| FrontPageMag.com | By Robert Spencer | By Hugh Fitzgerald | Books | Dhimmi Watch | Islam 101 | Qur'an Blog | Raymond Ibrahim | Robert Spencer |  |
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The erudite and eloquent Hugh Fitzgerald, who has graced Jihad Watch with numerous insightful comments, has a superb piece in FrontPage today about how the PA's overtures to Hamas reveal the Palestinian struggle to be just part of the larger global jihad.
All the hard work, all the bribes to diplomats and members of the media, all the subventions to public relations firms, all the enrolling in the Jihad against Israel even of “Christian” Muslims among the “Palestinian” Arabs such as Hanan Ashrawi, Naim Ateek, and Archbishop Sabbah, may now come to naught. With the Palestinian Authority (PA) inviting Hamas into its government, and with the Christian population among the “Palestinian” Arabs now so small (it was once over 20%, and now hovers under 3%, for they are all fleeing the thoroughly Islamized PA), the true nature of the Palestinian nationalist movement has become clear to all. The mask that hid the Jihad has now slipped.No Krazy Glue will keep it in place. It is clear that even under the assorted, transparently implausible suggestions, for example that of a “bi-national state” (of which the late unlamented Edward Said used to prate), Jews in Israel would inevitably be assigned their historic role as non-Muslim dhimmis – the same one that they endured for nearly 1300 years under Islam, and as those Christian communities that remain now endure: the Copts in Egypt, the Chaldeans in Iraq, and others. (The Maronites are a self-confident, self-contained exception—though the Taif Treaty, which forced Lebanon to declare itself an “Arab nation,” has done great damage to the Christian Lebanese, who -- especially the Maronites -- correctly see themselves as “users of Arabic, “Arabic speakers,” but not as Arabs.)
As non-Muslims, Jews under Islam lived lives that were extremely difficult. Whether it was the outright slave-status of rural Yemenite Jews (as documented in an essay by R.S. Serjeant, himself a quasi-apologist for Islam, who described how, when a Jew owned by Arabs of Tribe A was killed by an Arab of Tribe B, then the members of Tribe A would retaliate by killing a Jew belong to Tribe B), the extreme poverty of Moroccan or Tripolitanian Jews, or even the relative prosperity, for a few decades under late-Ottoman, British, and early-Hashemite rule, of the Jews of Baghdad -- a prosperity-punctuated-by-pogrom (e.g. the Farhud, or Pogrom, of June 1-2, 1941) -- it amounts to the same thing. Humiliation, degradation, and insecurity for all non-Muslims.
The desire to ensure that all non-Muslims who are not killed, or who do not convert, suffer the same fate — as the shari’a dictates — is not limited to the Jews under Islam. Obstinate Infidels are now noticing that Al Qaeda is only the most prominent and mediagenic of the many groups intent on destroying Infidels if they oppose Muslim aims, including the world-wide spread of dar al-Islam: Laskar Jihad, Jaish-e-Toiba, Abu Sayyaf, Lashkar Jihad, Gemaaa Islamiyya, Jemaa Islamiah, Jaish-e-Mohammad, and so many others.
The difference between Hamas and the P.A. is like that between “extremist” and “moderate” Muslim spokesmen: the “extremists” tell the truth about the teachings of Islam, and have considerable, indeed overwhelming, textual authority, in Qur'an and hadith and the sira, or life of Muhammad, on their side. It is the “moderates,” so brightly and repeatedly invoked, and yet so ill-defined and under-analyzed and poorly understood, who have almost no textual authority on their side, and are, to the degree that they abjure Jihad and dhimmitude, incomplete or bad Muslims. Why do they remain silent? Out of embarrassment, filial piety, or something else — perhaps taqiyya or kitman, deliberate religiously-sanctioned deception.
The goals of the PA have always been the same as those of Hamas. It will be fascinating to see if those who dole out the American and European largesse to the PA will now be quite so willing to continue. By supporting the PA, Western Infidel taxpayers are now clearly supporting one front of the worldwide Jihad -- the one which has for decades been wearing its increasingly threadbare disguise of a nationalist “liberation” struggle — just enough of a disguise, apparently, to continue to satisfy the extremely modest demands of Eurabian donors.
Europeans seemingly incapable of recognizing the Jihad, of understanding Islam or the demographic threat to their own societies, may at last find the diseased sympathies evoked in them by that alliterative and meretricious phrase, the “plight of the Palestinian people” no longer quite so forthcoming. Hamas or Hezbollah or Al-Aksa Martyr's Brigade, Arafat or Shukairy, it scarcely matters. From Abu Sayyaf in the distant Moro Islands, to the preachers at the Finsbury Mosque, to the Lackawanna Five, in upstate New York, to Mike Hawash of Intel and Portland, Oregon, setting out to join the Jihad, so that he might help his fellow Muslims kill his fellow Americans, in Afghanistan — they are all in the same boat.
Alas, so are we.
Posted by Robert at April 14, 2004 8:06 AM
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I want to thank Hugh for giving some historical background of non-Muslims (especially Jews) living under Muslims. I didn't know those particular details.
But concerning the PA and Hamas, I've known since the signing of Oslo that their goals have been the same - it is only their tactics which differ. However, if you understand Arabic, it is quite clear from Arafat's speeches in Arabic that they share the ultimate goal - the eradication of Israel (and Jordan as well) and the establishment of an Islamic state, notwithstanding the supposed secularism of Arafat.
Posted by: Chaya Eitan at April 14, 2004 8:50 AMHugh has hit the nail on the head. The Islamists desire that ALL peoples and the governments of all nations be changed to Islam - this is the teaching of the Koran. This means that ALL muslims must do everything in their power to overthrown (by words and by force) the government. This means that every Muslim in the US should be viewed as a terrorist. The practice of Kitman or religiously sanctioned deception (read that to mean lying) is what we witness when there is a trial of a Muslim in the US (see trial of Fazal Karim). They tell us that they are moderates while at the same time sending money to terrorists through their mosques in the US - outright sedition or treason. President Bush has declared the war that Clinton was loath to declare. We have been under attack for many years - commencing with TWA 103, through Kobar, the Cole, the WTC, and now Spain. The islamists must be confronted everywhere, everyday and always. The Islamists view is slavery for everyone who is not Muslim - I for one will not see my wife and family subjected to dhimminitude. I lived in a Muslim country for two years and it was disgusting. It is time to recognize a concerted religious war throughout the world and attack accordingly.
Posted by: BobB at April 14, 2004 12:24 PMI particularly like how he pointed out that the moderates have almost no textual authority on their side, and can simply be defined as bad muslims.
It occurs to me that it takes time, at least decades, to develop textual authority. This is something I thought about in relation to neopagans, that their religion can be a force for good when put into application by people whose humanistic principles tend towards goodness anyway, but the quality of writing in the movement is so low as to give it very little textual authority, therefore there is very little transmission of real moral teaching. It seems moderate islam finds itself in a similar situation: is it as recent a phenomenon as neopaganism?
Did anyone else notice that in this list there are repetitions?
Laskar Jihad, Jaish-e-Toiba, Abu Sayyaf, Lashkar Jihad, Gemaaa Islamiyya, Jemaa Islamiah, Jaish-e-Mohammad
Lashkar Jihad and Laskar Jihad
Gemaaa Islamiyya and Jemaa Islamiah
are surely just variant spellings
Those were not repetitions, but groups, in different Muslim countries, which use essentially the same name; when transliterated, those names come out differently. For example, there is Laskar Jihad in one country, and Lashkar Jihad in another (think of Pope's gloss on that Biblical episode: "Where forty thousand met their death/Incapable of shibboleth.") . Gemaah Islamiya, or some such, in Egypt has the same name as Jemaah Islamiah in Indonesia. My list was supposed to be funny (the editor wouldn't let me fill up the page in "Sinbad the Sailor and Tinbad the Tailor and Winbad the Whaler" style of Ulysses, so I had to stop).
It was supposed to be funny, reminiscent of any similar list, such as the "comical-historical, pastoral-tragical, tragical-comical" list of the Players' Offerings in Hamlet; good clean fun, no miching mallecho, intended. If it wasn't clear, oops!
Posted by: Hugh at April 14, 2004 12:53 PMHugh has done it again and BobB is right in his comment. I totally support this President and his policies but this government either doesn't understand the scope of this threat or knows that our citizens wont accept the truth about it. I am afraid that it will take a truely catastrophic event(W.M.D.) to wake us and the rest of the world up. Victory or Death!!!
Posted by: boardingpike at April 14, 2004 3:41 PMHugh - Once again thank you for your insight. All of here do appreciate how well you keep us informed and help us with our history lessons.
Bob is correct. I wonder if the government is as obtuse on this matter as they seem to be. Political correctness may keep them from actually saying anything about the threat of the unholy partnership of the Left and Islam.
The creeping Islamization of our society fueled by the Left is as obvious as the proverbial nose on your face. Surely someone in Washington must be aware of this problem considering that we are constantly telling them.
Posted by: epg at April 14, 2004 4:17 PMHe says "the mask slips in Gaza". Zionazistan must be a good example of "Diversity" that is so good for Jews when they live abroad. You are not going to see a single Christian remain in Jew controlled ghettos because their are enough civilised countries willing to give them asylum from Jewish terror. So many of them have already taken such an opportunity, and no one can blame them. Who gives you the right to tell them to stay and be killed?
Shame those same embassies don't offer the same chance to the Muslims.
Posted by: Hood Jihadi at April 14, 2004 6:59 PMUmm, Hoody, you need to call your pusher and demand your money back. Based on your last post, which was even more confused than most, you got some really bad dope.
Posted by: Dave at April 14, 2004 9:28 PMWhere is our state department on this? Do we hear anything of any intelligence from them or are they all on the Saudi payroll getting ready for their next consultant job? I have heard that Jimmy Carter is a consultant for a Saudi "company" too. Does anyone know if this is true?
Posted by: Marilyn at April 15, 2004 7:20 AM
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