As one who speaks both English and Arabic, I have seen how the Arabs are the best at taking advantage of the language barrier between them and the West. While they mechanically issue tepid, self-pitying “condemnations” to Western news agencies in English,27the PA-controlled media, mosques, and schools continue to glorify the terrorist murderers in Arabic, and incite others to commit terrorist acts. Neighborhoods, streets, schools, and even a children’s soccer tournament are named after shahids, "martyrs.” Financial incentives are still paid to the families of terrorist murderers.28 Further, Abbas has repeatedly stated that he will not disarm and dismantle the terrorist organizations, as required by step one of the “road map.” Instead, he has incorporated Hamas and Islamic Jihad into the Palestinian security services, putting their gunmen and bombers on the Palestinian Authority payroll29 In explaining to the terrorist organizations that his opposition to violence was only tactical, he stated that negotiation with Israel is “a phase,"30 and that, therefore, “[t]his is not the time” to launch terrorist attacks into Israel.31 So, are we to wait for a better time, Commander Abbas?
Most important, although Abbas purports to accept the “two-state solution"—two independent and democratic states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side—such acceptance is specifically conditioned on an unlimited “right of return” for Palestinian “refugees.” Abbas has insisted many times, as prime minister of the PA and as its president, that the Palestinian “right of return” is nonnegotiable. According to this “right of return,” some 5 million Palestinian refugees would have the right to live within Israels pre-1967 borders, relegating Israeli Jews to minority status in their own country almost overnight. This is the strategy by which Abbas and the “moderate” Palestinians seek to destroy Israel by demographic rather than military means. This “moderate” strategy has very little support in the Palestinian “street.” In a June 2003 Pew Research poll, “80 percent of Palestinians said their 'rights and needs' cannot be met as long as Israel exists."32 The vast majority of Palestinians don’t even pretend to accept Israel’s right to exist.
If the Arab Muslim world had chosen to accept Israel’s right to exist, in 1947, or 1967, or 1993, or 2000, or at any time in the past half century, by now Israel would have helped them make their deserts bloom. Instead, the Arab world has chosen to fertilize the land with the blood of Israeli children. Could anything be more barbaric and depraved? Yes. In response to Ehud Barak’s offer at Camp David in July 2000, the Palestinians chose to sacrifice the blood of their own children to satisfy their hatred of Israel. The more Israel has tried to defend itself, the further into the forefront the Palestinians have pushed their children. First the Palestinians gave their children stones to throw. Now they wrap their children in dynamite and nails and send them to blow themselves up in Israeli restaurants and religious observances.33 Now Palestinians rejoice at the death of not only Israeli children, but their own.
In an attempt to mitigate or explain away this barbaric depravity, the Palestinian nationalist movement and its apologists cite the “desperation” that Palestinians experience because of the Israeli “occupation” of the West Bank and Gaza. However, Israel’s presence in the West Bank and Gaza began in June 1967. The first major terror bombing committed by Arabs against the Jewish state occurred more than nineteen years before the Israeli presence in the West Bank and Gaza. In fact, it occurred ten weeks before Israel became an independent state. On Sunday morning, February 22,1948, in anticipation of Israel’s independence, a triple truck bomb was detonated by Arab terrorists on Ben Yehuda Street in what was then the Jewish section of Jerusalem. Fifty-four people were killed and hundreds were wounded.34 Thus, it is obvious that Arab terrorism is caused not by the “desperation” of “occupation,” but by the very thought of a Jewish state.235
Further, and even more significantly, throughout history there have been populations that have lived in desperation, and none of them have resorted to the intentional targeting and murder of children as an officially practiced and widely praised mode of achieving political ends. When extremist elements of otherwise legitimate liberation movements such as the Republican Sinn Fein have committed such atrocities, their actions have been unconditionally condemned by the civilized world, and their political objectives have been discredited by their vile crimes. This is not so with the Palestinians. Once upon a time there was a special place in the lowest depths of hell for anyone who would intentionally murder a child. Now that place is in the pantheon of Palestinian heroes. Now that behavior is legitimized as “armed struggle” against Israeli “occupation” by, among others, the United Nations General Assembly, the UN Human Rights Commission, and the European Union.
Since the Iranian Revolution of 1979 and the rise of Hamas in 1987, the campaign to destroy Israel has taken on an ugly, fanatic religious tone. Holy obligation reinforces (and is replacing) Palestinian nationalism as the motivation for committing terrorist murder. As we have seen the secular, “moderate” factions of the Palestinian nationalist movement (such as Abbas’s Fatah Party) will shrink into insignificance, and is replaced by terrorist Islamic factions such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Hamas receives financial and material support from the same sources as al Qaeda, and from al Qaeda directly. Islamic Jihad receives financial and material support from Iran, directly and through Hezbollah. These are the same international criminal entities that wage religion-based terror war against the United States. They do it for the same reason and by the same means: to make Islam supreme in the world, by the sword or the suicide bomb.
