Interesting discussion from Islam On-Line. I apologize in advance for including five paragraphs but the last is the pertinent one for us here.
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It cannot be said that violence is an Islamic phenomenon. Violence has no religion or nationality. If some Islamic groups are involved in violence and are considered extremist, there are also other groups and even nations that are known for committing acts of violence, such as Israel, or Hindu groups in India.
Violence has no nationality; it exists everywhere. The list of individuals, groups, or even nations that use violence to attain political aims is quite long. Israel has the worst record of using violence and committing atrocities against the Palestinian people as well as the Lebanese.
There is no doubt about the explanation that could be given for the violence practiced by the Islamic groups or the authority fighting them.
Some people, particularly Marxists and communists in general, want to interpret the phenomenon of violence as the result of economic injustice. We cannot deny the truth in this explanation. The Qur’an did not underestimate the financial factor in explaining certain phenomena such as killing the children out of destitution or out of fear of pauperism.
Others explain violence using the conspiracy scheme, meaning that behind all this violence is a diabolic design. This interpretation is quite popular; it alleviates any sort of responsibility because someone else is accountable, and at the same time it renders us impotent vis-à-vis political oppression. We are facing religious, social, and political oppressions. The human being is free; therefore one should not accept this explication. Even if some people really are conspiring against us, is that an excuse? Why don’t we make our own plan? Should we always be victimized by others?
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http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?pagename=IslamOnline-English-Ask_Scholar/FatwaE/FatwaE&cid=1119503548114