Local authorities decided to close down the Saint Catherine Monastery in the Sinai Peninsula, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, on January 5 and January 6, when Christmas church services are held according to the Coptic Orthodox calendar. The general directorate of tourist police further ordered all tourist companies not to lead tours to the historic monastery. Although […]
Islamic Terrorists or Tragic Heroes?
The so-called mainstream media’s approach to and apologias for Islamic terrorism have become as predictable as they are farcical. In a recent piece entitled, “A Mysterious Act of Mercy by the Subway Bombing Suspect,” the New York Times’ Jeffrey Gettleman portrays would-be suicide bomber Akayed Ullah — whose foiled attempt at Times Square subway last month could […]
Iranians are Ultimately Protesting Sharia
What began on December 28 as local protests against high food prices in the northern city of Mashhad, Iran, has spiraled into mass protests consisting of some hundreds of thousands of Iranians in some two dozen cities, including if not especially Tehran, the seat of government. So far over 20 protesters have been killed and many […]
Trump Scraps Cherished “Israel Grievance” Myth
President Trump’s new National Security strategy is not only notable for what it brings back to the paradigm — words such as “jihadi” and “sharia” — but in what it gets rid of, namely, the long held, much entrenched notion that Israel is the root source of all the turmoil plaguing the Middle East. According […]
When and Why the West Began to ‘Demonize’ Muhammad
To understand any phenomenon, its roots must first be understood. Unfortunately, not only do all discussions on the conflict between Islam and the West tend to be limited to the modern era, but when the past, the origins, are alluded to, the antithesis of reality is proffered: we hear that the West — itself a […]
Will the Return of “Jihad” to Intelligence Trump Decades of Indoctrination?
President Trump’s new national security strategy is set to return words relevant to understanding Islamic terrorism — such as “jihad” — that had been expunged from the Intelligence and Defense communities’ lexicon, most notably under the Obama administration. According to the new strategy document, “The primary transnational threats Americans face are from jihadist terrorists and […]
Islam’s Three Worst Doctrines
Because Islam gets criticized for many things — from hostility to modernity and democracy to calls for theocratic rule, radical “patriarchy,” misogyny, and draconian punishments, to name a few — it is helpful to step back and distinguish between those (many) doctrines that affect Muslim society alone, and those that extend to and affect Western […]
Luther, Islam, and the Lies that Cripple
In “Islam’s Expansion Across Europe: Not Martin Luther’s Fault,” one Paul Gottfried pretends to respond to my article, “The Pro-Islamic West: Born 500 years Ago.” While many of his own readers saw through and exposed his misrepresentations in the comments section more thoroughly than I ever would have, Gottfried’s piece is still worth examining if only for […]
The 500th Birthday of the Pro-Islamic West
Five hundred years ago Tuesday, on October 31, 1517, a Catholic monk named Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of a German church, thereby launching what would come to be known as the Protestant Reformation. Whatever else can be said of him, Luther unwittingly initiated something else that is often overlooked. As […]
James Zogby demonizes as “Islamophobic” group helping persecuted Christians
With “friends” like James Zogby — co-founder of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee — the Mideast’s persecuted Christians apparently don’t need any more enemies. “James Zogby: Proud of His Shame,” by Coptic Solidarity, FrontPage Magazine, July 14, 2017: Editor’s Note: James Zogby—a notorious Anti-Semite and staunch defender of Islamic terror groups (including Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, and the Muslim Brotherhood) who refers […]