Summary

English The Doha Debates Summary This summary’s about The Doha Debates series on thesis: “ War onterror has become a war on Islam” which took place in April 28, 2005. Panelists: FOR thesis – Anas Altikriti and Mustafa Ceric, AGAINST – Feisal Abdul Rauf and Ramzi E. Khoury. Moderator was Tim Sebastian.
In first part panelists present their points of view. Anas Altikriti said this war’s ideological, because Western politics used to contrapose Western civilization to Islam. He pointed on Americans and Western armed troops in Muslim countries. Feisal Abdul Rauf gave a definition of terrorism as targeting civilians in order to achieve a political goal. He stressed on necessity to separate Islam of the Prophet Mohammad which never teaches terror from Islam Kharijites. Mustafa Ceric said war against terrorism imply a war against Islam, because terrorists proclaimed they were acting on behalf of Muslims. Tim Sebastian asked Mustafa Ceric if there too much hatred preached within Muslim tradition. Mustafa Ceric answered that hatred should be stopped both from Muslims and non-Muslims sides. Ramzi E. Khoury said the war was about oil, therefore it’s “ a godless war”. He doubted that current Western authorities are religious persons.
Second part basically specified panelists’ opinions while answering audience’s questions. Anas Altikriti pointed, that 9/11 changed situation and it’s no more only geopolitical, like The Gulf War was. Feisal Abdul Rauf spoke about fear West has of Islam. Anas Altikriti retorted, it confirmed that war was religious. Feisal Abdul Rauf disagreed, because Western people were just afraid of losing control on own lands. Both panelists highlighted the role of media in negative image of Islam. Second question brought a thesis, though Muslims themselves shouldn’t allow terrorists speak on behalf of all Muslims, US government and media oppose the positive image of Islam. Mustafa Ceric specified, US had enough power to change this image, therefore Muslims should stay open for dialog. Feisal Abdul Rauf specified, Muslims should “ de-link” Islam and help Western people to understand Muslims. Audience asked, if a background of war change an oppression of Muslims on West. Feisal Abdul Rauf stressed on necessity to separate reality form perception, because war can be shaped in different ways. Mustafa Ceric pointed later, that 9/11 revealed anti-Muslims views, therefore it was act against Muslims also.
The issue stayed unresolved. An audience separated almost 50-50% FOR and AGAINST series’ thesis. No compromise was found between panelists.