Your donations will enable me to keep Jihad Watch going and to keep Raymond Ibrahim, Hugh Fitzgerald, and Marisol Seibold on the staff — and will help us counter the relentless propaganda that is pumped out daily by the jihadists (both violent and stealthy) and their allies and dupes.
My heartfelt thanks to all those who donated during the first day of our appeal yesterday. Your support is immensely appreciated, and exceeded my expectations.
And if you have not yet donated, please consider doing so today. If you have learned anything here, if you have gained a new perspective on world events here, please help us now.
More details below the fold.
Dear Jihad Watch reader,
Day in and day out at Jihad Watch, we dare to expose the otherwise underreported or misreported activities of jihadists — both violent and stealthy — not only in America but also in Europe, Asia, Africa, and everywhere that jihad is being waged around the world today. Not only do we expose them, but Raymond Ibrahim, Hugh Fitzgerald, Marisol Seibold and I also explain the motives and goals of the Islamic jihadists — which are otherwise almost completely ignored or discounted by analysts in the government and the media.
We also counter the efforts of many Islamic advocacy groups and Muslim spokesmen to render us unprepared to counter the jihad threat by concealing the true nature of jihadist activities, and obscuring the traditional meaning of jihad as enjoined upon every faithful Muslim by Muhammad himself: to subdue, by force if necessary, the entire non-Islamic world under the rule of Islamic law, Sharia, which denies equality of rights to women and non-Muslims and obliterates the freedom of speech and the freedom of conscience.
We have stood in the vanguard of the defense of the freedom of speech — as a cornerstone of any free and genuinely pluralistic society — against the attempts by the Organization of the Islamic Conference at the United Nations to criminalize what they regard as criticism of Islam, thus rendering the free world mute and defenseless before the advancing jihad threat.
Unlike the well-heeled, Saudi-funded forces that are stealthily aiding the advance of Sharia right here in America, we at Jihad Watch operate without the backing of Middle Eastern oil billions. That is why I am writing this to you today. If Jihad Watch is to keep on countering the oil-funded propaganda efforts of jihadists and their allies, and continue our unique work, we need your help now.
If each of you who support our work clicked on the button at the top of this message and gave what you can, our continued existence in this perilous economy would be ensured. Please take a moment to think about what Jihad Watch does. If you have learned anything here, or understood something about this present conflict better because of something you read here, please be as generous as you can. If you see how our coverage of jihad-related events is more truthful, more accurate, and more enlightening than that of the mainstream media, then please help us continue.
And for your support I will always remain immensely grateful.
Sincerely,
Robert Spencer
Director, Jihad Watch
A few words about us:
ROBERT SPENCER is the director of Jihad Watch, a program of the David Horowitz Freedom Center, and the author of eight books on Islam and jihad, including the New York Times bestsellers The Truth About Muhammad and The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades). Spencer is a weekly columnist for Human Events and FrontPage Magazine, and has led seminars on Islam and jihad for the United States Central Command, United States Army Command and General Staff College, the U.S. Army’s Asymmetric Warfare Group, the FBI, the Joint Terrorism Task Force, and the U.S. intelligence community.
“My comrade-in-arms, my pal, my buddy.”
— Oriana Fallaci, author of The Rage and the Pride and The Force of Reason
“His extensive scholarship and clear style, together with his forceful argumentation, explain the complexities of contemporary politics.”
— Bat Ye”or, author of Islam and Dhimmitude and Eurabia
“Robert Spencer is indefatigable. He is keeping up the good fight long after many have already given up. I do not know what we would do without him. I appreciate all the intelligence and courage it takes to keep going despite the appeasement of the West.”
— Ibn Warraq, author of Why I Am Not A Muslim and The Quest for the Historical Muhammad
“A top American analyst of Islam.”
— Daniel Pipes, Middle East Forum, author of In the Path of God and The Rushdie Affair
“Over the years, we have become friends, and I have received his assistance on several pieces of legislation I proposed.”
