Peace by JA

     I don’t believe there is any one thing that will work to stop all terrorism.  They all have their different reasons for doing the things they do.  Some fight to make a political statement to their government that they are not doing things correctly.  Other organizations fight because they believe that Armageddon is coming and the world has to become prepared for the end.  Another collection believes war is necessary in order for the coming of their Messiah.  Ultimately their all concerned with the end of days and the coming of their Savior, but they all have different ideas about how to go about preparing.  Therefore, it is difficult to answer the question in just one way.
     I believe there should be one large task force that encompasses every country.  They should be set up like the United States government, where there is a process of checks and balances.  This way the best interests of the people will be looked after.  However, in order for this to be successful, the countries and the political leaders have to be willing to employ whatever programs this task force develops.
     In the case of the Israeli conflict, they may have to be confined to their countries and left to kill each other.  Eventually in their case, one side will win. Both the Jewish and the Muslim leaders believe they have equal right to the same land, and neither group is willing to let go of the fight.  For example, Yoel Learner spoke about having a complete Jewish community:
He hoped for the restoration of the ancient temple in Jerusalem, the exclusive right of Jews to settle on the West Bank of the Jordan River, and the creation of a state based on biblical law (J, 46).
The Jewish activists are willing to fight because they want to bring the coming of their God, and they don’t believe it will come about until they have complete occupation of the land.
     However, the Muslim fighters have a more intense desire and meaning behind their actions.  They don’t see any type of compromise and are treating this entire situation as a war.  Abouhalima, a Muslim leader said:
Stressing the point that all human efforts are futile and that those who bomb buildings should not expect any immediate, tangible change in the governments policies as a result, Abouhalima said that real change-effective change-“is not in our hands, only in God’s hands (J, 65).”
     Both groups believe they are doing God’s work.  They are willing to fight to the absolute end.  They have killed political leaders when they have attempted to create some type of agreement for peace.  Therefore, there may be noting a task force can do to stop the fighting in Israel.  The only thing that would help is complete annihilation of the terrorists.  This would either happen through the task force seeking them out and imprisoning them or killing them.  The other option would be to leave them to kill themselves, because eventually one group will have to give up.
     Another religious terrorist group that has a similar problem is the Indian Sikh movement.  They have a deep hatred toward their government.  They are fighting oppression from the dominant religious group, the Hindus.  They are also battling the existence of a caste system that keeps them from being able to move up in society.  These groups have their reasons for fighting and have gone as far as to murder their political leaders. Indira Ghandi, for example, was killed when she was the leader of India.
     A Sikh leader explains why they are fighting against the government, Mann said that the purpose of the movement is not simply to rebel against Hindu power but to “protect the Sikh community from secular influences (J ).”
     Therefore, in the case of the Hindu-Sikh movement, the task force can take a stance towards healing politics with religion.  The government takes the moral high ground when responding to the terrorists.  I think that it will work when it comes to the problems in India because the Sikhs are against secularism.  Therefore, the task force should come together to help create laws as well as institutions that will support the morals of religion.  In the case of the British response to the Irish, the government did not overreact to the terrorists, which made it harder for their enemies “to portray the government as a satanic enemy (J, p.244).”  
     The task force would have a difficult time deciphering which solution would be best for each band of terrorists.  However, I do believe it would be a combination of both cracking down on terrorists and creating laws that focus on a higher moral plane. Using these two would cause a lot of people to be happier within their communities.  People would feel safer, knowing that they don’t have to be afraid to ride the bus everyday.  Who knows how differently things would have been after the September 11th attacks if President Bush never succumbed to the provocations of the terrorists.  The whole world may have a different outlook on the American people.  The perfect example of both of these tactics used together was in the case of the Buddhist terrorists.  The government sought out a lot of the leaders and killed them.  Then they put into place a “fund for the financial support of Buddhist schools and social services, and created a ministry of Buddhist Affairs (J, 244).”  The leader of Sri Lanka knew exactly what he was doing and successfully created peace with the Buddhist community.
     This combination is a viable solution but it is a lot of work and would require a lot of cooperation from the governments of the countries.  The task force should be able to successfully implement strategies to attack and infiltrate when needed, because it would be made up of people all over the world that have information about the terrorist organization.  They would also be in a better position to make laws that would serve the people better.  They can take from different societies that have had successful outcomes and try to alter it to suit different countries that are having a difficult time.  
     My solution for ending religious violence and creating lasting peace is to put together a major task force made up of people from every nation and country.  Then the task force would seek out the major leaders to religious terrorist organizations, and  institute programs to help those that are fighting against their government or secular forces.