The Independent Newspaper Review
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Published: August 16, 2005
Why a
Crusade Will Lead to a Jihad?
In describing the war on terror as a ‘Crusade’, President Bushs speech will have a resounding effect in the political world, particularly from the Islamic nations of the Middle East, from whom he is seeking support.
Although the word Crusade itself has been secularised in the West, removed from its true meaning and increasingly employed in everyday language. In the Middle East, the word still resounds with the increasingly well documented atrocities committed by the Crusading knights that represented Christendom's attempt to take the Holy Land.
This association is further compounded by the existence of the State of Israel, whom many extremists in the Muslim world have associated with the 'Crusaders'. A glaring example of this is the choice of Ossama Bin Laden to name his organisation; "The World Islamic Front against Jews and Crusaders".
The rise of Saladin, the charismatic Muslim leader who led the Muslim Armies that finally expelled the crusading armies in 1291, has created an iconic figure in the Islamic world's history. This figure has been appropriated and employed on many different occasions, such as Saddam Hussein's commissioning of a huge mural depicting himself alongside Saladin leading Iraqi Tanks into battle.
The West's apparent lack of regret for the crusades has been pointed to by many hard-line Muslim groups, who cite the lack of apology for the Crusades to the Muslim World in light of the Catholic Pope's March 2001 apology to the Greek Catholic Church for the fourth Crusades sacking of Constantinople in 1204.
In times of tension when cooperation between cultures and faiths is urgently needed, unprecedent amount of thought must go into the choice of tone and language that is employed in international dialogue, for it is in times of tension that old wounds are easiest to re-open.
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