Remember: it's not hate when he says it. It's only hate when non-Muslims report on it. "Kuwaiti Muslim Brotherhood Leader And Director Of Saudi Al-Risala TV Tareq Al-Suwaidan Tours West, Promoting Restoration Of Caliphate And New Era Of Cyber Jihad," by Steven Stalinsky for MEMRI, June 14:
Introduction
Tareq Al-Suwaidan, 58, is a prominent Kuwaiti Islamist preacher and a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Kuwait,[1] as well as a popular Islamic motivational speaker and TV preacher; he earns more than $1 million a year from his talks and TV shows. His CD "Lives of the Prophets" has sold well over two million copies.[2]
Al-Suwaidan has strong ties to the West, from attending high school and college and residing in the U.S. to preaching to large audiences in the U.K. and Canada, as well as in Australia – where he is visiting June 9-18, to speak in Melbourne and Sydney. He speaks to Western audiences at venues such as Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar; his followers and his audiences in the West range from groups of recent converts to Islam to fundraising events for major Muslim American organizations. He frequently supports Western and U.S. Muslim organizations. While Al-Suwaidan's speeches and remarks in English are often moderate,[3] in Arabic he often espouses extremist ideas.
Lived 17 Years In The U.S.
In a 2006 interview, Al-Suwaidan said that he lived in the U.S. from age 17; he attended high school there, and subsequently "graduated from the University of Oklahoma in the United States in petroleum engineering with a minor in management" and went on to remain in the country for 17 years,[4] also earning a B.S. from Pennsylvania State University.
In an interview on Hamas's Al-Quds TV that aired on March 26, 2012, Al-Suwaidan discussed his experiences living in the U.S. and his antisemitic views, and noting that Jews control both "money and the media." He said: "We rely upon Allah and then upon our armed resistance in obtaining our rights." He continued: "The most dangerous thing facing the Muslims is not the dictatorships. The absolutely most dangerous thing is the Jews. They are the most dangerous. They are the greatest enemy." The following is the transcript of the interview:
Al-Suwaidan: "I studied at the Petroleum Department at the University of Oklahoma, and our dean, who was a Christian American, retired. The man they brought to replace him was completely incompetent. I went to the former dean, Dr. Guerrero, and asked him: 'What made them choose Dr. Sylvester as the new dean, even though he is unworthy of this?' I was still a student back then. He laughed and said: "You noticed?" I said: 'Of course. Anybody with eyes in his head would notice.' He said: 'It's because he is a Freemason.' This Guerrero began to curse the Jews and the Freemasons, saying that they control everything.
"This is just a little story from Oklahoma in the middle of America. Now think what happens in New York or California, the centers of power...
"When I was still in the U.S., we decided to try to influence a member of Congress, who seemed to be somewhat sympathetic towards us. He was campaigning in the elections, and we said: 'Let us Muslims vote and raise funds for him.' We raised $300,000 and went to give it to him, saying: 'Take this money, we support you, and you will support us politically.' He refused. We asked why, and he said: 'The Jews were here yesterday and gave me $300 million.'...
"I have no hope that the West will change its positions. I can change the positions of some Westerners, but at the end of the day, power lies with the politicians, who are influenced by two things and two things only: money and the media, both of which are controlled by the Jews.
"So we should make the effort, but we must not rely on Western aid or on Western popular sympathy. These are minor things. We rely upon Allah and then upon our armed resistance in obtaining our rights...
"I say to the Arabs today: 'Please do not negotiate. You are weak and would end up making unnecessary concessions. If you are incapable of regaining the holy city [of Jerusalem], I beg you to leave it occupied. A generation will come that will liberate it for us.' We do not want negotiations or compromises while in a state of weakness, because we would end up relinquishing what the strong would not give up." [...]
Interviewer: "The principle of compromise states that we should get whatever we can. Its supporters say: Let's accept this, so that Palestine is not entirely lost. Some Arab regimes have even begun to lament [their objection to] the [1947 U.N.] Partition Plan. In order not to repeat the same mistake, they say, let's take what is being offered –"
Al-Suwaidan: "This is a defeatist mentality, adopted by the weak. Let me say something to you, to the viewers, and to the Palestinians: This land is not yours. Palestine, the Holy Land – and especially Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque – does not belong to the Palestinians. It belongs to the entire Islamic nation. You have no right to relinquish or divide it. By Allah, even if all the Palestinians accept a compromise and hand over Jerusalem, we will not agree to that. Even if you become weak and surrender, we will not weaken. We will continue to wage resistance until we liberate it. These are our holy places. This is the Islamic mentality as I understand it....
"I'm from Kuwait, but my first and foremost cause in this world is that of Palestine and Jerusalem. Palestine and Jerusalem come before Kuwait for me, because I'm a Muslim, and I believe in my holy places. A nation that relinquishes its holy places becomes worthless. Even if all the Palestinians relinquish it, the Islamic nation will not....
"In a nutshell, my strategy is as follows: We must consolidate the position of the Palestinians within Palestine as much as possible. We must support the armed resistance in Gaza, and if possible, we must spread it to the West Bank, and even to Palestine [within the 1948 borders]. If we can, we should do that. Third, the countries bordering [Israel] must be serious in their resistance to the Zionist entity. Thanks to Allah, there are signs of this. Fourth, this must be a mission for the entire Islamic nation. Everyone should support this cause. The most dangerous thing facing the Muslims is not the dictatorships. The absolutely most dangerous thing is the Jews. They are the most dangerous. They are the greatest enemy."...
Al-Suwaidan SlideShare.com Presentation: Four Phases to Restoring the Caliphate: 2011-2030
On November 21, 2011, Al-Suwaidan posted his presentation "Towards the New Islamic Civilization" on the popular SlideShare.com website.[12] This slideshow is in English, but it is noted that an Arabic version is available. The presentation, with 135 slides, lays out Al-Suwaidan's vision for the return of the Caliphate, in four phases.
In his introductory remarks, Al-Suwaidan wrote: "This PowerPoint presentation summarizes the ideas of this change model. I’ve developed these ideas over a period of five years but really focused on the details during the last two. I plan to publish a book in Arabic on this topic."
Enumerating the "Major Crisis Factors" facing the Muslim world, Al-Suwaidan points to "Military Strength," underlining the Islamic countries' meager number of nuclear warheads in their possession. He states: "We may be able to provide numbers for our armies, but we import a large percentage of our weapons. When it comes to advanced weapons, we rely almost exclusively on Western countries. Although Iran and Pakistan purportedly have some nuclear capability, it is not known to surpass that of Israel and India."
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