Osama bin Laden is no Che Guevara
By Daily Bruin Staff
Oct. 4, 2001 9:00 p.m.
McLaren is a professor at the Graduate School of Education and
Information Studies.
By Peter McLaren
Professor Susanna Hecht’s comparison of Osama bin Laden to
Che Guevara (“Comparisons
to WWII are inaccurate,”Daily Bruin, Viewpoint, Sept. 27)
is grossly misleading. In fact, it is a dangerous comparison.
One man (whose terrorist practices most Muslims worldwide find
to be repugnant) wages a religious war against Judaism and
secularism under the cry of “Nasr min Allah, wa fathun
qarib” (“Victory is from God, and conquest is
near”). The other, an atheist, refused to persecute anyone on
the basis of religious beliefs, as he fought against brutal
dictatorships, economic and military imperialism and the oppression
of the poor in Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa.
One struggles for the installation of a repressive authoritarian
theocracy where women are subjugated ““ by preventing them
from working and receiving an education ““ and minorities are
extirpated as infidels (witness the Taliban’s persecution of
the Shiite minority in Afghanistan).
The other struggled for a socialist and democratic society where
women work alongside men in a relation of equality, where racism of
all kinds is condemned and abolished, where illiteracy is virtually
unknown and where each and every person has access to an education
and adequate medical care.
Che’s guerrilleros did not throw acid in the faces of
unveiled women or shoot at tourists. Unlike members of bin
Laden’s International Islamic Front for Jihad Against Jews
and Crusaders, Che would never have purposely attacked innocent
civilians. The beret-clad Che and bin Laden in the white robe and
kaffiyeh of a Saudi preacher have little more in common than facial
hair.
To compare Che and his foco in Bolivia or the Sierra Maestra to
Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda is a fatuous move. The recent attacks
in Washington and New York City were reactionary acts of mindless
terrorism with no explicit anti-capitalist or anti-imperialist
agenda.
They had nothing to do with “class struggle” or the
fight for human liberation and everything to do with human cruelty.
So far nobody has presented demands or clarified the purpose of
this horrendous act, and at best we can speculate that they were
motivated by a hatred of U.S. secular society, the support of
Israel by the U.S. government and for what bin Laden sees as a
violation of the Koran and the Hadith (the sayings of the Prophet
Muhammad): the continuing U.S. military presence in Saudi Arabia
that pollutes the land of the Al Aksa Mosque and the holy mosque.
They were also fostered by the U.S. invasion of Iraq and the
continuing U.S. sanctions.
Bin Laden exhorts his followers to purse a hegira (religious
journey) to places such as Afghanistan and enlist in a jihad (it is
said that bin Laden issued a fatwa in 1998 that called on Muslims
to kill Americans wherever they are found).
To cite a statement from the National Editorial Board of News
and Letters (an international Marxist-humanist organization):
“The September 11 attacks have nothing to do with any
struggle against capitalism, injustice, or U.S. imperialism. They
were a brutal act of violence against U.S. workers that has no
rational cause, legitimacy or justification. They were simply
geared to kill as many people as possible, without any regard for
class, race or background.”
Nothing could be further from what Che stood for, and died for.
It is true that in order to understand the actions of bin Laden one
cannot decouple them from the innocent Muslim victims of U.S. war
crimes. But I want to make clear that understanding this
relationship is not the same as condoning acts of terrorism.
There is a profound difference between Che’s utilization
of guerrilla warfare tactics and bin Laden’s acts of
terrorism such as the world witnessed in horror on Sept. 11. In
fact, President Bush recently described the current commando
actions by the U.S. military in Afghanistan as “guerrilla
warfare.” Even Bush appears to note the distinction, which is
saying a lot.
Che was certainly not a perfect human being, but his thoughts
and actions have inspired everyone from Catholic priests to
landless peasants. Next thing you know, Professor Hecht will be
comparing Osama bin Laden to Subcommandante Marcos (who has used
guerrilla tactics and is also an international icon), which would
be an insult to the ongoing struggle of indigenous communities
throughout the Americas.
One can only hope that the U.S. refrains from military action
that will bring about yet more civilian casualties and seeks
instead diplomatic efforts to resolve the current crisis.
