| FrontPageMag.com | By Robert Spencer | By Hugh Fitzgerald | Books | Jihad Watch | Robert Spencer | Islam 101 | Qur'an Blog |  |
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I am pleased to announce that Hugh Fitzgerald has accepted a position as Vice President of the Jihad Watch Board of Directors. I believe he is one of the most brilliantly insightful commentators on the scene today, and am honored that he has joined forces with my humble efforts. Here is Hugh's take on an unsigned New York Times editorial today on the murder of Theo van Gogh.
One must read the editorial apropos the situation in Holland in today's New York Times. It is a masterpiece of willful miscomprehension and sly mistatement.First, the title:
Deadly Hatreds in the Netherlands
Note: Hatreds, in the plural. You see, all sorts of people apparently "hate" other people, and everyone is to blame, and no one is guilty, and...
Second, the text:
"Something sad and terrible is happening in the Netherlands, long one of Europe's most tolerant, decent and multicultural societies....brazen murder...10-minute film...horrific violence that Msulim women can be subject to by family members in the name of religion."
Stop right there: "in the name of religion" implies that the connection is factitious, not really there. They do things, bad things, not because their religion clearly prompts them to do them. No, they do them misusing that religion, falsely, wrongly, "in the name of that religion."
A little further on:
"It's just been a little more than two years since a Dutch extremist shot Pim Fortuyn, a rising populist politician who portrayed Muslim immigration as a grave threat to the nation's traditions of tolerance."
"Portrayed" -- get that? He attempted to paint it, to depict it, as something it of course was not. There were many other verbs that might have used: Pim Fortuyn
"said that Muslim immigration was a grave threat" OR
"charged that Muslim immigration was a grave threat" OR
"warned that Muslim immigration was a grave threat" OR
my favorite,
"argued that Muslim immigration was a grave threat."
But the Times won't have it: Pim Fortuyn was a rabble-rouser (some "populist" he was, this cultivated and humorful man), and he "portrayed" something nice (Islam) in an unflattering light.
The Times then tells us that "urgent efforts are needed to better manage the cultural tensions perilously close to the surface of Dutch public life."
Stop right there. "Cultural" tensions? What "cultural" tensions would those be, pray tell? Are the native Dutch inflicting terrible damage on the Muslim immigrants who have taken over whole swaths of cities, and are attempting to undo Dutch society, Dutch political, economic, social, and intellectual arrangements? This is not a "clash of cultures" -- it is the workings out, in real life, of a belief-system whose elements can, if only the Times wanted to spare a reporter or two (what in god's name does it take to get them to take Islam seriously, and to stop repeating their mistakes with Duranty on the Soviet Union, and their sickening, and murderous, inattention from 1930 to 1945 to antisemitism and Hitler's war on the Jews? No shame, none, in the upper reaches of The New York Times. Secure in their own unassailable and unshakeable ignorance.)
There is only the "tension" that is created by an aggressively hostile belief-system -- hostile to all those who dare to say a word about that belief-system that does not consist of apologetics.
Finally, the Times assures its readers:
"The problem is not Muslim immigration [millions of intelligent Dutch people beg to differ] but a failure to plan for a smoother transition to a more diverse society."
Look, and look again, and think, and think again, about that last phrase:
"a failure to plan for a smoother transition to a more diverse society."
What does this mean? Does it mean that the Dutch should reconcile themselves to surrendering, in the first place, the right of free speech, including the right to make a movie called "Submission"? Is that part of the "smoother transition" to a more "diverse" society that of course we all want so much to achieve?
If that "diverse society" means accommodating murder on the streets of Amsterdam, oh New York Times editorialist, sorry -- no can do.
If it means refusing to study either the tenets of Islam, or the history of Muslim subjugation of non-Muslims, about which there are many studies, from what happened to the Hindus in India to the Zoroastrians in Persia, to the Greco-Buddhist civilization of Central Asia, to the Christians and Jews of Mesopotamia, Syria, Judea, North Africa, and Spain (the real Spain, not the Spain of Washington Irving or Maria Rosa Menocal's dreamy fantasies), that to is something some Dutch people, and many Americans, are simply unwilling to do.
