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Exposing the role that Islamic jihad theology and ideology play in the modern global conflicts

Muslim journalist: “How can you say that Islam is not blood-soaked?”

Feb 8, 2016 8:58 pm By Robert Spencer

“They have been practicing savagery for a very simple reason: to strike fear in their enemy,” says Abdel Bari Atwan.

The Qur’an says: “And prepare against them whatever you are able of power and of steeds of war by which you may terrify the enemy of Allah and your enemy and others besides them whom you do not know whom Allah knows.” (Qur’an 8:60)

“Abdel Bari Atwan: ISIS Savagery Comes from Islamic History; The West Likely to ‘Contain’ ISIS Like It Contained the IRA and Arafat,” MEMRI, December 15, 2015:

In a December 15 lecture about ISIS at the American University in Beirut, Abdel Bari Atwan, former editor-in-chief of “Al-Quds Al-Arabi” and the current editor-in-chief of “Al-Rai Al-Youm” rejected common claims that the savagery of ISIS is alien to Islam, presenting examples of similar conduct from Islamic history. Atwan said that the West faces two options: to contain ISIS or to destroy it. The former is more likely than the latter, he added. The West always starts by trying to destroy organizations that it considers to be terrorist and ends up negotiating with them, Atwan said, citing the Taliban, the PLO, and the IRA as prominent examples.

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Filed Under: Featured, Islamic State (aka ISIS, ISIL, Daesh), Jihad doctrine, Lebanon Tagged With: Abdel Bari Atwan


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Comments

  1. Nonblvr says

    Feb 8, 2016 at 9:02 pm

    His days on earth are numbered.

    • JIMJFOX says

      Feb 10, 2016 at 12:41 pm

      Yiu have missed the point COMPLETELY. Get some knowledge.

  2. Matthieu Baudin says

    Feb 8, 2016 at 9:13 pm

    Abdel Bari Atwan is just speaking plainly and honestly about Islam’s long violent credentials, much the same as Jihad Watch contributors have stated for many years. It goes without saying that Mr Atwan is a man of integrity and courage, but isn’t it about time that the Political Leadership of ‘the west’ that he talks about pulled their fingers out, followed his example of plain speech and ceased the immoral censorship of Robert Spencer and other champions of human rights equality.

    • Timothy says

      Feb 8, 2016 at 11:32 pm

      Even Jefferson could not stop himself from negotiating with the Tripoli pirates. Until “The West” wakes up and realizes that this is a war where “the enemy” truly believes they *must* destroy their enemy, the garbage of political correctness regarding the West’s picture of Islam will continue. So far, we’ve had 200 years or more of it and haven’t seen the light yet. I’m not going to hold my breath that changes anytime soon.

      • gravenimage says

        Feb 9, 2016 at 1:46 pm

        Timothy wrote:

        Even Jefferson could not stop himself from negotiating with the Tripoli pirates.
        ……………………….

        But when he got sick of it he formed a navy and crushed them. It was the young United States that led the way in freeing the Mediterranean from the scourge of Muslim piracy, which had plagued that sea for a *thousand years*.

        I don’t think I’d sneer at Thomas Jefferson.

        • warren raymond says

          Feb 9, 2016 at 7:50 pm

          Exactly. He quickly realised that all negotiations with Muslims are one sided and only serve their interests. And that’s why the U.S. built a navy and crushed the Barbary pirates. Unfortunately we don’t have a policy of eradicating the enemy like they do.

    • cs says

      Feb 9, 2016 at 3:34 am

      So he should know better, he developed his entire carrier in criticize Israel. As a “Palestinian” that he is.

    • NYgal says

      Feb 9, 2016 at 2:26 pm

      He didn’t just talk about Islam’s violent credentials; he also talked about about our western willingness to accomodate it. He pointed to our spineless accommodation to violent terrorists and regimes and our destruction of all secular regimes in the area.

  3. Edison says

    Feb 8, 2016 at 9:16 pm

    A Muslim telling it like it is? What will CNN say?

  4. Rob says

    Feb 8, 2016 at 9:35 pm

    Quiz this guy on Israel and see the foam on his lips.
    He used to appear regularly on BBC’s ‘Dateline London’.
    All sweetness and light until Joos were mentioned.

    • gravenimage says

      Feb 8, 2016 at 10:06 pm

      Given that Abdel Bari Atwan is former editor-in-chief of “Al-Quds Al-Arabi”–“Al-Quds” is Muslim supremacist-speak for “Jerusalem”, this hardly surprises me.