— Former Congressman Tom Tancredo
“The acclaimed scholar of Islam.”
— Frank Gaffney, Center for Security Policy
“Robert Spencer is the leading voice of scholarship and reason in a world gone mad. If the West is to be saved, we will owe Robert Spencer an incalculable debt.”
— Pamela Geller, Atlas Shrugs
“Armed with facts and fearlessness, Spencer stands up for Western civilization.”
— Michelle Malkin, columnist
“A hero of the American right.”
— Karen Armstrong, author of Islam: A Short History
RAYMOND IBRAHIM, the author of The Al-Qaeda Reader, is of Arab extraction. He spent years living in the Arab world and speaks the language. His MA thesis deals with the Islamic conquests; he also studied at Georgetown University”s Arab Studies center, and worked for years at the Library of Congress” Middle East division. He is working on a PhD in Islamic studies at Catholic University. He has testified before Congress, and lectured at the U.S. Strategic Command, the Department of State, and the Defense Intelligence Agency.
“The Al Qaeda Reader, simply by letting our enemies speak in their own voices, explodes the popular delusion that Western crimes and policies are responsible for the ‘distortion’ of Islam that al Qaeda represents….This means that the fight will be long and hard, that leaving Iraq or creating a Palestinian state will not buy peace, and that the side that accurately understands its enemy and has confidence in its own beliefs will ultimately triumph. Thanks to Raymond Ibrahim’s The Al Qaeda Reader, we have the means for achieving that understanding.”
— Bruce Thornton, California State University, Fresno
“Raymond Ibrahim’s release The Al Qaeda Reader is a necessary addition to the scholarship of jihad.”
— Gary H. Johnson, Jr., The American Thinker
HUGH FITZGERALD“s erudite and impassioned commentary has been a popular feature of the Jihad Watch website since 2004. He is a keen analyst of Islamic texts and teachings, with a far-reaching insight into the impact those teachings are already having and will increasingly have upon Western culture and civilization. Hugh has shed light on the deceptive tactics of Islamic spokesmen in the West, most notably taqiyya and tu quoque; he has been among the first to call public attention to the many ways in which the goals of violent jihadists are being advanced by means other than violence and terrorism; he has been at the forefront of those who have called attention to the dire implications of the demographic trends in Europe; and he has been a unique voice in calling attention to the cultural and artistic dimensions of the Islamic jihad threat, given the traditional Islamic prohibitions of representational art and music.
“Hugh Fitzgerald is one of the few writers on Islam and the Islamists who understands the historical background of Middle Eastern terrorism, grasps the full scope of the problem, and who is able to relate the acts of the terrorists to the canonical texts that they refer to justify their indiscriminate use of violence”¦And even greater than my appreciation for his analyses is my admiration for the lucidity and felicity of his expression. He surely must be one of the great literary stylists of the last fifty years, which fact, combined with his sense of humour, makes him indispensable for our times, and the fight that has no end.”
— Ibn Warraq, author of Why I Am Not A Muslim and The Quest for the Historical Muhammad
“Over the recent years I came not only to appreciate, but also to greatly enjoy Hugh Fitzgerald’s articles, his learned analyses, commentaries on the most crucial topics of our times. Being conversant in many European languages, Hugh brings an important contribution to the American understanding of political and intellectual developments in Europe. It is vital for Americans, as well as for Europeans to maintain a link that will prevent mutual prejudices and animosity, and help building common strategies. For this, we need people who belong to America and Europe, who are at ease in the two cultures and Hugh Fitzgerald is here the perfect person. His robust sense of humour and his boldness give to Jihad Watch a precious asset.”
— Bat Ye”or, author of Islam and Dhimmitude and Eurabia
MARISOL SEIBOLD has contributed over over 2000 blog postings on Jihad Watch and Dhimmi Watch since joining the staff in the spring of 2006. She has won notice for her intelligent, witty, and deeply informed observations and commentary. In addition, she is primarily responsible for monitoring the comments section.