The Times vision of a "more diverse society" ignores the fact that Muslims do not believe in, or want, or have anything but contempt and hatred for, a "diverse society." They want a society that is Muslim, from top to bottom. If they do not call for the immediate imposition of the Shari'a (and by the way, some do), if they do not all echo certain Muslim leaders, such as Jahjah in Belgium, for a total parallel society, governed by Muslim (i.e. shari'a) law within the lands of the Infidels, the Bilad al-kufr, that is only because -- for the moment -- they are not sufficiently numerous to impose their will. But if nothing is done, they will be.
Is it too much to ask the Editorial Board of the New York Times to study -- I will be happy to supply a reading list -- the history of Islam, and to familiarize itself thoroughly with what is contained in Qur'an, hadith, sira, and the major commentators? Is that really too much for them to bother with?
Oh, and if they can't bear to come to this website, would the editors of The Times be willing to talk with Ibn Warraq or Ali Sina or any number of highly intelligent ex-Muslims, who have written a good deal on what Islam teaches its Believers to believe, and why, as Ibn Warraq has shown, this Total Explanation of the Universe-cum-Total Regulation of Believers' Lives=cum-Blaming of Infidels for All Worldly Woes Whatsoever should be taken seriously, and the consequences of its unhindered spread, through migration, legal and illegal, and Da'wa (the Call to Islam), aided and abetted by hirelings of the Arabs and Muslims (a long list could be given here), including soi-disant "scholars" of Islam, but also including the truly ignorant, the truly lazy, the truly stupid -- of whom, alas, The New York Times, one is afraid, is supplying its share.
Posted by Robert at November 5, 2004 5:14 PM
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This ignorant dhimmi refers to Hirsi Ali as "a screenwriter." A more blatant example of his ignorance of the whole situation is not to be found.
Posted by: Suzan![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/nav-commenters.gif)
at November 5, 2004 5:22 PM
Daniel Mandel raises the issue of the NYT in the Baltimore sun.
It must be said that the subject of press dhimitude must be addressed more strongly and the excuses of reuters et al investigated,.
why should we let the media carry on poisoning the minds of its readers.
Ironically , it is quite credible that this has contributed to the re election of George Bush as folks become more disgusted.
http://netwmd.com/articles/article772.html
"Why, therefore, do the media persist in sanitizing terrorism and tainting counterterrorism? Out of bias and fear. Contrary to what is normally claimed, a bias is at work in which the nature of the attacks matters less than the identity of the parties carrying them out. This illegitimate practice started with the media disfavoring Israel and favoring Palestinians. It has not stopped there...."
Posted by: george at November 5, 2004 5:33 PM
The truth is that News reporting has become so editiorialised that one must protect one eyes amd ears.
We are in the age of editorially disguised news!
at November 5, 2004 5:41 PM
Congratulations to both JW/DW and Hugh Fitzgerald!
A DREAM team!
I'll celebrate as I sit by the fireplace wrapped in a warm throw, sip fine wine and devour the information in my newly purchased copy of Spencer's book, "Onward Muslim Soldiers" .
Freely accessing JW/DW information is soooo refreshing.
THANK YOU . . .AND CONGRATULATIONS!
Posted by: justamomof4 at November 5, 2004 6:35 PM
Congratulations Hugh. I look forward to your contributions (as do the other readers I'm sure).
Posted by: johnb at November 5, 2004 7:38 PM
Congratulations Hugh! I read every word you write and it is always such a pleasure to learn from you.
Just a question to Robert Spencer: Do you have any idea of the readership for your websites? Because I have already directed about ten of my friends here and they all tell me how impressed they are. The more we promote you the more people get to read and learn and the more the truth comes out and is disseminated throughout the world.
