Brussels tragedy should be seen within a wider context of violence

We are pained and heartbroken by the devastating tragedy in Brussels. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those killed and wounded. However, to state that we are not at war (Editorial, 23 March) is disingenuous. We must distinguish between 1.6 billion Muslims – the overwhelming majority of them decent, peaceable and law-abiding – and those affiliated with irreligious terrorism. Muslims cannot bear responsibility for the actions of a few lunatics, bent on sowing the seeds of religious animosity and social discord; exactly as Christians cannot bear responsibility for their governments selling armaments to dictatorships across the world, and bombing civilians under the rubric of democracy; and exactly as Jews cannot be held hostage for the reluctance of the Israeli government to abide by international humanitarian law in the occupied Palestinian territories, Syrian Golan Heights and Lebanese Shebaa farms.

We are at war with radicals, irrespective of their colour, religion and ethnicity. Right now, what is needed is nothing short of a collective wisdom to correct the wrongs of centuries of foreign meddling in the internal affairs of sovereign lands, combat social and political marginalisation, and build a fair world for all.