civilians who have been forcefully removed from their land,  should be condemned in the strongest possible terms

(3)               The loss of innocent Israeli civilian lives by suicide bombers should be condemned in the strongest possible terms

(4)               The loss of 1 million innocent Iraqi civilians at the receiving end of 80 000 tons of warfare bombarded onto them should be condemned in the strongest possible terms

(5)               The loss of 4000 Iraqi children, innocent civilians ,  dying every month due to depleted Uranium (outlawed internationally) and sanctions imposed by the US should be condemned in the strongest possible terms

(6)               The loss of thousands of innocent civilian lives caused by the Hiroshima nuclear wipeout by the US , should be condemned in the strongest possible terms

(7)               The loss of thousands of innocent civilians in Vietnam and the use of Agent Orange and other chemical and biological agents whose detrimental carcinogenic and mutanogenic effects are still evident today, should be condemned in the strongest possible terms

(8)               The use of cluster bombs which do not discriminate between civilian and non-civilian targets , should be condemned in the strongest possible terms

(9)               The loss of thousands of innocent civilians , mainly children ,dying daily due to starvation in Africa and other Highly Indebted Developing Countries of the world , should be condemned in the strongest possible terms

(10)           Terrorism in all its vile forms should be condemned in the strongest possible terms. However , terrorism is a symptom of other issues which have to be addressed and not ignored. What would drive a person to such a stage of helplessness and frustration that the only option available is to commit such a horrific crime and thus also kill himself in the process , when it is better to die than to live. Some terrorists only want money- these are the scum and vermin of the earth. Others, only want freedom- they need our sympathy and understanding because no one is listening to their plight and suffering at the hands of oppressors and they therefore have to resort to these spectacular , unthinkable acts to force the attention of the world to their plight..  The majority of Parliamentarians in South Africa were labeled ‘terrorists’ by their oppressors, but in the eyes of their people , they were ‘freedom fighters” and heroes. If the former ‘white ‘ oppressors resorted to exterminate all these ANC ‘terrorists’ by brute force , there would have been anarchy and all out war. However , level heads and skilled negotiations won the day.

(11)           We need a new world order based on the sanctity for human life, based on the notion that all men are created equal and that a non-American citizen is no more and no less equal than an American Citizen.

(12)           America’s plan to saturate the world with weapons of mass destruction , more sophisticated weaponry to use warfare as a tool to solve problems or force nations into submission by brute force alone, is a short sighted plan that will backfire. In contrast , the principles of negotiation and discussion , justice and fairplay without favoritism nor discrimination , respect for the dignity, sacredness  respect for all human life , should be the tools that should be utilized to solve the worlds problems. In the words of Benjamin Franklin ,”jaw-jaw” is better than “war-war.”

(13)           In this moment of horror , anger , shock and calls for revenge , cool and level headed thinking is required. There will be many scapegoats and knee jerk reactions . There will be a lot of finger pointing and jumping to conclusions .What we need , when the dust settles, is a deep , sincere introspection, by all individuals, leaders , heads of state and governments , to formulate  a code of conduct for all humanity so that peace prevails on this earth .

(14)           There will always be fanatics in this world. There will always be Jews, Christians and Muslims , who will commit acts in the name of religion. One should not condemn a nation or a religion or a country on the basis of the actions of a few individuals . Generalizations breed hatred . It detracts from our humanity. Intellectual thinking should prevail over emotional partisan loyalty.

(15)           All humans should pray for all innocent civilians who have died . May Almighty God, give patience to the families of victims and may He grant the Wisdom of Solomon to our leaders to act with compassion , justice and fairness to solve the problems of this world , thus restoring our dignity as humans.

Thank you

 Dr Ahmed Adam

Vice Chairman : Human Rights Foundation

(Non-Profit organization , section 21)

Back to articles, lectures     All Khutbahs A to Z    Khutbahbank Homepage