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 to the new strategy document,
For generations the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians has been understood as the prime irritant preventing peace and prosperity in the region. Today, the threats from jihadist terrorist organizations and the threat from Iran are creating the realization that Israel is not the cause of the region’s problems. States have increasingly found common interests with Israel in confronting common threats.
That this is true cannot be overstated. For decades, the official establishment position championed by politicians, academics, and journalists of all stripes seeking to apologize for all the anger, violence, and jihadi terror plaguing the region was the creation of Israel. Because the Jewish state is stronger than its Muslim neighbors, the latter were always presented as frustrated “underdogs” doing whatever they can to achieve “justice.” No matter how many rockets were shot into Tel Aviv by Hamas and Hezbollah, and no matter how anti-Israeli bloodlust was articulated in distinctly jihadi terms, that was always presented as ironclad proof that Palestinians under Israel are so oppressed that Muslims have no choice but to resort to terrorism.
Yet, as with all false narratives, the survival of this one relied on concealing the bigger, more complete picture, as captured by the following question: If Muslims get a free pass when their violence is directed against those stronger than them, how does one rationalize away their violence when it is directed against those weaker than them—for example, millions of indigenous Christians living in the Muslim world? According to reliable statistics published annually, some 40 of the 50 worst nations in which to be Christian are Muslim majority. Of the absolute worst 21 nations—18 of which are Muslim—“100 percent of Christians experience persecution.”
The rationalizations used to minimize Muslim violence against Israel simply cannot work here, for now Muslims are the majority—and they are the ones violent and oppressive to their minorities, in ways that make Israeli treatment of Palestinians seem enviable. In other words, Christian persecution is perhaps the most obvious example of a phenomenon the mainstream media wants to ignore out of existence—Islamic supremacism, the true source of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Vastly outnumbered and politically marginalized Christians in the Islamic world simply wish to worship in peace, and yet they are still hounded and attacked; their churches are burned and destroyed; their women and children are kidnapped, raped, and enslaved. These Christians are often identical to their Muslim co-citizens in race, ethnicity, national identity, culture, and language; there is generally no political or property dispute on which the violence can be blamed. The only problem is that they are Christian—they are non-Muslims—the same category Israelis fall under.
From here one also understands why what has been described by some authorities as a “genocide” of Christians at the hands of Muslims in Iraq, Syria, Nigeria, Somalia, Pakistan, and Egypt—Muslims who could care less about Israel and Palestinians—is one of the most dramatic but also least known stories of our times. The media simply cannot portray Muslim persecution of Christians—which in essence and form amounts to unprovoked pogroms—as a “land dispute” or a product of “grievance” (if anything, it is the ostracized and persecuted indigenous Christian minorities who should have grievances). And because the media cannot articulate such Islamic attacks on Christians through the “grievance” paradigm that works so well in explaining the Arab-Israeli conflict, their main recourse is not to report on them at all.
Such is the way for all apologists of Islam: to ignore or whitewash Muslim aggression—and then, in that vacuum, distort and present non-Muslim responses as the origins of the conflict. This is especially prevalent in the portrayal of history. Thus Georgetown University’s John Esposito claims that “Five centuries of peaceful coexistence [between Islam and Europe] elapsed before political events and an imperial-papal power play led to [a] centuries-long series of so-called holy wars [the Crusades] that pitted Europe against Islam and left an enduring legacy of misunderstanding and distrust.” In reality, these “five centuries of peaceful coexistence” saw Muslims terrorize and conquer more than three-fourths of Christendom; but this inconvenient fact is seldom mentioned, for knowledge of it ruins the “Muslim-grievance” narrative, just as knowledge of modern day Muslim persecution of Christians ruins it.
Either way, it is refreshing to see that the sun is breaking through the darkness of deceit that has for too long clouded Middle Eastern realities, including by presenting victims as aggressors and aggressors as victims. Yet, as with Trump’s return of words such as “jihadi” to formal discourse, one doubts that the Establishment will follow suit, as the polarization of America continues unabated.
Thank you Mr. Ibrahim, as usual a very informative article .
Pres. Trump raises our hopes somewhat, but I do agree about America being a divided house, which will lead to negative consequences, to put it mildly.
To put it bluntly, the polarisation in any country is a natural consequence of too many people having rejected God and His moral law, buying into Cultural Marxism instead.
Ray:your wisdom is refreshing. The media is complicit with the Islamic persecution of Christians as well as other muslims and nationalities. Islamic supremacism is the root of all Arab conflicts. Would you say that that Raheel’s approach to the ideology could possibly be a source of solution? Is Salman’s approach a feasible start? Trumps inclusive vocabulary can contribute to identifying the issues necessary. Write-on Ray!
