Why some people hate the West

'Occidentalism; The west in the eyes of its enemies' by Ian Buruma and Avishai Margalit. Published in 2004.


   On September 11, 2002 Arab fanatics hijacked four planes and drove three of them into the World Trade towers in New York City and the Pentagon near Washington, D.C.
     Over 2000 people, mostly Americans but some 11 Canadians too, were killed. An era of war was unleashed as U.S. and NATO forces invaded Afghanistan and then Iraq. The Osama Bin Laden Arabs who hijacked the airplanes hated the western world. But how typical were their views of the west? And did Islam encourage such terrorism?
      No, says Ian Buruma and Avishai Margalit to the second question in their book called 'Occidentalism'. "In the heat of  battle," Bin Laden said about his recruits, "they do not care about dying, and they cure the insanity  of the eenmy by their 'insane' courage."
     As Buruma and Margalit point out, human sacrifice as Bin Laden urges "is far removed from Islam." Occidentalism, or a hatred of the west or a belief in stereotypes about the west has been embraced by many people. Margalit and Buruma's small book outlines anti-western feelings that ran through 20th century Japan, 19th and 20th century Germany, 19th century Russia and many Islamic countries.
     Western countries and their conquest of Arab countries in the 19th and 20th centuries encouraged the spread of Occidentalism. This book doesn't deal directly with the western imperialism in Arab places, only with the ideas that came with it.
      But the book does end with the rise of revolutionary Islam and its hatred of Israel. Now the western world faces what the authors call, " a synthesis of ancient bigotry and modern technology." Published nine years ago and long before the rise and fall of 'Arab Spring', 'Occidentalism is still a useful guide to the history of anti-western feeling, both inside the Arab world and outside it.