perhaps ms zadie smith is trying to be helpful by insisting that all muslims r not monsters but i find her essay offensive – not only does it pander to the lowest common media denominator but it’s just plain dumb. “The 9/11 perpetrators wanted a world in which (their version of) religious belief trumped all other concerns.” — wha? go read some non-fiction lady.
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“It’s to be noted that class meant little to the terrorists: they saw only two human categories, believer and heathen.” — she casts her entire argument as a “clash of civilizations” which is embarrassing, today 10 yrs after 9/11.
btw what is the war on terror about? isn’t it about believer vs heathen? is it just a coincidence that the victims of the war (99% of them) r muslim civilians and those bombing/raiding/invading them (99% of them) r “judeo-christian”? interesting how that never comes up.
and what if class did mean something to the terrorists/imperialists – would that make them more evolved? it’s true that imperialists invade the poorest countries of the world and even within those countries they drone the most economically disenfranchised. is that supposed to be a better approach – i.e. seeing only two human categories, monied and indigent?