      • Rob says

        Feb 9, 2016 at 2:28 am

        Sure but it was the tone change that got me.
        Even the lefty co-panelists (Guardian’s Polly Toynbee for one) looked slightly put off.
        The British left go in for a genteel brand of antisemitism.

    • NYgal says

      Feb 9, 2016 at 2:36 pm

      Well, he is a Muslim, after all. The fact that he is secular doesn’t mean that he gets the entire reality, just a few points where his views coincide with ours. Note hat he had o counterweight the Islamic violence with the long list of he Western atrocities – his version of moral equivalence.

  5. mortimer says

    Feb 8, 2016 at 9:42 pm

    Abdel Bari Atwan asked ‘How can you say Islam is not blood-soaked? Well, violence is normative Islam found in all Islam’s foundational, source texts, as well as all Islamic history.

    Mark Gabriel, PhD, was a sheikh and history teacher at Al Azhar University, the top authority in Islam. He asked his teacher ‘Why is our (Islamic) history a river of blood?’ The professor tried to distract him from thinking about it. Gabriel left the university, then left Islam.

    Mark Gabriel believes that jihad terror is central to Islam.

    Mohammed was poisoned by his closest ‘friends’ Abu Bakr and Omar and their daughters Aisha and Hafsa, but it was blamed on the Jews…blame shifting is another Islamic tradition. Abu Bakr was poisoned next, along with his chief adviser by Uthman. Caliph Omar was killed with a poisoned spear. Uthman was killed with a poisoned sword. Mohammed’s grandson, caliph-candidate Hasan ibn `Ali was poisoned by Caliph Muawiyah. Mohammed’s great-grandson, caliph-candidate Alī ibn Ḥusayn bin Ali was poisoned by Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik.
    Six of Islam’s most important figures were murdered by poison! Poisoning is normative Islam, rather than an aberration.

    Islam and violence go together like sadism and masochism, like hammer and nails, like bows and arrows, like rifles and bullets.

    • Jack Diamond says

      Feb 9, 2016 at 3:10 am

      And one of Mark Gabriel’s teachers at Al-Azhar was none other than the Blind Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, then head of Qur’anic studies, who misunderstood Islam all the way to Bin Laden and to World Trade Center I. Gabriel relates a priceless exchange with the Blind Sheikh in his book “Jesus and Muhammad”:

      “I even questioned Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman…at Al-Azhar he was the professor for my class in Quranic interpretation. He gave us a chance to ask questions, so I stood up in front of 500 students and asked, ‘Why is it that you teach us all time about jihad? What about the other verses in the Qu’ran that talk about peace, love, and forgiveness?”

      Immediately his face turned red. I could see his anger. “My brother” he said, “there is a whole Surah called ‘Spoils of War.’ There is no Surah called ‘Peace’! Jihad and killing are the head of Islam. If you take them out, you cut off the head of Islam.”

    • JIMJFOX says

      Feb 10, 2016 at 12:44 pm

      Like flies and sh*t…

    • Fred says

      Feb 22, 2016 at 4:48 pm

      Amen Brother…Saying it like it really is. Our politically correct, moronic politicians had better wake up. They have no excuse for knowing the truth about this insidious political ideology, clothed in a so called religion, determined to take over the globe…they are serious and the west(Europe, US and Canada) is dreaming fairy tale stories regarding this monstrosity from Hell called Islam, They had damn well better wake up..and fast. In my opinion it is already to late for Europe but not the US if action is take very soon.

  6. mortimer says

    Feb 8, 2016 at 9:49 pm

    Abdel Bari Atwan, former editor-in-chief of “Al-Quds Al-Arabi” and the current editor-in-chief of “Al-Rai Al-Youm” is WELL-INFORMED on Islamic history and Islamic source texts…UNLIKE Western journalists and their editors who speak authoritatively about Islam without reading ANY of Islam’s source texts.

    The fact that they haven’t done the required readings is obvious to those of us who have. Abdel Bari Atwan knows what’s in those Islamic source texts.

    Our Western elites and journalists are letting us down badly by not being prepared and by not having done the requisite reading to understand Islam…the most dangerous issue of our time.

    Obama is a bone-head filled with sawdust.

    • mortimer says

      Feb 8, 2016 at 9:52 pm

      Western elites such as Obama and Kerry and many others, including our journalists know LESS about Islam and jihad COLLECTIVELY than the average, poorly-educated Muslim knows about Islam and jihad as one person.

