After the London blasts, Jeff Jarvis [1] said he is not sure if the Western world is dealing with the problem of terrorism directly. However, he thinks that Tom Friedman [2] has made it clearer when he said, “it's a Muslim problem, it needs a Muslim solution.” Humoud Abu-Talib [3], writing for Al-Watan daily, has quoted these words of Friedman:
Either the Muslim world begins to really restrain, inhibit and denounce its own extremists – if it turns out that they are behind the London bombings – or the West is going to do it for them. And the West will do it in a rough, crude way – by simply shutting them out, denying them visas and making every Muslim in its midst guilty until proven innocent.
Abu-Talib wrote: “It is sad that Friedman said ‘every Muslim in its midst guilty until proven innocent’, and it seems that this is what is going to happen.” He also blames the British authorities for being indulgent with the extremists. Abdul Rahman al-Rashed [4] expressed the same idea. “Not only are they admitted to the country, they are also provided with accommodation, a monthly salary, and free legal advice for those who want to prosecute the British government,” he wrote for the English edition of Asharq al-Awsat [5].
Abu-Talib thinks that what happened will open the gates of hell on Muslims, especially Arab Muslims. “Muslims in Europe will pay the price for the idiocy of lunatics who commit crimes in the name of Islam.”
Is it a Muslim problem so Muslims have to solve it themselves, or is it a global problem and the whole world is responsible to find the solution?