Hamas' sweeping victory in the Palestinian election was a loud declaration by the Palestinian people to elect a radical Islamic movement dedicated to wiping Israel off the map.
The august international organizations charged with preserving peace and human dignity in the world—the UN, the EU, among others—would have preferred that terrorist atrocities be limited to Israel. However, once the intentional mass murder of innocent civilians was legitimized against Israel, it was legitimized everywhere, constrained by nothing more than the strongly held beliefs of those who would become the mass murderers. Because the Palestinians were encouraged by most of the world to believe that the murder of innocent Israeli civilians is a legitimate tactic to advance the Palestinian nationalist cause, the Islamists believe that they may commit mass murder anywhere in the world to advance their holy cause. As a result, we suffer from a plague of Islamic terrorism, from Moscow to Madrid, from Bali to Beslan, from Nairobi to New York, authored and perfected by the Palestinians. Israel and the United States are not separate targets of Islamic terrorism. The whole world is its target. Israel and the United States share the bull’s-eye.
12.
SOCIETIES ARE
NOT CREATED EQUAL
From birth, people are born with physical differences and into different political, social, religious, and economic situations. Some have higher IQs than others. Some have greater physical challenges than others. Some are born deaf, blind, crippled, or mentally challenged. Some are blessed with health throughout their lives, and some suffer from aches and pains and develop diseases at a young age. Some live to be a hundred and some die of a heart attack at forty-five. Some of the situations we face are drawbacks which are permanent and impossible to change or overcome. Others require a frank recognition of the problem, finding a solution, then implementing the solution and moving on. What sets individuals, nations, and cultures apart is how they overcome their physical or social and cultural challenges and develop into productive people making the world a safer, happier, and better place to live.
When someone is born with a physical or emotional problem, the malady or handicap becomes apparent right away because there are plenty of examples of what the norm is as seen in other people. On the larger scale of societies and cultures, it is more difficult to recognize problems within. Since societies and cultures are made up of the very people who are born into and raised with the community’s traditions and standards, it is hard
for those same people to recognize problems within, as they often have no point of reference to anything better. Any attempt to become countercultural and improve the situation or correct problems is often discouraged or outright forbidden, with dire consequences. What’s a rebel going to do?
When I first saw a dollar bill in the Middle East, I looked it over to see what it had to say or show me about this country that had captured my imagination. It gave me a couple of surprises. First, there was an Egyptian-style pyramid on the Great Seal, and second, there were the words “EPLURIBUSUNUM,” which I had never seen or heard while watching The Love Boat or Dynasty. It wasn’t till I was studying for my U.S. citizenship that I learned the words meant “Out of many, one.” It introduced me to the fact that this country was originally made up of people who recognized the problems and drawbacks their societies and cultures had, and wanted better. I also learned about the Washington whose picture was on that bill. I found out that he and others risked their lives as they spent their time and resources fighting for the ideals they knew would be the foundation for a better country. They worked to establish rights for the individual, rights that did not exist under other forms of government at that time. Their wisdom made this country a powerful and great nation, and there are people who will do anything to leave their societies and cultures and come here.
To borrow from the army recruiting slogan, you can be all you can be here in America. I recall visiting a chamber of commerce when my husband and I were starting our business and seeing a large display of informational pamphlets put out by the government to help small businesses prosper. Appreciating the wealth of information being freely offered, I said to him, “If you can’t make it in America, you can’t make it anywhere.” Your only limitations are the barriers created in your own mind. In Lebanon, the place I am most familiar with, to start a business you have to budget especially for bribery just to get the necessary legal documents you need to begin operations. Government employees and agencies not only are of no help but are actually a part of the problem. If you need special information about anything, you don’t even know where to start to get it.
America is a place of opportunity. It’s people-friendly! Very much so, compared to the Muslim countries in the world. People looking for better lives flock to America because we as a society do not mutilate young girls' genitals, do not cut off people’s hands for stealing. We do not stone people to death for committing adultery. We do not rape women and men for speaking up against our government. We do not forbid people to go to school and to learn because of their gender. We assume people are innocent until proven guilty. We give people the freedom to criticize our government and even burn our flag as an expression of speech. This is but a partial list of why America is superior in culture and values to many other countries in the world. This type of culture also thrives in Israel, the only Western-style nation in the Middle East, one that Arabs despise, feel threatened by, and vow to destroy.
Raised within the Judeo-Christian value system, we are taught from childhood “Do not judge others lest you be judged,” “Do unto others what you want others to do unto you,” and “Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil.” We in America have taken this a little further and have become deaf to evil, blind to evil, and incapable of speaking out against evil because as long as it does not affect us, it is none of our business. The Declaration of Independence says that “all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” We the people are entitled to equal rights under the law and should have the same opportunity to pursue our dreams, whatever those dreams may be; but it is not said anywhere that we as people are created equal in the material or societal and cultural sense by our creator. Societies and cultures are not created and do not develop equally. This harsh judgment may make you wince. It is not politically correct to say that our Western societies are better than the Muslim Arab societies, but we are, we have been, and we always will be, not because of our wealth but because of the way we think and live, and the values we hold dear and pass on to our future generations.
