The Holy Land, Shared With Terrorists? Rachel Neuwirth 08 June 2003
The gravest enemy threatening democracy and world peace today is militant Islam — the convergence of fundamentalist Islam and terrorism. Its breeding ground is in the madrasses (Islamic schools), mosques, and camps sponsored by Arab leaders, and it seeks world dominance.
This bloodthirsty culture began in Europe at the time of the Romans, and has existed throughout history right up to WWII and the chimneys of Auschwitz, to Arafat in Jenin, and is still supported by "Old Europe." This culture is hatred, and it has been perpetrating unimaginable atrocities against the Jewish people right up to the present.
On June 4, 2003, on the shores of Aqaba port in Jordan, on a stage surrounded by sprawling lawns, President Bush, King Abdullah, Prime Minister Sharon, and Prime Minister Abbas shook hands in ceremonial greeting, accompanied by exhilarating rhetoric. At the same time, Abu Mazen’s official Palestinian Authority Press Center was circulating cartoons ( http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_Carcature/ipc-e_car7.html ) inciting hatred and violence against America and Israel, and Palestinian Arabs were throwing stones at Israelis while Hamas, the al-Aqsa Brigades, DFLP and their countless offshoots continue to declare they will never renounce their “martyrdom” operations.
President Bush proclaimed, "The Holy Land must be shared between... Palestine and Israel."
Firstly, this land is no longer holy: it is soaked with blood, barbaric acts, lies, and hate perpetuated by the many Palestinian Arab terrorist factions.
Secondly, "Palestine" was never a holy land. "Palestine" was the name the Romans gave the Holy Land to further humiliate the Jews after they tortured and expelled them.
Thirdly, shared with whom? The PLO — a terrorist entity? What has Abbas done to stop terrorism since his appointment?
Why does President Bush refuse to see the writing on the wall? Why is he not insisting on his original call to the Palestinian Authority to first end terrorism? Has he forgotten terrorism´s thousands of victims? Does he not hear or read militant Islam´s calls for continued terrorism, even as he concludes his speech? Has he forgotten that while the Coalition forces were fighting in Iraq to free the world of a tyrant, militant Islam — including many Palestinian Arabs — continues to spread its vile ideology and to call for the destruction of the Jewish state?
On June 4, 2003, Palestinian Authority Deputy Foreign Minister Adli Sadeq strongly criticized President Bush in the PA´s al-Hayat al-Jadida newspaper, saying "President Bush is the head of the snake... America is sinking deeper and deeper in a putrid swamp, and will extricate itself from it only as a defeated, stinking loser."
On May 20, al-Jazeera aired excerpts of an alleged audiotape by Osama bin Laden´s top lieutenant, Ayman al-Zawhri, the Egyptian militant. He called on Muslims to carry out 9/11-style attacks against the U.S., Jews, and Western interests, and criticized Arab governments for their close ties to the United States. Here are some excerpts:
***********´´Consider your 19 brothers who attacked America in Washington and New York with their planes to be an example....
***********"Carry arms against your enemies, the Americans and Jews... Attack the missions of the U.S., U.K., Australia, and Norway; and their interests, companies, and employees. Turn the ground beneath their feet into an inferno, and kick them out of your countries."
Why is al-Jazeera allowed to disseminate these videos and fuel murderous rage in Arab societies? And where are the moderate Arab Muslims? Why don´t we hear their voices raised in protest against the bloodthirsty theology that has been highjacking their religion? Where are American Muslims, who enjoy the opportunities and advantages of the West as their co-religionists seek the destruction of its culture? I fail to see them on the front lines, roaring in the face of this abhorrent mentality. If we rely on the Muslim/Arab world to correct this unacceptable culture, it will only grow worse.
Edmund Burke, an 18th-century British statesman, sums it up perfectly: "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing."
Instead of doing something realistic to eradicate the terrorist threat, President Bush and the Quartet have drawn a road map to reward terrorism. To uproot this evil theology will take as long as it took to foster. People who are indoctrinated with Islamist ideologies, such as those in the Arab world, must be quarantined — isolated until a cure for their state of mind is found. Their education system must be substantially reformed to remove all the evil, anti-Semitic hate-language in their textbooks. Mosques in the Arab world and elsewhere must be monitored to ensure that hate speeches are not relayed to young minds, and to ensure that Islam is indeed a peaceful religion teaching kindness and tolerance. Procrastination will only make the task more difficult.
I do not believe that moderate Islam or any leader in the Arab World is willing or able to carry out the task. In fact, they harbor Islamists and finance terrorism. And one of the reasons they do is that they fear for their own lives.
The Saudi government continues to funnel millions of dollars into mosques around the world that preach Wahabbism — an extremist form of theocratic Islam. News reports from Sharm e-Sheikh say that Saudi Arabia refused a proposal made by President Bush during the consultation meeting with Arab leaders to start normalization of relations with Israel. They looked for practical steps toward implementing the road map — not for the elimination of terrorism, Bush´s original requirement as the first step toward a Palestinian state.
No land will be holy if terrorism continues to be rewarded by the West and nourished by the Arab/Muslim leaders. The West must take decisive action, without compromise, to eradicate militant Islam. The U.S. and the free world must take the lead, and must incentives moderate Muslims to lend a hand. The scorpion must be neutralized, or its venom will sting the free world again.