The media is so utterly ignorant, thank goodness for men like Mr. Ibrahim who is among the enlightened, it is a pity the rest of Europe doesn’t wake up to reality. Soon there will be total pogroms in Europe and Christians will be thrown into death camps which still exist or slaughtered by the million along with their Jewish brothers.
Dear Raymond, I almost always agree with you, but not now. Israel prefers ISIL to Assad. On the other hand, Syrian Christians support Assad because they know that thanks to him they are still alive.
Israel prefers chaos in its borders in order to stay alive. It is also true that they come to Palestine by force.
Not true, Israel was granted legitimacy in 1947, there has never been a Palestine. This is abundantly clear from real history. With the fall of the Ottomans in 1917 the whole area was a no mans land until Europe carved it up. Still at it today, who is Europe anyway? A bunch of idiotic left wing retards with little knowledge of real history or politics, run by too many dumb women. The likes of Mrs, Golda Meir and Maggie Thatcher will not come again for another century. Dumb feminist broads cannot think objectively, make strategic logical decisions, think with their emotions rather than their heads. Both women by the way were mother’s as well as wives, the dross of today are either barren or peri-menopausal with hormones all over the place.
Israel is a Zionist project by Theodor Herzl in the early twentieth century. The “Balfour Declaration” in 1917 promises support from the British Empire for the creation of Israel in exchange for American participation in WWI. Jews were a small minority in Palestine before WWII. The Jewish immigrants took the Palestinian land by force.
The legitimacy of 1948 is the same as that allowed to attack Iraq in 1990 or 2003. Or Libya, creating an indescribable chaos and a huge flow of immigration that harasses Europe.
Yijad existed before Israel, but with the creation of Israel we have had one war after another in the Middle East.
Israel has no right to exist because they interpret the Bible in that way. In the Israel issue we have the confrontation of two religious fanaticisms: Jewish and Muslim.
Well Sir we must agree to disagree, however, I appreciate your objective argument though I have to say there are flaws in the said argument. Just a reminder to you, Have you considered the psychological national guilt? Of those nations Arabs were indeed party to the Holocaust policy, whether you believe the Holocaust was a myth merely shows how stupid you really are under all the erudition of your comment. ISRAEL was granted legally, without Israel all Jews today would have been annihilated. Jews are not {apart from the Heredi} inflicting their cult on the rest of the world, Jews DO NOT force conversation or punish for leaving Judaism. You mindless man, equating the Jewish faith with the most barbaric political religious ideology still living in the 7th Century. Just an aside my friend I have just read an article which discloses the fact the Muslim religious police in India enter people’s homes with the objective of destroying hygenic lavatory systems leaving an hole in the ground with nothing but a plastic rubber hose to clean away faeces urine and any other unhygenic detritus thrown down lavatory holes. In Egypt in Muslim huts hardly homes, women prepare food next to the lavatory in order to wash away the dirt on vegetables etc. and anyone may use the lavatory hole at the same time. Being curious about how muslims live I was invited to have a meal with these people the consequences of which were very serious stomach disorder and just to make matters worse some stupid kid of 18 already married truly believed I a European Mother would sell my daughter for a bunch of goats to this idiot. His poor wee wife no more than 14 was so distressed I had to assure her no such negotiations are taken seriously. So you go ahead and tell me Jews don’t deserve a land of their own! At least Jews as well as Christians keep pace with hygene science and technology. All Muslims and arabs can do is behave like low IQ morons, but you carry on back them. Should you respond I will not waste my time answering such a stupid man.
No, dear, we’re not going to talk because you insult.
You neglected to point out my spelling error ‘conversation – conversion’ Theodore Herzel was an Irish Jew as far as I know, and the first Chief Rabbi of Israel. As for the that stupid book the ‘Protocols of Zion’ haven’t you heard it was a smear propagandist load of crap. But you go on believing in conspiracy theories, maybe you follow Ancient Aliens on Docs Sky – mostly nuts spouting rubbish.
Israel is a shining light of tolerance, pluralism, classic liberalism, civility and justice surrounded by a sea of Islamic authoritarianism, intolerance, belligerence and supremacism. Christianity and the gospel are thriving in Israel while being suppressed and persecuted in all Muslim dominant nations. Yes Israel is aligned with Sunni Islam, but so is the USA, facts that are nothing to be proud of. The Shite/Iranian/Hezbollah brand of Islam is also horrible and hostile to the West.
The most orthodox Jews hate Christianity. Youare very wrong. Who has the banks, who rules international politics? Why the war against Assad, if Assad protects the Christians? It is not America in the first place, but Israel.
“For when I asked my dad why we don’t learn about Jesus, he said, “You were born a Jew, you will die a Jew, forget it.”
