June 12, 2005

Bat Ye’or Interview: Palestinianism is the New Nazism

The hostile brilliance of Islam is that it moves so slowly that people usually don’t notice it happening. It’s like fungus growing. Decades go by, and all of a sudden women are being stoned to death and Christians and Jews are being persecuted and driven out of their homes.

Today, the Internet and the blogosphere permit us like never before to see through the eyes of others and to be aware of the insights of others. In effect it’s making us all smarter than ever. For this reason, today we have a chance to see what’s going on and, in this case, to prevent America from being taken over by Islam, the way so many other nations have been historically.

Bat Ye’or is an internationally known scholor of Islam. I’ve met her and heard her speak, as noted here. The Rutherford institute has a new interview with her.

From the introduction:

“I wrote these books,” said Bat Ye’or, “because I had witnessed the destruction, in a few short years, of a vibrant Jewish community living in Egypt for over 2,600 years and which had existed from the time of Jeremiah the Prophet. I saw the disintegration and flight of families, dispossessed and humiliated, the destruction of their synagogues, the bombing of the Jewish quarters and the terrorizing of a peaceful population.

...She examines the economic, political and ideological factors that are leading a whole continent [Europe] to choose dhimmitude [dhimmitude is oppression of non-Muslims] and gradually abandon its culture and freedom. This choice and the increase of Muslim immigration, as well as the pressure of Islamic terrorism, Ye’or argues, have concurred to widen the rift between America and a sinking Europe. Eurabia is Europe’s future, Ye’or believes, and it is the agent of the extension of dhimmitude worldwide.

...“I believe that we are living in a very crucial period, in which much of Western Civilization is at stake,” said Ye’or. “People do not fully comprehend the emergence of this new danger: the jihadist geostrategy of terror. Rather they analyze this new situation in the framework of the last conflict, the Cold War, and that is a dire mistake.”

From the interview:

The Massive Numbers of Nations Conquered by Islam:

John W. Whitehead : When did Islam originate?

Bat Ye’or: Islam was born in Arabia in the 7th century. It has conquered countries from Portugal to India, from Hungary to Sudan, in the course of a millennium of jihad. It has expanded on three continents: Africa, Europe and Asia. Jihad, therefore, is central to the development of the Islamic empires, their power, their culture and their civilization. Today, some progressive Muslims reject the jihad doctrine, but they are isolated voices.

How Jihad Can Use Terror and the Threat of War to Avoid Outright War and to Oppress and Subjugate Non-Muslims:

JW: In your book, you discuss at length the meaning of jihad, which is central to Islamic history and civilization. Few Americans understand what it means for them, their country and people around the world. Can you explain the significance of jihad and the danger it poses?

BY: Jihad represents both a doctrine and a jurisdiction elaborated from three sources: the Koran, the Hadiths (words and deeds attributed to the Prophet Muhammad) and the biographies of the Prophet. Treatises on jihad have been written down and explained by the four founders of Islamic jurisprudence in the 8th and 9th centuries. Since then, they have represented an important part of Islamic legislation as jihad regulates the relationship between Muslims and non-Muslims according to Islamic law.

According to the jihadic doctrine, the world is divided into two parts: Muslims and Infidels, the latter living in the dar al-harb, the land of war, because their land must be Islamized by peaceful means, or by war if they resist. Before attacking the Infidels, Muslims must first call them to convert; if they refuse, they are asked to pay a ransom; if they refuse again, Muslims have the duty to wage war on them. Truce is accepted on condition that the Infidels pay a regular ransom and put no obstacle to the spread of Islam in their own countries. There are other conditions also, like sending soldiers to fight for Islamic interests. A truce should not last more than 10 years, and it is allowed only when the Muslim ruler is weak. Otherwise, war against the Infidels is mandatory.

The treatises on jihad establish with a meticulous precision the tactics and means to conduct war, the type of truces allowed and the treatment of prisoners of war: male, female and children, the division of the booty, the characters of the land of the Infidels that has become Islamized, the rules to govern the submitted Infidels and so on.

...JW: Anti-Americanism has been building in Europe since World War II. Shouldn’t this have been foreseen?

BY: What was not foreseen by the European genitors of Eurabia was the upsurge of Islamism that has framed this Euro-Arab relationship within the jihadic conception of the world. In this perspective, Europe is considered a “land of truce.” Therefore, it has duties, the main one being to provide funds and support to Arab policies–like the anti-war and anti-American movement, as well as the demonization of Israel. Obedience is imposed through terrorist threats and acts, as we saw in Madrid in March 2004.

How European Media Collaborates in the Destruction of Europe’s Christan and Jewish Populations:

JW: How was this hate campaign conducted?

BY: The aggressors were encouraged by a media campaign in the Eurabian press of the whole EU, with incitements and caricatures similar to the Nazi period and by unfounded accusations of prominent politicians. Many Christians tried to oppose those slanders, but the censorship on any favorable view of Israel silenced them. We see now the same policy in Britain’s main university teachers’ union to agree to a Palestinian request to boycott two Israeli universities. The British Association of University Teachers (AUT) General Secretary Sally Hunt, announcing the boycott (April 22, 2005), said members are asked to avoid all academic or cultural cooperation with Haifa University and Bar-Ilan University in Tel Aviv. We see here how Palestinianism is a revival of Nazism. The aim of Euro-Palestinianism is to criminalize the birth of the State of Israel in order to create an Israeli guilt toward the Arabs, similar to the European guilt for the Holocaust, while in fact Israel represents the liberation of the Jewish people from the yoke of the jihad-dhimmitude rules imposed over all the Islamic empire, including the Land of Israel. This Eurabian policy endorses the legitimacy of jihadism, including against Christians.

Read the whole thing.

Replies: 4 comments

Your comments are welcome. Abusive remarks and trolls may be deleted. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of The Big Picture.

Enter a New Comment Here.
Smileys

Name:

Email:

URL:

Remember my personal information

Notify me of follow-up comments?

This helps us keep spammers from commenting. Thanks for your help!
Please submit the word you see below: