TO fully understand the recent terrorist attack on America, we must realise that Arab terrorism is primarily a theological conflict.

Not long ago, Muslims throughout the world practised Islam, a faith emphasising virtue, tolerance and mutual respect. It was a religion compatible with democracy and religious pluralism.

All that changed in 1979. Ayatollah Khomeini's Iranian revolution redefined Islam forever. Fundamentalism was born and the Muslim world changed irreversibly. Charity and tolerance were replaced by a repressive, brutal, xenophobic, hostile new religion -- Islamism.

Islam and Islamism are not the same. On the contrary, Islamism is a perversion of Islam.

The reverberations of 1979 are still being felt. Islamic 'revivals' are still happening at grass roots level in many countries. Few leaders dare to resist Islamism as it gains momentum.

Ultimately, it culminates in fanatical acts of violence, as we saw in America. There will be other atrocities. Ugly anti-Israel, anti-American propaganda looms everywhere

However, it is Israel that is central to the Arab terrorist problem. This is because Islamist theology does not allow for a Jewish state, especially when it bisects the Arab empire.

Israel also controls Jerusalem, Islam's third holiest city, which is an even bigger affront to the Arabs. Islamist ideology says control of Jerusalem is non-negotiable. Jerusalem must be under Islamic authority, so Israel must be liquidated.

Negotiating can never appease the fundamentalists on this issue. That's why terror networks like Osama bin Laden's and Hezbollah place a premium on killing Jews and Americans. Racism and xenophobia also reign. Afghanistan's hard line Taliban regime recently ordered all Hindus in the country to wear yellow identification badges. Sounds familiar?

Christian workers are regularly tortured and executed in Iran, Sudan and other Muslim countries where Christians are forbidden to practice their faith.

It is now time for everyone, especially our peaceful Muslims, to unite against these power-hungry evil psychopaths, who worship death instead of God. Britain is rapidly moving towards serious civil disorder unless we stand against Islamism's fundamentally flawed ideology.

DUNCAN WAREING, Annie Street, Accrington.