He was a Jew without Jesus, and so was I, just like my parents, and just like everyone in synagogue.
So I did ‘forget it’ until my rabbi spit.
I was visiting my grandmother in the hospital. As I walked in, the rabbi was walking out. So I asked him, “Why can’t we learn about Jesus if He’s the Messiah or not?”
Suddenly, he spit on the floor, and said, “Don’t you ever use that word again unless you use it as a curse word.”
I was shocked. Turned off too. Pretty crass to spit on the hospital floor.
Maybe that’s why when I read in the Gospels a few years later that when Jesus spit on the eyes of a blind man and was healed, I felt freed from the rabbi’s spit.
Isn’t it amazing…that an insignificant thing like spit can make such an imprint on one’s soul, whether for good or not so good.
Well, the rabbis spit on Jesus too, you know: Jews without Jesus is a bad way to go.
I could not follow their lead.”
I do not follow Rabbinic Judaism. I follow the Rabbi, Son of God, Jesus. He teaches me that He will save Israel, through the gospel, through the cross. He teaches me to love all those who reject Him, especially among Jews. But on the strictly political and social level, yes there are many progressive devil’s among Jews. No doubt. But, the nation is a beacon of freedom that needs to be respected and defended.
“On Dec. 29, 1977, Christians in Israel and the occupied territories protested a new law passed by the Israeli parliament making it illegal for missionaries to proselytize Jews. Protestant churches charged that the law had been “hastily pushed through parliament during the Christmas period when Christians were busily engaged in preparing for and celebrating their major festival.” The law made missionaries liable to five years’ imprisonment for attempting to persuade people to change their religion, and three years’ imprisonment for any Jew who converted. The United Christian Council complained that the law could be “misused in restricting religious freedom in Israel.”
Donald Neff has been a journalist for forty years. He spent 16 years in service for Time Magazine and is a regular contributor to Middle East International and the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. He is the author of five excellent books on the Middle East.
Nonetheless, it came into force on April 1, 1978, prohibiting the offering of “material inducement” for a person to change his religion. A material inducement could be something as minor as the giving of a Bible. Although the Likud government of Menachem Begin assured the Christian community that the law applied equally to all religions and did not specifically mention Christians, the United Christian Council of Israel charged that it was biased and aimed specifically at Christians since only Christians openly proselytized. Council representatives also cited anti-Christian speeches made in the parliament during debate on the law. Parliament member Binyamin Halevy had called missionaries “a cancer in the body of the nation.””
I know the antipathy the Israeli government has towards Jesus. 2000 years. We read about it in the Gospel, Epistles and Acts, etc. Do me a favor. Go on the web site, http://www.oneforisrael.org. These are Israeli born Messianic Jews. They are boldly preaching the gospel throughout Israel today. So are many other Messianic Congregations. I also read Romans 11 and understand that a big conversion of Jews to Jesus will happen. I love Jews and ISRAEL and know that Jesus is their ONLY SAVIOR (ROMANS 1:16).
I know those Jews; but those have nothing to do with a Zionist project. Of course, we have to pray for the conversion of all people to Christ.
But Zionism is a separate issue. They have nothing to do with Old Testament Judaism. They are liberals, owners of world finances and easily determine international politics through credits that they know can not be returned. They control the banks, the media, Hollywood, mostly Western politics.
Now an ally of these people is making massacres in Yemen. Any problem? No, we will talk about Iran, because the media has now put the spotlight on this country in which they seek to promote “spring.”
Two major problems of the world in the last century are Zionism and Islam (Islam in reality from the very beginnig). In many occasions it seems to me that Islam plays the role of the hitman, and the Zionism of the mafiosi.
Trump is the closest politician the USA has to a champion of liberty and truth like Geert Wilders or Victor Orban. True classic liberals will perceive Islam as an authoritarian, supremacist and hostile threat through he political, cultural and demographic jihad. And, may God bless and defend Israel, the superstar of liberty, tolerance and justice in the midst of a sea of Islamic hate.
Trump is the closest politician the USA has to a champion of liberty and truth like Geert Wilders or Victor Orban. True classic liberals will perceive Islam as an authoritarian, supremacist and hostile threat through he political, cultural and demographic jihad. And, may God bless and defend Israel, the superstar of liberty, tolerance and justice in the midst of a sea of Islamic hate.
Anyone who is allowed to study Arab history honestly would never subscribe with integrity to the paradigm that Arab intent to destroy Israel is the only reason or excuse for Arab violence toward Christians, Kurds, Hindus, Jews, Europeans, Africans, and more. A few academicians, their administrators, and their students at MIT and Columbia, maybe Berkeley, made it convenient for their peers to publish articles and to counsul govt officials, US State Dept.