Everybody reading this website should prosletyse for jihadwatch.com and dhimmiwatch.com...prosletyse like a Salafi fanatic and bring the sleeping people to read the truth about Islam courtesy of messrs Spencer and Fitzgerald :-)
best wishes
at November 5, 2004 7:56 PM
Kaffir Boy,
The site currently gets around 250,000 hits per day. How that translates into numbers of readers, I don't know.
Best
RS
at November 5, 2004 8:24 PM
Congrats! Hugh and Robert. The task is big, so the more hands the better. Hugh, tell Robert he needs to advertise on JW/DW in order to raise more revenue (Google AdSense and BlogAds, etc.)
Posted by: markjames at November 5, 2004 8:41 PM
Congratulations to JW for the addition of the eminent and knowledgeable Hugh Fitzgerald to the Board of Directors.
Indeed we have enjoyed and profited from your many posts and hope that your new position doesn't mean that you will discontinue your efforts to educate us.
Thank you both for all you have done.
Posted by: epg at November 5, 2004 8:41 PM
Clearly, the unsigned editorial writer didn't do much research on the subject. If he had, he might have come across this 2002 piece from the BBC about Dutch efforts to familiarize imams with Dutch culture:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2525407.stm
Granted, the notion of introducing fundamentalist Muslim clerics to concepts such as prostitution and homosexuality freely embraced in Holland but reviled by Islam is somewhat amusing. But it does show that at least some effort has been made.
Posted by: scaramouoche at November 5, 2004 8:47 PM
Robert is our Moses and Hugh is our Aaron. Ok, lead us out of the Jihad wilderness into the Jihad-free Promised Land.
Posted by: markjames at November 5, 2004 8:52 PM
Hugh is now under assistant West Coast promotion man for Jihad Watch. Lead Vocal: Mick Jagger Harmonica: Brian Jones Guitar: Keith Richards Drums: Charlie Watts Bass: Bill Wyman Piano: Ian Stewart
And I luv it. You are a great writer Hugh. You got Muhammadanism down pat! You know it better than the top Mullahs and Ayatollahs. They got nothing on you!
Posted by: dennisw at November 5, 2004 8:55 PM
The News that Jihad watch enjoys something like 250,000 hits a day is truly wonderful.
I had never dreamt that support would rise to these levels!
MAny congratulations on this and the academic level of this site, which by not being hateful , demonstrates clearly the Issues we are all facing in a serious way.
at November 5, 2004 9:02 PM
I just sent this to the NYT editor (unfortunately I sent this before reading your page. I now see that I have missed some errors).
Dear Editor,
I read your editorial on 4 November, and I concluded that it contained several factual errors.
I am a Dutch citizen who has lived in the US for the past 4 years. A few weeks before I left The Netherlands, I was assaulted by five Moroccan youths while I was unlocking my bike (3 locks because of the high incidence of bike theft) for being white. This is something I’d have expected in Harlem, but not in my hometown! Their only motivation seemed to be to do as much damage as they could in as short a time as possible and scurry back to the adjacent neighborhood. I have the police report to prove it.
I therefore have something personal to add to the discussion, considering someone not very different from my own assailants killed Theo van Gogh. I was raised to believe everyone was equal and that national origin, etc. didn’t matter. However, since I have studied the issue a bit more closely, I have come to the conclusion that the available evidence just does not back up that rosy world-view.
So, without further ado, here’s your editorial, with my corrections:
Something sad and terrible has been happening for the past 20 years to the Netherlands, long one of Europe's most tolerant, decent and soft on immigration societies. The latest warning sign is this week's brazen murder of Theo van Gogh, a daring filmmaker and columnist descended from the same family as Vincent van Gogh. This summer, Dutch television showed a 10-minute film by Theo van Gogh calling attention to the horrific violence that Muslim women are routinely subjected to by family members encouraged by Islam. The chief suspect is a foreign-born Islamist extremist, as are eight other men also arrested in connection with the case.
