Are the ISIS beheadings that have rocked much of the world wrong or worthy of condemnation? Ask that question in the West, and you would hear a resounding “yes.”
It has led President Barack Obama to launch air strikes against the militant “Islamic State” group while pointing out that those who perpetrate and condone such acts “are not Islamic.”
However, in a recent Australian TV interview, anchor Emma Alberici posed the question bluntly to a spokesperson for the Islamic group Hizb ut-Tahrir and couldn’t get a straight answer.
Echoing the arguments of Anjem Choudary, who charges the foreign policies of the U.S., Britain, and Australia are responsible for “directly” killing millions, Wassim Doureihi would not say he condemned the beheadings after Alberici gave him repeated opportunities.
At one point, Alberici had finally had enough.
“You are clearly obfuscating, and I did not invite you onto this program to do that,” Alberici said. “Why will you not, point blank, condemn the actions of IS fighters? Men that cut off the heads of innocent journalists and aid workers?”
To this, Doureihi shot back that it was because “the question is offensive.” Here’s the most hotly contested part of the interview.
http://youtu.be/4yZmnAX16T4
Some on YouTube pointed out that “she could have at least let him answer,” but a closer examination of the transcript shows that Aberici did allow Doureihi to make his point earlier in the interview.
However, he continually avoided the question of whether the ISIS beheadings should be condemned. What you see in the above video is the point where Aberici has had enough.
This is the point that he was trying to reiterate in spite of already being allowed to make it.
“The fact that we don’t want to have this discussion now is indicative of where the entire discussion on the war on terror narrative goes. The fact is the entire response isn’t what Muslims are doing or may not be doing, but no-one legitimately or sincerely is discussing what Western governments are doing in the Muslim world. Groups like ISIS or al-Qaeda don’t exist in a vacuum. They exist as a reaction to Western interference in the Islamic lands and they view themselves, rightfully or wrongfully, irrespective of my opinion or otherwise, as a resistance effort to what they regard as an unjust occupation.”
Do you think more Islamic spokespeople need to speak out against the ISIS beheadings? Share your thoughts in our comments section.