EU’s fight against radical Islam

Broder bookHenrik Broder, a prominent Jewish journalist in Germany, recently published a book titled, “Hooray! We Surrender!” which criticizes what the author refers to as “Europe’s weakness in its battle against Islam.”

“We must define what sets us aside as a society, and what values we must uphold in our struggle against Islam,” Broder tells Ynet.

Broder’s remarks come amid the ever-increasing tension in Europe between the traditional values and those of radical Islam, which are beginning to spread throughout the continent.

With the end of the Cold War 17 years ago, Europe was able to unite around values of democracy, individualism and a free market. But lately the atmosphere ion Europe has begun to change, and tolerant Europe has started to organize against radical Islam (and some say Islam in general), an ideology that is being referred to more and more as “an enemy of modern western society’s lifestyle.”

Until recently political correctness reigned in Europe, and those who dared point an accusatory finger at minorities were ostracized. When immigrants attacked their host-countries in Europe, the Europeans blamed western society for “inadequately absorbing them.”

Dialogue, not confrontation was the solution to the absorption difficulties of immigrants; criticism of the Muslim minority, part of which refused to accept the social ideals of the majority, was dismissed as racist – and so the Muslims in Europe did not integrate with the western population.

But following Madrid and London attacks, as well as the Muslim riots over the Mohammad caricatures, there are more and more signs indicating that the European Union is beginning to view Islam and the Muslim immigrants as an existential threat.

YnetNews, 21 October 2006

Nasrallah misrepresented

“The most famous opinions about Jews ascribed to Hizbullah’s leader are: ‘If they [the Jews] all gather in Israel it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide’ and ‘They [Jews] are a cancer which is liable to spread at any moment’. Charles Glass, the journalist who specialises on Lebanon and was once held hostage by Hizbullah, says both are likely fabrications.”

Rolled Up Trousers, 30 September 2006

See also Jews Sans Frontieres, 29 September 2006

Uri Avnery on Pope’s speech

Uri Avnery (2)Israeli peace activist Uri Avnery replies to Pope Benedict:

“The story about ‘spreading the faith by the sword’ is an evil legend, one of the myths that grew up in Europe during the great wars against the Muslims – the reconquista of Spain by the Christians, the Crusades and the repulsion of the Turks, who almost conquered Vienna. I suspect that the German Pope, too, honestly believes in these fables. That means that the leader of the Catholic world, who is a Christian theologian in his own right, did not make the effort to study the history of other religions.

“Why did he utter these words in public? And why now? There is no escape from viewing them against the background of the new Crusade of Bush and his evangelist supporters, with his slogans of ‘Islamofascism’ and the ‘Global War on Terrorism’ – when ‘terrorism’ has become a synonym for Muslims. For Bush’s handlers, this is a cynical attempt to justify the domination of the world’s oil resources. Not for the first time in history, a religious robe is spread to cover the nakedness of economic interests; not for the first time, a robbers’ expedition becomes a Crusade. The speech of the Pope blends into this effort. Who can foretell the dire consequences?”

Gush Shalom, 23 September 2006  Also on IkhwanWeb.com, 25 September 2006

What’s right about Islam?

“This is, we are told over-often, the Information Age. So how did it happen that we know nothing of Islam? Nothing good, at any rate. At this point, we in Israel and the West can recite chapter and verse the excesses of those who speak in the name of Islam, bomb in the name of Islam, burn churches in the name of Islam, kill a nun in the name of Islam.

“We smile our thin, knowing smile when we learn that a previously unknown Muslim group calling itself ‘The Army of Guidance’ vows to attack Christian sites in Gaza in retaliation for the remarks of ‘the accursed infidel the Vatican’. We smirk inside when the ‘Lions of Monotheism’ denounce the ‘dogs of Rome’…. But we know nothing. Certainly, we in the news media are guiltier than most of spreading the image of the Muslim as terrorist, of Islam as the enemy.”

Israeli journalist Bradley Burston appeals to Israel and the West to develop a more informed understanding of Islam.

Ha’aretz, 20 September 2006

All-party parliamentary inquiry distorts Qaradawi’s views

Qaradawi and MayorSummarising the contents of a report published today by the All-Party Parliamentary Inquiry into Antisemitism, the Telegraph says the report claims “that anti-Semitism is no longer the sole preserve of the political far-Right, but occurs across the political spectrum, including the Left.

The MPs cite concerns about the decision of Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, to host an event attended by the Muslim cleric Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, who has reportedly banned Muslims from any dialogue with Jews”.

Daily Telegraph, 7 September 2006


For the report itself, see (pdf) here.

The attack on Dr al-Qaradawi by the All-Party Parliamentary Inquiry is just ignorant. He is described as “a controversial Muslim cleric” (there are no clerics in Sunni Islam) who “has reportedly forbidden Muslims from engaging in dialogue of any kind with Jews”.

And where was this accusation “reported”? By the Middle East Media Research Institute, of course. (See here.)

Ironically, MEMRI itself was responsible for publishing a much longer transcript of an interview from Qaradawi’s Al-Jazeera programme (see here) in which he outlined his views on relations between Islam and Judaism in detail. (This was in February 2005, shortly after the Mayor of London had launched a public attack on MEMRI for their distortions of Qaradawi’s views, and presumably they were trying to cover themselves.)