      • Cy Halothrin says

        Feb 9, 2016 at 6:39 am

        Well, Islamic violence is no problem for Obama and Kerry, so why should they know anything about it? If everyone had their own personal Secret Service contingent, everything would be fine.

  7. rubiconcrest says

    Feb 8, 2016 at 9:53 pm

    fyi …. A recent letter from a clueless Doug LaMalfa, first congressional district Calif:
    (He should be aware that the FBI says they cannot vet these refugees and that just a handful of the nearly 700 are indeed persecuted Christians which is far below the percentage represent in Syria. He said the government keeps a close watch on these new immigrants; not true.)

    ,,,,Thank you for contacting me regarding the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees resettlement efforts for Syrians displaced by the ongoing civil war….

    In mid-2011, a series of pro-democracy protests and violent crackdowns by the government of President Bashar al-Assad led to Syria’s complete descent into civil war. Four years later, Syria continues to be locked in civil war. The United Nations has estimated that 200,000 Syrians have lost their lives, and nearly 11 million have been forced from their homes as rebels, jihadist militants, and loyalists fight for control of the nation. As a result, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has attempted to resettle Syrians that have been displaced by the fighting. Neighboring nations, such as Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan and Iraq have taken in more than 4 million of these refugees….

    Refugee assistance may begin by the request of the United Nations, or a refugees’s current government. However, the destination country must accept the refugee population before they can be resettled. Under no circumstances will a destination country be forced to accept refugees. The United States has long been a leading nation in resettlement efforts. Since 2012, the United States has taken 546 Syrians displaced by the violence in their home country. Please note that although the UNHCR conducts their own review of individual refugees, the United States does an additional secondary investigation during their review process, and continues to keep close watch of these refugees after resettlement. Many of the 546 Syrian refugees that have been resettled in the United States include those who have previously cooperated with the Untied States, and minorities, such as Christians, who have or could face persecution for their religious beliefs.

    I believe that refugee resettlement programs, like the one administered by the UNHCR, are necessary. However, we must be ensure the costs of these new refugees do not damage local cities, counties or states. Furthermore, we must constantly seek to improve our investigations and background checks during the review process to ensure that any refugees are not a threat to American citizens….
    Sincerely, Doug LaMalfa, Member of Congress

    (Doug, how many of these persecuted immigrants want to live under Sharia Law and since the FBI cannot vet them how do we know if they hold extremist views or come from areas where extreme othodox Islam is held in high esteem?)

  8. Dan Jones says

    Feb 8, 2016 at 9:57 pm

    Oh those peace loving followers of the pedophile will say anything to get a rise….

  9. underbed cat says

    Feb 8, 2016 at 10:10 pm

    So, is this m journalist so secure in the knowledge that in the west and Europe, no one will believe him…..or did he think that this was not televised. He seems to be upset that any muslim would dispute this information…a book in every house I thought was required.

    Maybe this is another clue things are speeding up and more dangerous, he is gathering.

    This massive mind control denial from the diversity crowd with no facts, has got to wake up, and that includes some Republicans.

  10. gravenimage says

    Feb 8, 2016 at 10:24 pm

    Abdel Bari Atwan heartily approved of the Jihad attacks of 9/11, saying, “The events of 11 September will be remembered as the end of the US empire. This is because all empires collapse when they pursue the arrogance of power.”

    He also claims that the “war on terror”–not JIhad itself–was responsible for the growth of Al Qaida. Never mind that the Western “war on terror” did not exist until after the 9/11 attacks.

    And as Rob noted, he *hates* Israel. He said, “If the Iranian missiles strike Israel, by Allah, I will go to Trafalgar Square and dance with delight.”

    Given all of this, it is hard to know if he is criticizing Islam for being blood-soaked–or if he is reveling in it.

    In the end though–surprise, surprise–he blames the problem, whatever it might be, since he does not really say, on the West.

  11. sidney penny says

    Feb 8, 2016 at 10:54 pm

    A Muslim telling it like it is?

    What will Imam John Kerry say?

    What will Imam David Cameron say?

    What will Imam Obama say?

    What will Mohammed Abdullah Hassan say?

    http://www.jihadwatch.org/2016/02/kansas-muslim-vowed-to-bring-the-islamic-state-straight-to-your-doorstep

    “Mohammed Abdullah Hassan is a convert to Islam who somehow gained an understanding of Islam completely different from what Barack Obama and John Kerry and David Cameron tell us Islam is all about.

