Bush Insists, World Resists

TEHRAN TIMES INTL. DESK
TEHRAN As the politicians and media in the United States and some Western countries continue to instigate anti-Islamic sentiments in the West, people around the world protested against America's bullish tactics in its decision to attack Afghanistan.

The U.S. thinks of Saudi national Osama Bin Laden as the prime suspect for the attacks to New York and Washington, which left at least 6,000 dead.

The United States is assembling its troops for an attack on Afghanistan, which it claims is sheltering bin Laden.

Thousands of Muslims and non-Muslims around the world held demonstrations in protest of the U.S. attack. Many believe that innocent Afghani civilians will be the real victims of an attack that the United States calls an anti-terrorism move.

In Athens, football fans supporting a Greek team who were playing against one from Scotland, burnt Israeli flags and tried to set fire to a U.S. flag as well.

Also, there have been reports of five thousand demonstrators pouring onto the streets of Florence, Italy, protesting the plans of the "warmonger" (U.S. President George W. Bush).

The mostly student crowd called on Bush not to attack Afghanistan. A considerable number of demonstrators were Muslims. Similar demos have been held in other Italian cities, such as Rome, Naples and Bologna.

Swedish police have stated that hundreds of demonstrators filled central Stockholm on Saturday to protest possible U.S. reprisals in the wake of last week's terror assault on U.S. targets.

"There are other ways to fight terrorism than the retaliatory strikes called for by the United States," said Pernilla Zethraeus, secretary of the former Communist Party that organized the demonstration.

"The role of the United Nations should be more significant, and we support the UN Security Council's resolution giving countries the right to respond when attacked.

"But this does not mean that it gives the United States the right to start a war with Afghanistan," she added.

In as many as 100 U.S. cities anti-American protests continued yesterday. Students from highly regarded U.S. universities such as Harvard, MIT, Berkeley, Michigan State, UCLA and New York University organized anti-war rallies. The students demanded that President Bush not start a new war, telling him that by killing innocent people one cannot retaliate New York massacre.

The U.S. and Western media gave no coverage of the protests.

Dispatches from Germany, Italy, Sweden, Spain, South Korea, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Britain report that protests against Bush's policy of war are continuing in those countries.

On Sunday, the Sri Lankan press criticized the United States for its double standard when countering terrorism.

The privately-run ** Sunday Times ** newspaper launched a scathing attack on the U.S. Embassy in Colombo for reported remarks that the Sri Lankan group, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), will not be targeted by the U.S. coalition against terrorism.

"The U.S. government has not changed its stand in calling upon the Sri Lankan government to initiate peace talks with the LTTE," the newspaper quoted U.S. Embassy Spokesman Stephen Holgate as saying.

The attribution of the Sept. 11 assaults to the United States to Muslims has created a wave of anti-Islamic sentiments among Americans and in Western countries.

Asians as well as Muslims have been harassed and, according to reports, the number of assaults on dark-skinned people is rising.

The leader of the Canadian Arabs Federation said hate crimes against Muslims, Arabs, even Hindus and Sikhs, have risen sharply since the events of Sept. 11, and he said that similar situations were occurring in the U.S. and Britain.

On Friday, a Muslim doctor in Montreal was attacked by a man riding in the same elevator. The attacker then tried to hang the doctor's wife with her own scarf, but failed to do so.

In Hamilton City, police are still investigating a case of firebombs that were thrown at a mosque, and the destruction of Hindu temples. Attacks to mosques have been reported in other Canadian cities as well.

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