IS wants you to hate all Muslims

TERRORISM has no religion. Terrorists don’t burn only churches.

Mosques have been demolished or attacked in different parts of the world, such as the Palestinian territory, India and the US, by different people and out of blind patriotism, hatred or revenge for claimed offences.

Ironically, most people affected by terrorism in the past 20 years are Muslims.

Two Muslim countries, Iraq and Afghanistan, have been invaded. According to a Unicef report, over 500 000 children died in Iraq between 1990 and 1999. Since 1990, out of the 175 000 people who have died as a result of terrorism (not including the civilian deaths in Iraq), only 4 000 were Westerners.

The number of those who are dying because of lack of food, water and medicine is not known yet since mainstream media places more importance on one or two Western deaths caused by “Islamic violence”, as though no other form of terrorism exists. Regardless of belief, it cannot be denied that one of Islamic State’s (IS) main goals is to instil hatred of Muslims in the minds of those most powerful.

The IS recruitment process is heavily reliant on a divide between people, particularly those in the influential Western world.

Society must realise there is a vast difference between IS and Muslims, and we must stand united to confront the real terrorists of the world. Sherwood, Durban