    Authorities remain uninterested in why, even though Obama and Kerry refuse to “validate” the jihadis by calling them Islamic, so many Muslims get the idea that they are anyway.”

  12. Miao Zedong says

    Feb 9, 2016 at 2:40 am

    More revealing is his thorough assessement of how the West treats terrorists.

    • Jay Boo says

      Feb 9, 2016 at 4:43 am

      PLO murderer Arafat was given a peace prize.

  13. BC says

    Feb 9, 2016 at 4:42 am

    The IRA situation is often quoted and it is quite inappropriate. The IRA wanted union with the Irish Republic. They were not trying to impose Catholicism on the whole of the UK. The Ulster Unionists it is often forgotten were almost as fanatical as the IRA, and had been treating the Catholics as second class citizens for centuries.
    As far as the PLA is concerned negotiations with them has been largely a waste of time.

    • Jay Boo says

      Feb 9, 2016 at 4:46 am

      Excellent often overlooked points of contrast to reveal the false equivalence.

  14. prof andrew michael says

    Feb 9, 2016 at 4:45 am

    I have watched this awful man many times on the BBC and he is vile. Hates Jews with a passion and criticises the west for all the ills of Islam. He pontificates and is a self-righteous man. He wants Islam to dominate the world as he sees western values as corrupt and backward. He criticised western women by what they wear. One truly disgusting man. What I do not understand is why the BBC gives him a platform to spew his vile comment about the West.

    • Pumbar says

      Feb 10, 2016 at 1:09 am

      Because they probably agree with and endorse, quietly at least, those same comments.

  15. duh_swami says

    Feb 9, 2016 at 8:56 am

    He should dump Islam and look for something less bloody…

    And Mahoubd told them that only one in a thousand are going to Paradise, and there is room for only ten thousand…

    The rest go to Hell where all the hot and loose women are…Allah has a sense of humor after all…

  16. red rose says

    Feb 9, 2016 at 9:18 am

    Someone needs to fly him to meet Obama. I doubt Obama will listen since he wants to destroy America and invite all Muslims to take over.

  17. Halaku says

    Feb 9, 2016 at 10:47 am

    Unfortunately for him and for the rest of us, the Mainstream’s auto-translation filters are on and what they hear is only this- “Islam is a Religion of Peace, hijacked by a few misunderstanders” being said repeatedly.

  18. HCDMS8 says

    Feb 9, 2016 at 1:46 pm

    Muhamad the false prophet was a murderer,rapist and adulterer and anyone that follows this persons teachings is a potential terrorist.

  19. salim says

    Feb 9, 2016 at 1:55 pm

    I don’t believe that Jihad Watch can take this bait. This journalist (with many faces, none of them good) has a long history behind him of supporting Islamic jihad in all its forms. He is pro Al Qaeda and always referred to Bin laden as “the sheikh” (he actually interviewed Bin Laden) and glorified him. he was notorious in speaking in two languages, hard line Arabic to the Arabs and soft English to the West.
    Atwan supported everything JW stands against and opposed everything that JW stands for. He personally takes a big chunk of the blame for radicalising the Arab youths. He was a regular guest at the BBC and Aljazeera (Arabic) and used that position to enable the Islamic agenda.

  20. DFD says

    Feb 9, 2016 at 2:29 pm

    Ah Folks, it’s all depressive and annoying ‘stuff’, may be a bit to cheer up:

    Muslim in ‘love’ with a blonde … mannequin
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnIGe64-cPw
    The two below below show Taliban having… errr… ‘fun’ with donkeys, well, fun for them…
    http://www.break.com/video/ugc/the-taliban-love-their-donkeys-1755321 (in infrared, listen to the special ops…)
    http://www.break.com/video/ugc/insurgents-love-donkeys-384686?utm_source=Break_Related

    Have a laugh

  21. DFD says

    Feb 9, 2016 at 2:33 pm

    Ah Folks, it’s all depressive and annoying ‘stuff’, may be a bit to cheer up, you have to add https:\\www.

    Muslim in ‘love’ with a blonde … mannequin
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnIGe64-cPw
    The two below below show Taliban having… errr… ‘fun’ with donkeys, well, fun for them…
    reak.com/video/ugc/the-taliban-love-their-donkeys-1755321 (in infrared, listen to the special ops…)
    break.com/video/ugc/insurgents-love-donkeys-384686?utm_source=Break_Related

    Have a laugh
    Have a laugh

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