"I DON'T KNOW WHY THEY HATE US"

1. Americans seem incapable or more likely unable to accept the real reason why they are hated by Muslims.

2. After 9/11 Bush was reported to have said, "I don't know why they (the Muslims) hate us".

3. Later on answering his own question, Bush declared that "they hate our democracy. They hate our freedom".

4. Since then more and more reasons have been suggested as to why Muslim individuals are prepared to tie explosives to their bodies and blow themselves up in order to kill Americans.

5. Books have also been written about Islam and Muslims to explain their hatred of the Americans and the West. Much of the blame is placed on the teachings of Islam, in particular that which is concerned with jihad or holy war and martyrdom.

6. There have also been attempts to exonerate Islam and to attribute the violence against the West to the wrong interpretations of Islam by people with vested interest.

7. But the Americans almost invariably refuse to acknowledge that it was their seizure or their backing of the seizure of Palestinian land and their subsequent support of Israeli violence and oppression of the Palestinians which has caused the Muslims to hate the Americans. Each time the Palestinian tried to regain their land, the Americans would ensure that they fail by giving massive support for Israel. It is well-known that they provide financial support to sustain the state of Israel. Every time the Israelis set up settlements and build walls to break up Palestinian families, the US would back it. Israeli intransigence, Israel's disregard and breaches of international laws, disregard for normal human behaviour America would staunchly back Israel. To the Americans, Israel can do no wrong.

8. All these happened before the attack against the New York World Trade Centre. After that came the "shock and awe" invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq with the loss of life of hundreds of thousands of these people and the total destruction of their cities and countries.

9. Since the invasions the Americans have remained in occupation of these two countries, where American soldiers continue to kill civilians with impunity. Many innocent people have been detained and tortured. Muslim countries which are friendly towards the United States are not spared.

10. The so-called "war on terror" is clearly a war against Muslims. It is enough for a person to have a Muslim or a Muslim sounding name for him to be ill-treated and sometimes detained without trial for years.

11. Only Muslim countries have been attacked or are threatened to be attacked. Non-Muslim countries building nuclear weapons may be threatened but no real action would be taken.

12. So why do they, the Muslims, hate Americans? Is it because they hate democracy and freedom? Only the most stupid can suggest this. They hate Americans and Europeans generally because they aided and abetted in the seizure of Palestine, in the unquestioning support for Israel's oppression and brutalities, in Israel's settlements on Palestinian land, and all the other crimes committed by Israel.

13. They hate the Americans because without American support for Israel they, the Palestinians, could have regained their land. As it is they are not even allowed to call their land Palestine. They are just the Palestinian Authority.

14. When they are unable to withstand the oppression and the killing of their people and they hit back their action is not reported as retaliation against Israel's action. Instead when the Israelis hit with overwhelming force, killing hundreds and thousands as happened in Gaza, they were described as Israeli retaliation against the primitive Hamas rockets which did very little damage.

15. Americans should not kid themselves that they are hated for their democracy and freedom. They are not. They are not hated even for religious differences. They are hated because they join the Israelis in all their brutalities, in their illegal occupation of Palestinian land, in the protection they afford Israel intransigence against the rest of the world. And now of course in their terror attacks against the innocent peoples of Afghanistan, Iraq and other Muslim countries.

16. It is important that the Americans know and admit the true reasons for the hatred against them. It is important because until they do they will not be able to come up with any solution to the present costly war. This war can go on forever because future generations of Palestinians, of Muslims, will never forget the injustice inflicted on them by Americans.