Has Muslim extremism damaged world tourism irrevocably?

Yes

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by Raymond Alexander Kukkee

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Times Change

When I was a boy, I diligently read most of the 'Encyclopedia Britannica' and was amazed by the exciting differences in the world, the cultures, the exotic places, and the Seven Wonders of the World. I wanted to travel and see them all; do the exciting things, climb the Pyramids, ride majestic elephants, join the French Foreign Legion, and live in Africa, hunting for lions, all at the same time.

Although I learned to both dream of adventure, and read at a very early age, I could not know anything of the future. I did not know the Middle East was going to be one of the major hot-spots of political unrest in the world. I did not know it was going to be dangerous to travel in parts of the world, and if I did hear anything about danger, it meant little, for facing danger and being courageous in the face of adversity was one of the primary, and essential characteristics of heroes in the minds of boys.
In afterthought, I did not really know specifically what a Muslim was, other than the fact that they were people of a different culture. I could not know there was going to be Muslim terrorism or extremists and fanatics destroying the name of Islam at whim in the next century.
I did not know terrorism would ultimately be perpetrated freely upon innocents, for I, too, was one of the innocent at that time.

I saw no reason for uprisings and discerned no association with evil, terrorism, or anything of the like; not even horror was ever assumed or imagined. My family was a family of peace and cross-cultural acceptance. I could not imagine, as a child, any other race or "religious" person committing atrocities upon human beings. To a mere boy, the ancient, bold Christian crusaders, with long swords and shiny armour, steel shields bearing crosses in red - were merely a part of the "knights in shining armour" culture that all boys admire at that age and was associated with King Arthur, honour and adventure rather than religious promotion, religious persecution and conquest, just as the Vikings and the Persian hordes explored and "adventurously" plundered.

Times change. I have become older, as every one must, and in the process I also became very aware of much being scribed on my 'tabula rasa', the blank slate of innocence. My parents were interested in literally everything in existence, therefore I soon became informed on travel, world affairs, political gamesmanship, warfare, civil and human foibles, history, and fights and fables, good or bad.
One of the Arabian fables I unfortunately read was "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves". Men that were emboldened thieves, men that were devious, which contradicted my childhood teaching that a man, above all, must be worthy of trust, keep his word, must be honest and loyal to the end, never compromise his values, and always be protective of the innocent, especially women and children. That impression and contradiction with my own teaching somehow remains eternally in my memory. The distrust has resurfaced .

In the interim I also discovered warfare, the ultimate human admission of failure to reason.
World war II came to be understood; Korea, and Vietnam followed and faded, but a solution for the Middle East was never found. Virtually since the state of Israel was formed, in North America, we have heard little other than civil unrest in the middle East, intentions of war, actual warfare, and clearly, much discontent from the Muslim populations in the area. The Suez Crisis, Lebanon, The Six Day War, The Gulf War, the Second Gulf war, the war in Afghanistan, and the Iraq war all come to mind, but those events were only a portion of the violence. The Taliban, Hamas, and other extremist groups, politically difficult people, forced their way into the public psyche, and did so with incomprehensibly bad reputations.

In the last 10 years, we have seemingly not had a news broadcast without terrorism, Muslim fanaticism, Islamic discontent, suicide bomber attacks, and mindless violence of all forms. It seems that Muslim fanaticism has spread world wide. Has that aspect of civilization made the global traveler feel more secure and encouraged travel? No. Virtually every trouble spot in the world today, for some reason or the other, involves Islam. The reader must decide why.

Making things ever worse, some bitter, angry and archaic "learned Muslim clerics" the leaders of Islam, declare Jihad for violence and call for destruction of all "infidels".

As a digression, perhaps being labeled an "infidel" should not be considered offensive, but that label vicariously suggests the description of a person with fidelity and loyalty to nothing, having no values, and most especially, with no belief in God.
As a Christian I happen to believe in God, and very much so.
I digress, but in defense of human nature, that "attributed label" directly suggests disrespect and must ultimately affect the way one thinks. The label is offensive.

The majority of Muslim clerics , the leaders, and the Muslim population remain silent when events of extreme violence are conducted in the "name of Islam", although perhaps they do so in fear of reprisal. No matter, the reason for silence is almost irrelevant; the impression, the societal attitude, the sense of distrust, in fact, the very cast of absolute distrust has been created .

Although I fully believe that as a global citizen, I should feel free to travel anywhere in the world much as I would have as a child, and I do remain blessed with courage that is unflagging, it is with much difficulty that I have concluded, considering the memory of distrust, and the current state of word affairs particularly since 9/11, sadly, the Muslim world is not a particularly safe place to travel. In fact for the last ten years, it has been a demonstrably unsafe destination.

Kindly do not blame me for thinking so, because I , like every human being, am merely a product of a new, unacceptable, incomprehensible and violent world village where people, even women, mindlessly blow themselves up and kill hundreds of innocent people including other women and children annually. Kidnappers, impotent, Muslim self-appointed power brokers trying to force their ugly agenda upon my civilization, display their brutality and openly threaten to behead unfortunate captors. Were I a fool or an idiot, I would think those actions both civilized and acceptable.

Regardless of what the rest of the global population thinks, Islamic leaders, and Muslim populations, collectively and curiously, remain essentially silent. Why would a culture and religion now so badly maligned by a few, a mere fraction of itself, remain silent? The derivative question then must be, " Is there something to remain silent about?"

In observation of human tendency , it is excruciatingly difficult NOT to draw conclusions and imagine stereotypes where endless incidents of terrorism in real life are eternally committed in the name of Islam. The bottom line question then, and must be, shall Muslims world-wide also be considered to be potential authors of terror because of that silence?

It is painfully obvious that not all Muslims are terrorists, but the seeds of Muslim extremism and potential global terrorism have been successfully planted and cultivated in the minds of people world-wide. Much distrust clearly exists.

Can that situation be corrected? Not in the foreseeable future.
After 9/11, in a state of shock, society demonstrated the logical tendency to shift into a mode of self-preservation. As a result, I too, therefore arbitrarily tend to avoid unnecessary travel, especially into politically unstable areas. Clearly caution is borne on the wind.

As a realistic practitioner of civility ingrained with logic, common sense and human decency, I prefer to concentrate on peaceful endeavours . Instead of travel, I do other, more productive things. If my reaction is representative as a realistic poll of humanity, world tourism has definitely suffered damage from Muslim extremism.

Should it have been allowed to happen? No.

The question will come to be asked: Will I, now a grown-up and fully informed adventurer , eventually wander into politically unstable territory as a tourist to fulfill childhood dreams?
I would immediately say "yes" if I could, but to date, I have now been influenced by reality and life itself and hopefully have the wisdom to question and re-examine the process in the future as times change.

As life exists today, unnecessary travel can be, and possibly is dangerous. Only time itself, and a universal, honest, and overwhelming declaration of Global Peace by all Muslim religious leaders in ALL countries will change the political realities and heal the wounds of Muslim extremism. Because of the improbability of that ever occurring, clearly, yes, Muslim extremism has damaged world tourism irrevocably.

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