❊ Rushing to Conclusions

Juan Cole:

That the horrible terrorist attacks in Oslo on Friday that left some 90 persons or more dead– a bombing of the prime minister’s office and shootings at a Labor Party youth camp– were allegedly committed by a blonde, far right wing Norwegian fundamentalist Christian rather than by a radical Muslim group is being treated as a matter of surprise in some quarters.

Even I, an Arab Muslim, was surprised and had been completely convinced that it was the work of Alqaeda or other fundamentalist Muslims. Does that mean that I am a self hater?

The lesson from Norway is that one shouldn’t rush to conclusions. But that can work both ways. If an observer assumed that the killer was a Muslim extremist, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the observer is a Muslim hater (or self-hater in my case).

Norway was an ideal target for Alqaeda. It was ill prepared for terrorist attacks. It has soldiers fighting in Afghanistan and planes bombing Libya. The terrorism style itself (coordinated attacks in multiple locations) was typical of Alqaeda. The assumption that it was the work of Alqaeda was a completely safe one.

Why am I bringing this up? Because I’m expecting a backlash in the Arab world. Many commentators are going to use this incident to “prove” that Muslims are widely hated in the west. I’m not saying that this is necessarily wrong, I’m just saying that the Norway incident is not a good proof of that.