The Netherlands used to be a country where artists and politicians dared to raise even the most controversial issues without fear of physical retaliation. As long as the issue wasn’t the immigration elephant in their living room, because they knew that was a sure way to get labeled an intolerant, extreme right wing racist. But the screenwriter who worked with Mr. van Gogh, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Somali refugee and former Muslim who was elected as a member of the Dutch Parliament, is now once again under police protection and has to hide from Muslims in her adopted country. It's just been a little more than two years since a Dutch extremist shot Pim Fortuyn, a rising populist politician who portrayed Muslim immigration as a grave threat to the nation's traditions of tolerance, and was able to do so credibly because he could point to the fact that Muslims wanted him thrown from the highest tower in town for being gay.
Urgent efforts are needed to better manage the foreign-born criminals that threaten every aspect of Dutch public life. The problem is mainly due to Muslim immigration into an already over-crowded country, and a failure of the immigrants to integrate into Dutch society. One very real hope is that the public trauma over the van Gogh murder may lead to implementation of anti-Muslim policies that could finally show that Dutch politicians are prepared to face the mortal danger that faces their electorate.
The challenge for Dutch political leaders is to find ways to reverse this disturbing trend of politically motivated violence without making it harder to achieve cultural harmony once they have deported or imprisoned every foreign-born Muslim who refuses to integrate or has outstayed his welcome.
I sincerely hope that I have clarified this matter for you.
Best regards,
-------------
PS
You are welcome to publish these corrections, but please do so using only my initials. I have no desire to join Theo van Gogh very soon.
at November 5, 2004 9:08 PM
Hugh,
Congratulations! And thanks again for helping me on the French translations from Diderot's encyclopedia. Yes, I am "Rubisco," but somehow my login name got bounced on this site, so I picked a new one. "Rublev" is the name of my favorite movie of all time; "Andre Rublev" (directed by Tarkovsky).
I hope that with this new post you reach your full potential as an anti-jihadi, whose wit and erudition will slay the credibility of the highbrow dhimmis so efficiently as to turn the heads of students in the big moonbat academies like Berkley and Columbia.
Posted by: Rublev at November 5, 2004 10:19 PM
Hugh:
Congratulations on your acceptance of the position of Vice President on the jihad watch board of directors.
Your ability to read between the lines and give a solid commonsence, and no nonsence reflection on what is going on in fundamental Islam is always a welcome read.
My hope is that Jihad Watch, and Dhimmi Watch will form into a very well respected think tank in the near future that may be able to get the ear of world policy makers.
Posted by: Mackie at November 5, 2004 10:54 PM
Congrats and Give'em Hell Hugh!
The problem is that many , if not most people in America see Islam from a Christian perspective and super empose Christian tenets onto it. Such as assume that Islam is tolarant of other religions like American Christian society is. Assume Muslims can live peacefully with other religions the way Christians do here in America.
Such assumtions do not line up with reality in Islamic countries. So sheer ignorace plays a big part in those assumtions. Then it can also be assumed that the ones leaving the Muslim countries are yearning for a diffrent, more Western like lifestyle. Never occuring to the assumer that they in fact want to transform the host countries into the totalitarian Islamic Only societies that they fled from.
Dispelling the misconceptions while not appearing as a hate monger is the challange facing us.
Nossy
Posted by: Nostrodamus at November 5, 2004 11:23 PM
I shall prophesy: In a year's time JihadWatch daily hits will at least triple from current levels, and the JihadWatch archives will begin to acquire a reputation as a treasure chest of hidden wisdom...
Posted by: JTF at November 5, 2004 11:31 PM
Expat Dutch has hit on the right solution, but the ignorant mass of Westerners, both in Europe and USA, will not accept mass expulsions until there have been many more murders, rapes, and other heinous crimes. It is fatuous in the extreme to import millions of enemies from a death cult like Islam which has an ideology, methods, and teachers that can create Ted Bundys and Jeffrey Dahmers in hundreds of thousands size lots.
Posted by: john.cunningham at November 6, 2004 12:14 AM
Congratulations Hugh.
250,000 thousand hits a day is excellent. We're certainly not alone.
Posted by: Voltaire at November 6, 2004 12:31 AM
Bravo, ex-pat Dutch. Really clever, pointed writing.
