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Nonie Darwish speaking at a Book Store in Los Angeles
Nonie Darwish, author of "Now They Call Me Infidel: Why I Renounced Jihad for America, Israel, and the War on Terror," spoke this week at a Barnes & Noble bookstore in Los Angeles. She grew up in Gaza, as a Muslim, and provides insights into that culture from first-hand experience.
The following quotes are from my hand-written notes of her remarks (not expected to be verbatim):
[As a child] in Gaza elementary schools I was taught hatred, vengeance and retaliation. Peace was not an option. When I asked, why do we hate the Jews, I was asked, aren't you a good Muslim? ...Shame is very powerful.
...My classmates read poems of Jihad aloud, wishing through the poems, to become shaheed - martyrs - to die in killing Jews. These are 7 and 8 year-old children.
...The oil money was never used to build hospitals, jobs, universities. All the money went to build Hamas [and other terrorist organizations.] Those who wanted a good life joined Hamas. Those who wanted peace were shot in the public square.
Muslim apologists say if it weren't for the occupation, there would be no terrorism. But what about terrorism against Israel that I witnessed? It wasn't there only after the occupation. It was there before the occupation - it was there all the time.
I witnessed honor killings of girls. Sharia law oppresses women terribly. A woman, no matter how powerful - even a doctor - if she has to go to court, her testimony is worth only one-half that of a man's.
...I never heard a peace song in Arabic. In Israel, every other song had "shalom" in it. But Arabic songs are all about jihad and martyrdom. These were the songs we heard on the radio over and over and over again.
...In mosques, the prayers were that we will destroy the infidels and the Jews.
Muslim clergy have failed miserably in stabilizing our society. No government is Islamic enough for the clergy. That's why most Arab governments are always struggling to stay in power. The leaders who want to open their societies get assassinated, like President Anwar Sadat.
...The book itself [the Koran] is not the problem. It is the people who are using it to take over the world.
...In Amman, Jordan, acid was thrown on a girl, because she wouldn't cover and wear a burqa.
...It took me years to figure out that I too was indoctrinated. One of the events that helped open my eyes was when my brother had a stroke. He collapsed. The question was whether to take him to Cairo hospital, or to Hadassah hospital in Jerusalem. Each and every Arab there said, you must take him to Hadassah hospital in Jerusalem. When the chips were down they knew they could trust the Jews. Arab media doesn't report on that - not even Western media. I visited Hadassah hospital, and I could see the Arab children in beds right next to the Jewish children, being treated by the same doctors.
...The true freedom fighters are the Iraqi voters who went to vote; the people in the Mid-East who are fighting for peace with Israel; and the people of Israel - they are the true freedom fighters.
The way the Jews have been treated by my culture is a disgrace and a tragedy. Nobody should be called apes and pigs from the pulpits of mosques. And this is happening every day.
...Al-Azhar university, which is over 1,000 years old, teaches jihad as war against infidels. This definition has to be changed. Until it changes there will always be people willing to die for jihad.
Iran is fighting the rest of the Arab world in Iraq. The Shia in Iran are getting power from Iran.
Let's unite. Because when they come to hurt us they don't ask whether you are Republican or Democrat. The jihadists hate you because you're not Muslim. They want to take over your country.
During the Q&A, Nonie spoke on several additional subjects. On CAIR:
In 1998 the chairman of CAIR said that Islam isn't in America to be equal, but to be dominant, and to make Islam the law of the land.
It's easy to find links for the quote she's referring to. Here's the quote, from one such link: "The real goal of [CAIR] was made clear by its chairman, Omar M. Ahmad, who told a rally of California Muslims in 1998: 'Islam isn't in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant. The Koran should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on earth.'"
Nonie, on honor killings:
I personally knew a 16-year-old girl who was killed by her father. ...She had been raped.
...An Arab an can be very powerful, but if one of his female relatives is not sexually pure, no one will give him respect.
Nonie has founded the web site, ArabsForIsrael.com.
