ABU DHABI Ñ Saudi Arabia, under pressure from the United States to
cooperate in the war against terrorism, has defined Islamic holy war against
Israel as legitimate self-defense.
The definition was formulated during a Saudi-sponsored seminar on
terrorism attended by Muslim scholars from the kingdom and abroad. The
seminar was held as part of a Saudi campaign to defend the kingdom and other
Islamic states from charges that they have encouraged insurgencies in the
West.
The Mecca seminar termed terrorism as "all acts of aggression unjustly
committed by individuals, groups or states against human beings." The Muslim
scholars termed Israeli aggression as the worst form of terrorism and
justified any retaliation against the Jewish state and its people. They said
Israel and Jewish communities abroad were responsible for anti-Islamic
sentiment in the West in the wake of the Sept. 11 suicide attacks in New
York and Washington.
"This [attacks by Israel] is the most dangerous terrorism to world peace
and security and its confrontation is a just self-defense and jihad [holy
war] in the way of Allah." the seminar, sponsored by the Islamic Fiqh
Academy of the Muslim World League, said in a statement on Thursday. "Jihad
is meant for upholding right, ending injustice, ensuring peace and security
and establishing mercy. Terrorism and violence committed by the aggressor
who usurp the land, desecrate holy sanctuaries and loot wealth cannot be
compared to the practice the right of legitimate defense as used by the
oppressed seeking to gain their legitimate rights to self-determination."
Saudi officials have acknowledged that the United States has pressed the
kingdom to implement reforms that would delegitimize Islamic insurgency
attacks. But the officials said Riyad rejected any prospect of changing its
education curriculum that would undermine the stress on holy war.
"War does not necessarily mean military confrontation so much as
spreading awareness to counter destructive ideologies and eradicating causes
of the phenomenon by working seriously to find just solutions to
international crises," Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal said in
an interview with the London-based A-Sharq Al Awsat daily.
The Muslim scholars, completing a six-day conference, said terrorism
also included "any act of violence or threat designed to terrorize people or
endanger their lives or security" as well as damage to the environment. They
said world conflict stems from the failure to solve the Palestinian problem.