Posted by: Deconstructionist Jew at November 6, 2004 1:13 AM
Congratulations from me also.
Until post 9/11 I understood little of Islam and actually started out with empathy for Muslims.
I started reading Serge Trifovics the 'Sword of the Prophet' and the works of Bernard Lewis and the articles on the net by Robert Spencer and Daniel Pipes-Still have to get to 'Onward Christian Soldiers'-next on the list.
I now feel extremely uncomfortable in the presence of Muslims, and have been waiting to see them come out en masse and hand over these terrorist tyrant thugs to the authorities or their leaders condemn them.
Now I will never trust themas I believe that they will remain passive only so long as they remain a minority but when they get to be 10% of any nation they can and will be very serious threat and will lead to civil wars in our own countries unless the rot is stopped NOW.
What I fail to understand, and I am not a Jew,is how intelligent people can have hatred for Jews- a people whose creativity, and talents have always been a bonus to any society and who have never threatened or disturbed the host societies within which they sought refuge. When in all of history have Jews killed or raped,threatened and intiminated in any place that they have settled-
Time I think to realise how duped we have been , the Semites we should be 'anti' to are those who bow to Mecca five times a day
at November 6, 2004 1:33 AM
Congratulations, Hugh, on joining the JW board! Your articles are always a pleasure to read, as well as effective and stimulating. You bring to them a rare ability (these days) to see the whole picture in an informed cultural and historical context.
May I suggest that you also consider gaining the services of an agency able to syndicate your articles to newspapers and magazines around the world? I am sure there would be a receptive market for them, and it would help spread your vital message further afield.
Best wishes for continuing success!
Posted by: Benelux at November 6, 2004 6:20 AM
For those of you that have expressed in this thread that you have just bought or are starting to read Onward Muslim Soldiers, may I suggest that you do so with highlighter in hand, and be prepared to pass the book along after you are through with it. Buy another copy and repeat.
The only problem with the highlighter is that most of the book ends up being highlighted! You might also consider two colors of highlighter as some information needs to be especially prominent to capture the attention of a casual reader.
Hugh, what can I say? Go gettum tiger! Hugh, Hugh, he's our man - if he can't Fisk them, nobody can...
Posted by: Ollie's Snackbar at November 6, 2004 7:15 AM
Yesher Koach to Hugh for alighting in a very good place from which to use his considerable polymathic, literate talents to slash away at the tanglefoot of sophistry passing as informed commentary in the "gray lady" and other mainstream media on Islam, islamisim and dhimmitude.
The team of Bob Spencer and Hugh Fitzgerald is "tres formidable," as M. Chrirac might opine, if he had any scruples or wits about him.
Posted by: Chinese Gordon at November 6, 2004 7:54 AM
Hi-yo, Kemo Sabe! Away!
Posted by: Hugh at November 6, 2004 10:43 AM
Congratulations Hugh and best of luck. I hope you’ll continue to write loads of comments as well as articles, I’m looking forward to all your writings. 250000 hits are quite amazing.
Brilliant post Expat Dutch, well said.
at November 6, 2004 2:11 PM
A few hours after reading Hugh Fitzgeralds' analysis of the NYT commentary on the Van Gogh murder, I saw the same article in the IHT, this time entitled 'Hatred in the Netherlands'. The 'S' was gone...
Posted by: michael at November 6, 2004 3:45 PM
250,000 hits a day--wow. Robert, you done good! When you first started studying Islam, did you ever imagine the importance your work would one day have?
Hugh, you guys make a great team; with JW this popular, it doesn't surprise me that things like "Boards" etc. are needed. Three cheers on the growth of the site--the word is getting around!
Will your new duties leave you enough time to WRITE THE BOOK?
Posted by: cubed at November 6, 2004 6:19 PM
Sincere congratulations Hugh-best wishes from the Flann O'Brian fan club, adh mor ort.
Posted by: saoirse at November 6, 2004 6:46 PM
Way to go Hugh!
Posted by: Gary at November 7, 2004 3:49 AM
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