Two lessons the West needs to learn in the wake of the EgyptAir crash [MARKET WATCH]
May 26, 2016When EgyptAir Flight 804 departed from Charles de Gaulle Airport and crashed in the Mediterranean Sea a week ago, it was perhaps inevitable that speculation would center on the possibility of terrorism. Egypt and France have already suffered from radical Islamist militancy — and terrorists had already brought down one plane in Egyptian airspace, as well as targeted Paris in horrific attacks in November.While there is still no conclusive cause of the crash — mechanical failure or terrorism? — there are nevertheless two key lessons we need to learn.If it was a security breach exploited by a terrorist group, it’s going to a rather infamous one. Terrorists would have shown the ability to get through one of the most secure airports in the world — at a time when France is still in a state of emergency following the Paris attacks.Moreover, the attack would have struck a blow against not one, but two countries — Egypt as well as France. Both countries are prime targets for ISIS (also known as ISIL), albeit for different reasons.That is lesson No. 1 and a very basic fact often is missed in discussions around the “war on terror”: More Muslims than non-Muslims died on that flight. Indeed, those who suffer the most from radical Islamist violence and terrorism are Muslims themselves — in Syria, Iraq, and more generally world-wide. Exponentially so.It’s a point that seems to have escaped Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for the U.S. presidency, who almost immediately insinuated that Muslims were responsible and continued to defend his proposed policy of banning Muslims from entry into the U.S.Many western observers argue that ISIS is primarily concerned with attacking and killing non-Muslim communities, Christians and otherwise. France has been targeted, for example, partly for policies domestically vis-à-vis Muslims (the banning of niqab and heavy restrictions on the head scarf), though probably far more due to targeting ISIS in Syria and Iraq with military force. But ISIS and al Qaeda have always been far more concerned with Muslims they disagree with, rather than non-Muslims.In Egypt, for example, ISIS is fighting the government in the Sinai as it tries to establish a foothold there. And while it deems former President Mohammed Morsi to have been from an “apostate movement” (the Muslim Brotherhood), ISIS views the current government even more egregiously, as it goes after Islamists of all shapes and forms.
In Syria, ISIS fights the barbaric regime of Bashar al-Assad — but it also brutalizes Muslims under its rule, and fights against rebels that are fighting against Assad. In Iraq, ISIS continues to kill Muslims, Sunni and Shi’i, on a regular basis — again, far more than non-Muslims, though, alas, we tend not to pay as much attention in the media.Yet all too often, the narrative and discourse around the “war on terror” implies the world is divided into ‘Muslims’ and ‘non-Muslims’ in this fight. The real us vs. them is between barbarism and non-barbarism.The second lesson is that if this was a terrorist attack, we must realize that there is only so much that security procedures can do. The only way to completely eradicate security concerns in air travel is to end air travel altogether — otherwise, 100% success is simply not possible. An estimated 38,000 people die in car crashes in the U.S. alone every year — but we don’t ban car travel. We focus on precautions and add safety features, but we’re far more realistic about the possibilities of eradicating death in car crashes.Caution and care needs to be at the forefront of our considerations in fighting terrorism as well — but we also must recognize that how we respond to the security threats is immensely important. Muslim communities and non-Muslim communities world-wide, whether in the West or in Muslim-majority countries, are all being targeted by groups like ISIS. If we fudge that reality at any point, then we’ve just handed ISIS an easy victory. But if we stand together, then just like every other cult in history, it will pass on — and we will still be here.H.A. Hellyer is senior nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Centre for the Middle East in Washington, D.C., and associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London. He tweets as @hahellyerSource: Market Watch