It infuriates me to hear self-loathing Americans, who have never experienced life in an oppressive culture or under an oppressive leadership such as is found in the Middle East, badmouth and put down our culture, government, and country in general. They find all sorts of things wrong with America and think it is insulting to non-Americans to acknowledge that our Western culture is in any way better than others. They are so concerned about hurting “feelings,” and nobody wants to be accused of being a holier-than-thou type. They should get out and see the world and how Arab Muslim leaders are really messing up other people’s lives and getting away with it. Just as it’s time to hold people accountable for their actions, it’s time to hold societies and cultures accountable for theirs also. It is by not judging others that you end up with evil people like bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, and suicide bombers driven by the ideology that you are worthless infidels who should be killed as Allah ordered. When you don’t stop evil in its tracks when you first recognize it, you will end up with a monster force that will spread its tentacles and affect the lives of millions. Because we did not want to judge evildoers such as the Palestinians bombing innocent Israelis, the Taliban taking over Afghanistan, and Saddam Hussein gassing his own people, we have helped create the monsters we are dealing with today.
Don’t be afraid to stand up and lift your head and be proud of what America and Western culture stand for. America did not pull itself out of the grip of tyranny and feudalism for nothing. America as a Western culture and as a nation is a tribute to men and women and God’s creation at its best. What other country offers a farmer’s son the opportunity to become president; lets an immigrant become a governor; allows a poor individual to attain the highest levels of education free of charge; and permits all to practice their religion openly, and respectfully, and to pursue the accumulation of wealth no matter their race, gender, or social status?
Lack of Education and Human Development
While many countries in the world are advancing, Arab countries are not only not moving forward, they are sliding backward. As the populations get poorer and poorer, their corrupt leaders become richer and richer. The UN recently published a report by “distinguished Arab intellectuals” about human development in Arab countries. Figures show that despite their oil wealth, the gross domestic product of all twenty-two Arab countries combined at the end of the twentieth century was little more than that of Spain and less than half that of Italy.1 Italy has 53 million people while Arabs number 300 million! And the Arab population is expected to increase to between 410 million and 459 million by 2020.2 The way things are going those Muslim Arab societies don’t have to create anything, just destroy what others have done, terrorize them into submission, and walk in and take it over for Allah.
The illiteracy rate in the Arab world is not only higher than the world average; it is higher than the average in developing countries.3For instance, the illiteracy rate in the Arab world is more than three times higher than in Latin America and the Caribbean,4 and illiteracy in the Arab world is increasing.5 About one-third of Arab men and half of Arab women were illiterate in 2002. The scientific research and technological development produced by all of the Arab countries combined is less than 1 percent of the world’s total.6 In the Arab world, approximately 330 books are translated into Arabic each year. By contrast, each year Greece translates over 1,500 books into Greek, and Spain translates approximately 100,000 books into Spanish.7
Does that give you an idea about the lack of education and the lack of development in human resources, and in creating a productive, informed, viable population in these countries? In 1998, a grand total of three technology patents were granted to the entire Arab world. The Republic of Korea alone received 779 technology patents in the same time period.8 Also, between 1980 and 2000, the combined patents created by the Arab world totaled 370.
South Korea alone created more than 16,000 patents in the same time period.9What has created such an impediment to what was a flourishing area in ancient times?
If you take their oil away, oil that the West discovered and developed, what have the Arab countries exported to the world other than grief, suicide bombers, and terrorism? Their list of exports in the last century and this one has provided us with severed heads, mutilated bodies, the murder of innocent children, the spilling of infidel blood, and celebrations of the death of Americans and Jews. While the Western world focuses on space exploration, developing scientific cures for deadly diseases, rescuing tsunami and earthquake victims, and creating beautiful art for the world to enjoy, Arab Muslims are creating museums, such as the Palestinian Museum at al-Najah University in Nablus, that display pictures of savagely mutilated bodies and heads floating in a pool of blood, and show videos that glamorize booby traps, blood spilling, and martyrs enjoying the bliss of heaven. When they could be giving money to alleviate human suffering, filthy-rich Saudi sheikhs are spending millions on self-aggrandizing monuments such as mosques, Islamic schools, and higher-education centers to promote a radical ideology that has caused and threatens to cause untold death and destruction in the Western world. Relatively feeble attempts to appear humanitarian, such as when Saudi prince Al-Waleed bin Talal tried to donate $10 million to New York City after 9/11, are rejected. Ten million dollars spent to rid Islam of its radical, dangerous, and intolerant element within would be better spent. Ten million dollars spent on books and schools teaching tolerance and respect for other faiths would make the world a better place. Ten million dollars goes a long way in a country where people make on average twelve thousand dollars a year.
Because They Hate: A Survivor of Islamic Terror Warns America Page 24