In this interview Qaradawi expressed the same views that he did during his visit to London in July 2004 on the duty of Muslims to respect Jews. “Jews lived among Muslims for centuries, even when Europe persecuted them and expelled them…. They found a safe haven in Muslim territory…. Islam welcomes those who believe in the [Jewish] religion. Moreover, the Jews are probably the closest to Muslims in terms of faith and law, even more than Christians.” Qaradawi added: “There is a difference between Judaism as a religion and Zionism as a political movement….”

On the subject of interfaith dialogue, Qaradawi stated that he objected to dialogue with people like Israel’s chief rabbi because “he supports the murder of Palestinians on a daily basis, supports the destruction of homes and the eviction of people, and supports the crimes and the barbaric slaughter that are taking place every day. How can I shake his hand and sit down with him?”

But Qaradawi added that he had no problem engaging in dialogue with representatives of the Jewish community who oppose the repression of the Palestinians: “I welcome Jews who dissociate themselves from what Israel is doing, and I welcome being with them.”

He summarised his views as follows: “I oppose dialogue with Jewish rabbis living in Israel, who support the crimes committed by Israel. With them there is no possibility [of dialogue]…. We will hold a dialogue with those who are reasonable among them, as well as with the Christians, as indeed I have been present at a number of conferences for Islamic-Christian dialogue. But with those ‘who do evil’, as Allah said, we shall neither argue nor shall we have any dialogue.”

Obviously the All-Party Parliamentary Inquiry into Antisemitism didn’t even bother to check their facts before repeating Qaradawi’s “reported” views on relations with the Jewish community.

Call for ban on Azzam Tamimi

azzam tamimi 2Jewish groups are concerned over a speaker addressing an Islamic conference in Manchester on Sunday. Dr Azzam Tamimi, who is one of the guest speakers at the ExpoIslamia convention, has said suicide bombings are justified in certain circumstances. Louis Rappaport, president of the Jewish Representative Council of Gtr Manchester, said Dr Tamimi would not help Jewish-Muslim relations.

BBC News, 20 August 2006

See also World Net Daily, 20 August 2006

You can imagine what the outcry would be if a Muslim organisation called for a supporter of Israeli state terrorism to be excluded from the platform of an event organised by the Jewish community.

Burchill attacks ‘Masochist Hacks For Mohammed’ who like ‘big swarthy men with tea-towels on their heads’

BurchillJulie Burchill analyses UK media coverage of the Lebanon war for the benefit of Israeli readers:

“One of the most grotesque examples of the almost brainwashed level of bias can be seen on the official BBC Religions Web site, where that ‘peace be upon him’ eyewash is going on like crazy, while other religions are coolly commented on in a strictly ‘objective’ way.

“The conflict has sent this tendency into overdrive, with not just the usual Masochist Hacks For Mohammed such as Robert Fisk (beaten up by Islamists, says they were right to do it) and Yvonne Ridley (kidnapped by Islamists, then became one) getting their chadors in a twist about big swarthy men with tea-towels on their heads treating the West mean and keeping it – in their case at least – keen.

“Even the women’s magazines have gotten in on the act, with lots of first-person eye-witness accounts of British citizens fleeing the Jewish jackboot. Then turn the page and you’ll often find a shocked article about honor-killing or forced marriage, Muslim-style. That Israel is fighting the frontline war, on behalf of the freedom and civilization of all of us, against the very real evils of shari’a law never seems to occur to these bleeding-heart ignoramuses.”

Ha’aretz, 11 August 2006

Terrorism due to ‘leftist radicalism and appeasement’

“By Thursday morning security forces had arrested some 21 suspects. All are British citizens. All are Muslims. It is not a stretch of the imagination to assume that these British Muslims are jihadists. Indeed, it can probably be assumed that, like their predecessors last July 7, they made their decision to commit an unspeakable atrocity against their countrymen to advance Islam’s takeover of Britain….

“… why is the jihad picking up steam now? Why are fanatical Muslims on the march this summer? It would seem that the answer to this question is found in the increased cultural weakness of the two states leading the war against radical Islam: the US and Britain. In both countries, for the past two years, the forces of leftist radicalism and appeasement have been on the rise.”

Caroline Glick in the Jerusalem Post, 11 August 2006

CAIR on LGF

Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a civil rights organization often vilified on Johnson’s blog, calls Little Green Footballs “a vicious, anti-Muslim hate site … that has unfortunately become popular.” The irony, Hooper says, is that if the same kind of “hatred” that appears on LGF appeared on Muslim sites, it soon would be used by LGF’s fans to justify their worldview.

Like many politically themed blogs, Little Green Footballs doesn’t always traffic in subtlety and nuance. Dissenting points of view often are dismissed as “idiotarian” or “LLL” (for “loony liberal left”), and Islam is mockingly referred to as “RoP,” meaning “religion of peace.”

Hooper says the Reuters incident is unfortunate in itself, but says such sites as Little Green Footballs use such lapses “as a club against the entire mainstream media. Their line is basically that if one freelance photographer alters a photo, then everything Israel does must be justified. Or if one of the sentences that Dan Rather once uttered wasn’t correct, then the media is corrupt and Dan Rather’s whole career is rotten to the core.”

The FBI, according to Hooper, recently investigated several threats of physical harm against Muslims posted by Little Green Footballs readers.

Washington Post, 9 August 2006