ID :
47328
Tue, 02/24/2009 - 15:09
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/47328
The shortlink copeid
MINISTER WANTS INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY TO UNDERSTAND CAUSES OF TERRORISM
By Sakina Mohamed
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 24 (Bernama) -- The international community especially the
youth should understand clearly the causes of terrorism and not just acknowledge
its presence in the world now, said Information Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek.
He said the root causes should be analysed deeply because the factors for it
are usually attributed to political differences, when in fact, it could be due
to nationalism, ideological differences or liberation of territory.
"For example, in certain countries, there are insurgencies because people
want an independent homeland. In the case of Palestine, its people want their
country to be returned to them.
"Another reason is loss in faith in an existing system and the people not
being given a chance to be heard or treated fairly in the prevailing system," he
told Bernama in an interview with Youth and Sports Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob
at the Youth and Sports Ministry in Putrajaya, recently.
The interview was held ahead of the International Conference of Youth on
Terrorism that is jointly organised by the Information and Youth and Sports
ministries. It will take place here for four days from Wednesday (Feb 25).
Ahmad Shabery said sometimes the fight to secure an independent nation like
what was happening in Palestine was seen as terrorism because it was difficult
to differentiate between terrorists and freedom fighters.
However, terrorism mooted by states or governments in total disregard to
human values and international laws as perpetrated by Israel on the people of
Gaza, Palestine, was not deemed as terrorism, he said.
The minister said this happened because terrorism was usually linked to
individuals or "non-state actors" like Al-Qaeda or the Basque community in
Spain.
As such, he said, the main objective of the conference was to build
intellectual understanding among youths and international cooperation to find
the root causes and address the problem.
So far, 200 youths representing 20 countries including Canada, the
Philippines and South Africa have confirmed their participation in the
conference.
It is a project mooted by the Information Ministry with the cost borne by
Malaysia's Unesco Commission (SKUM) and is one of the agency's programme at the
Malaysian level.
Ahmad Shabery said the conference was organized to give youths a platform to
discuss and exchange ideas on the issue of global terrorism.
"Participants are free to express their opinions besides getting together to
reach a common stand towards achieving real peace.
"This because it is the youths who are the real victims or are used by the
perpetrators to conduct acts of terrorism," he said.
He said a resolution would be adopted at the end of the conference which
would forward their views on efforts needed to prevent terrorism activities from
continuing.
The resolution would be forwarded to Education Minister Datuk Seri
Hishammuddin Tun Hussein, who is the chairman of SKUM and an member of Unesco's
executive board, to be presented to Unesco (United Nations Education, Scientific
and Cultural Organisation) in Paris.
Meanwhile, Ismail Sabri said he was confident Malaysian youths would not get
involved in terrorism activities as they were peace-loving people.
He also dismissed Westerners views that Islam encouraged violence.
"Every religion in this world teaches its followers to abhor violence and
for them to be useful citizens.
Although the West links Islam with terrorism, Islamic teachings are
otherwise, it calls on followers to practice moderation, so there is no question
of extremism in Islam," he said, adding that Eastern culture also called on
people to have mutual respect for each other.
"The incidences of violence in eastern countries could be because of
frustration due to oppression, which causes people to want to exact revenge, but
this has nothing to do with culture or religion," he said.
Through the conference, he said, Malaysian youth would be able to see how
different Malaysia was from other countries and how fortunate they were to be
born in a country where peace and harmony prevailed.
-- BERNAMA
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 24 (Bernama) -- The international community especially the
youth should understand clearly the causes of terrorism and not just acknowledge
its presence in the world now, said Information Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek.
He said the root causes should be analysed deeply because the factors for it
are usually attributed to political differences, when in fact, it could be due
to nationalism, ideological differences or liberation of territory.
"For example, in certain countries, there are insurgencies because people
want an independent homeland. In the case of Palestine, its people want their
country to be returned to them.
"Another reason is loss in faith in an existing system and the people not
being given a chance to be heard or treated fairly in the prevailing system," he
told Bernama in an interview with Youth and Sports Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob
at the Youth and Sports Ministry in Putrajaya, recently.
The interview was held ahead of the International Conference of Youth on
Terrorism that is jointly organised by the Information and Youth and Sports
ministries. It will take place here for four days from Wednesday (Feb 25).
Ahmad Shabery said sometimes the fight to secure an independent nation like
what was happening in Palestine was seen as terrorism because it was difficult
to differentiate between terrorists and freedom fighters.
However, terrorism mooted by states or governments in total disregard to
human values and international laws as perpetrated by Israel on the people of
Gaza, Palestine, was not deemed as terrorism, he said.
The minister said this happened because terrorism was usually linked to
individuals or "non-state actors" like Al-Qaeda or the Basque community in
Spain.
As such, he said, the main objective of the conference was to build
intellectual understanding among youths and international cooperation to find
the root causes and address the problem.
So far, 200 youths representing 20 countries including Canada, the
Philippines and South Africa have confirmed their participation in the
conference.
It is a project mooted by the Information Ministry with the cost borne by
Malaysia's Unesco Commission (SKUM) and is one of the agency's programme at the
Malaysian level.
Ahmad Shabery said the conference was organized to give youths a platform to
discuss and exchange ideas on the issue of global terrorism.
"Participants are free to express their opinions besides getting together to
reach a common stand towards achieving real peace.
"This because it is the youths who are the real victims or are used by the
perpetrators to conduct acts of terrorism," he said.
He said a resolution would be adopted at the end of the conference which
would forward their views on efforts needed to prevent terrorism activities from
continuing.
The resolution would be forwarded to Education Minister Datuk Seri
Hishammuddin Tun Hussein, who is the chairman of SKUM and an member of Unesco's
executive board, to be presented to Unesco (United Nations Education, Scientific
and Cultural Organisation) in Paris.
Meanwhile, Ismail Sabri said he was confident Malaysian youths would not get
involved in terrorism activities as they were peace-loving people.
He also dismissed Westerners views that Islam encouraged violence.
"Every religion in this world teaches its followers to abhor violence and
for them to be useful citizens.
Although the West links Islam with terrorism, Islamic teachings are
otherwise, it calls on followers to practice moderation, so there is no question
of extremism in Islam," he said, adding that Eastern culture also called on
people to have mutual respect for each other.
"The incidences of violence in eastern countries could be because of
frustration due to oppression, which causes people to want to exact revenge, but
this has nothing to do with culture or religion," he said.
Through the conference, he said, Malaysian youth would be able to see how
different Malaysia was from other countries and how fortunate they were to be
born in a country where peace and harmony prevailed.
-- BERNAMA
