Global war on Islam continues in Myanmar, UN is silent: American cleric

The persecution of Muslims in Myanmar points to the conclusion that the ‘global war on Islam’ is ongoing and the United Nations remains silent about it, a Muslim American cleric tells Press TV.

Sectarian violence in central Myanmar killed more than 40 people on March 20 and displaced thousands of Rohingya Muslims. The persecuted Muslim minority accounts for about five percent of Myanmar’s population of nearly 60 million. The government has been repeatedly criticized for failing to protect Rohingyas.

Press TV has conducted an interview with Abdul Alim Musa, Imam of Masjid Al-Islam from Washington, to further discuss the issue of violence in Myanmar. Imam Musa is joined by Mike Billington, the executive of Intelligence Review, Washington. The following is an approximate transcription of the interview.

Press TV: Imam Musa, hundreds of Rohingya Muslims have been killed, tens of thousands displaced and basically nothing has been said in the mainstream media. Why is this the case? Let’s start looking at the perspective from the media itself.

Imam Musa: Well, we see there is a continuation of the global war on Islam and Muslims all over the world. There is a blanket silence, whether it is Saudi Arabia, whether it is Bahrain, whether it is the continuous slaughter and bombing of Shia Muslims in Pakistan.

Wherever you look around the world, you see that the Muslims are under the threats of violence. This ethnic cleansing and what have you is from people who claim their way of life, their path of life is peace and trying to find Nirvana.

We see the silence with the UN, the press that is news, the television and reporting apparatuses globally, we see the silence is part of a global war on Islam, a pure process of ethnic cleansing against people who have not really done anything to anybody.

Press TV: The UN Special Rapporteur to Myanmar has said that he has received reports of the state’s involvement in some of these violent acts. Now, if he is saying that, do you think that means basically that the military or the police are involved, just turning a blind eye to what appears to be this ethnic cleansing or is it that there are just some way looking the other way?

Imam Musa: No it is not just looking the other way. There are other aspects of it. When you assist the mosque burners, and the house burners, to force people out of refugee camps by providing petrol to burn the buildings, to burn the shops and to burn the homes, that is not neutral.

The president may say that ‘Yes, we want to stop the ethnic cleansing and we are going to enforce a law.’ He did say that but he did not put anything behind it, because the problem still continues. The other point is that Burma was not oppressed for the last 30 years or so, last 25 years, with Aung San Suu Kyi dealing with freedom, dealing with justice, dealing with making Burma democracy.

The same people who called for democracy two years ago are now standing back, when they were themselves oppressed by the same government. As brother said earlier that the government is not specifically part of a global war on Islam, but it has always been basically siding with the majority against the minority, when the charter of any government is to protect the minority against the majority.

So as the brother said earlier, this is part of a British-US-Israeli global war on Islam. It just so happens that the people of Myanmar happen to be collateral damage in this process. So the silence of the media, the silence in the UN… when I say silence I do not mean they blank it out completely, I mean they do not urge anything to be done about it. These are problems. No one is standing up…

Press TV: What about that Imam Musa? We say that we do not see a lot of reactions from international community. Let’s look at the Muslim countries themselves, why are the Muslim countries being more aggressive in their policies towards Myanmar?

Imam Musa: Could I explain what is really going on globally? I do not want to stray from Myanmar, but I would better match some very critical things. What we call is going on right now globally we call it the triangle of terror.

The triangle of terror is the United States of America. When there is a country to be invaded from the West, the military is usually by the United States of America. The other end of the triangle of terror is the Israeli, the Zionist Israeli government. When they want to justify their invasion in the media, when they want to justify sanctions and boycotts or any other part of the war against Islam and Muslims, it is the Israeli government. The third part of the system is Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is intra-Muslim spearhead of the global war on Islam.

If there needs to be bombings of Shias in Pakistan, if there needs to be suppression in Bahrain, the Saudis will hold that. If there needs silence in Qatif and other areas in Saudi Arabia, if there needs to be Salafis spread all around the world to cause killing and murder against Muslims and Christians, it is done by Saudi Arabia.

So this poor Myanmar just happens to be the problem they are raising during the period of this global war on Islam, since the war is so intensive and it is in every parts of the world. If it is in Europe the war is psychological. It is Hijab. It is a type of European nationalism against mosques and other centers. In Myanmar it has happened to be the government collaborating with the population to ethnic cleanse, to murder, to run people into refugee camps.

If aid is sent, [they] send the military and other governmental organizations [to] withhold aids from the refugee camps that have been there all along… the silence in the media, the silence or the inactivity of the UN, the ILC (International Law Commission); all of this is based on the global war on Islam and Myanmar just happens to be a footnote in this. But it is not a footnote to many of us. Because our religion teaches us that any part of the body hurts, we should all respond by feeling the pain ourselves.

Press TV: Let me just go back. You entered with a note that actually goes back to the question that I originally asked. Where are the Muslim countries? Have the Muslim countries or do you think that we will see the Muslim countries actually trying to put more pressure on Myanmar, Imam Musa?

Imam Musa: Well, we see Iran and a few more Muslims trying to speak up, but they themselves are on the boycott. If you look at Egypt, Egypt is in turmoil. If you look at Syria, Syria is in turmoil. If you look in Lebanon, Lebanon has been undermined almost.

If you look in the whole region, whether it is Somalia, whether it is all across North Africa, what just happened in Libya and Tunisia, you see the French invasion, reinvasion of Mali, Boko Haram in Nigeria, do you see there is a global insurrection going on and the Muslims are the victims of this. Therefore it is very hard for Muslims to stand up for other Muslims when they themselves are under the gun. But we pray to Allah that Muslims unite and begin to take care of each other.