Where is the Muslim Support?

While one of the worst tsunamis ever recorded has unleashed an unprecedented willingness to donate money and save lives in many parts of the world, the community of Islamic states has been conspicuous in its restraint, criticises Khaled Hroub.

The earthquake and the resulting seismic sea-wave (tsunami) that destroyed large swathes of coastline in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand were so dreadful that it is hard to find words to describe the horror of the catastrophe and the enormous number of innocent victims.

Moreover, this catastrophe raises new questions that are very difficult to answer: why did this disaster have to hit millions of poor people and further exacerbate their poverty?

However, the most important and absolutely paralyzing question is the one regarding our human capacity to deal with a catastrophe of this magnitude and to tame the savage side of nature that struck in an instant without any prior warning.

Western aid and reporting

Independently of the politicians' and the governments' calls for aid, the people in the western world are digging deep to make generous donations. Hundreds, if not thousands, of volunteers have already travelled to the region or are on their way there to offer their assistance.

Nobody is paying any attention to the skin colour, nationality, or religion of the victims (and that's the way it should be) because the scale of the tragedy defies description.

Western reports about the catastrophe, especially those transmitted by the major television channels like CNN, BBC World, or Sky News, are in proportion to the scale of the disaster. There was more than just a few headlines; they reported on the catastrophe around the clock.

But even more importantly, the channels launched a global appeal for donations by showing the telephone numbers of aid organisations on their screens at all times. The websites of the various channels also gave details of the bank accounts of these organisations (on CNN alone more than 30 such organisations were listed).

From China and Africa to Europe and North and South America, people are watching the rescue efforts, the appeals for donations, and the reconstruction work in the stricken regions with interest.

One small example of people's willingness to help is the donation of more than $ 30,000 from the Chechen city of Beslan, which was the scene of a terrible massacre in a primary school last year in which many innocent children lost their lives.

Little reaction from the Arab world

In contrast, the Arab sympathy for the victims of the catastrophe has been very reserved and the solidarity demonstrated by the people on the street virtually non-existent.

The media in the Arab world have dedicated very little time and space to the catastrophe, coverage that is in stark contrast to the scale of the disaster. Moreover, they only sent the bare minimum of correspondents to the region; it was as if the whole thing was happening on another planet.

Instead, our most important satellite channels choose to focus on the details of events that occurred in the past year, examining Syrian-Lebanese relations or al-Qaida terrorism.

How can our media compete with CNN at international level if it concentrates on regional and very specific themes while humans are suffering the consequences of what is being described as the worst disaster of its kind in history, and while the biggest ever aid and rescue operation is cranking up? And all the while, these media are reluctant to report on it.

At the same time, only very few Islamic and Arabic charity organisations offered their assistance and actually launched appeals for donations. There is even an unbelievably shocking argument - so dreadful that it can, of course, only be repeated in whispers - which says that the people in the region are not Muslims and that Muslims should be given priority when it comes to allocating donations.

Cynicism and new racism?

This is a new brand of racism in charity work that excludes poor non-Muslims from aid. It is punishing non-Muslims for something over which they had no control. But worse than that is what some Friday preachers have been saying, namely that what happened is an expression of God's anger with these people. That is a disgraceful example of Shadenfreude.

What people? What anger? And why? And if God's rage is behind every natural disaster, does that mean that the people of Iran, Algeria, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Turkey - all of which were the victims of flooding or earthquakes in recent years - incurred the wrath of God and deserved to suffer the consequences? Moreover, does it mean that other Islamic populations are on the right path and don't deserve to be on the receiving end of this rage?

And if this absurd logic is correct, does it mean that because the peoples of the United States and Europe suffer fewer natural disasters they enjoy God's love and approval more than any other people? Such sick logic as this freezes the milk of human kindness and steers our feelings into racist channels.

When the convoys of Islamic aid organisations arrive in the Buddhist regions of Sri Lanka and medicine from Islamic countries reaches injured Hindus and Sikhs just as they reach Muslim regions affected by catastrophes, then we will be reconciled to our humanity.

In this context, the fact that we were victims of a different sort of crime - of the political or colonial variety, for example - does not excuse us or release us from our obligations.

How wonderful it would be if we could look with admiration at pictures on our television screens showing Palestinian aid convoys bringing Palestinian aid to their needy brothers. As long as this is possible, we still have hope.

Khaled Hroub

Translation from German: Aingeal Flanagan