The 9/11 incident helped focus this anger, and sadly, this meant that even the most peace-loving and law-abiding Muslims in the community were "tarred with the same brush" as the Al-Qaeda terrorists.

There is nothing new in all this. In the 19th century, many illiterate Chinese peasants sought to escape the grinding poverty at home by immigrating to countries like the United States, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. They took on hard, dirty, low-paying jobs working in the mines and helping to build railroads.

These migrants were socially isolated, helping to create the Chinatowns that are a feature of many big Western cities these days.

In the United States, they became the focus of public outrage in each economic downtown. Unscrupulous union bosses told their members "the reason you can't find work is because the Chinese are stealing your jobs by working for low wages."

From there, it was a small step to anti-Chinese riots and other forms of discrimination to deny the migrants their legal and political rights.

More recently, Adolf Hitler and his Nazis preached a beguiling message to the German public that blamed all social and economic ills on the Jews. So, the persecution began, concentration camps sprang up and six million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust.

Today's world is a complex one in which most of us at times has probably felt an inability to cope with challenges of living a fast-paced life on a conveyor belt.

What's gone wrong? Why has the world got into such a mess?

The fundamentalist has a simple answer. All will be well with we return to the age-old verities. The Christian fundamentalist blames the Devil and says we must seek out and destroy all those who are doing the devils work. The Islamic fundamentalist seems to offer a similar message: all will be well if we return to the pure form of Islam as existed at its foundation.

Always there is a desire to seek scapegoats. Who is to blame? They are! Just as Hitler and his ilk said, only when Europe becomes complete free of Jews will all be well.

Substitute "migrant" for "Jew" and the story is brought right up to date. We all need to watch the Breivik trial closely to consider what lessons it offers us for dealing with one of the great dangers to humankind today.

English-born Geoffrey Murray is a former Vietnam War correspondent and long-time writer on Asian affairs who now teaches writing at a top university in Beijing.

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.