Found a good "Understanding Middle Eastern Mentality" link? Let Us Know!

Greetings from the Cultural Department of the Embassy of Saudi Arabia
Washington, D.C.
Published by the government of Saudi Arabia:

“Be dissociated from the infidels, hate them for their religion, leave them, never rely on them for support, do not admire them, and always oppose them in every way according to Islamic law.”

“There is consensus on this matter, that whoever helps unbelievers against Muslims, regardless of what type of support he lends to them, he is an unbeliever himself.”

Al Muhajiroun (Bakir School of Thought) 6-21-2004:

"Whoever says that Islam is free from terrorism or wants to differentiate between Islam and terrorism is committing Al Juhoud and that is Kufr Akbar – and will take them out of the fold of Islam.

The one who says ‘we should fight against terrorism’, he is fighting against Islam. We know very well that USA meant no one else by the term ‘terrorists’ but Islam and Muslims and the one who wants to avoid terrorism is avoiding Islam."

Note: SSRsi recognizes that you cannot take a broad brush and paint all persons of Middle Eastern descent with the same philosophical color. The articles linked to here are intended to convey the complexity of current and historical outlooks held by various factions within the Middle East. Admittedly, we will be concentrating on those who view America, Americans and the American way of life as an enemy - for whatever reason. It appears that there are quite a few reasons (according to some folks) to hate us - but none of them will make any sense to the average American who isn't holding a grudge against whichever political power currently holds the Presidency. If you hate Republicans, George Bush, or the military, there are plenty of ways and reasons to side with the anti-American Middle East mentality. Not that this will keep them from killing you anyway, but it is possible to use their arguments against your fellow Americans. Ditto for those who hate the Democrats, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, Barbara Streisand and the rest of the leftist elite.

SSRsi further recognizes that not all those who happen to be of Middle Eastern descent hate America, Americans or the American way of life. Some of them - quite a few, actually - are rational enough to understand (unlike the Hollywood elite) that America has no designs on imperialism, that we are - for the most part - passionately non-aggressive. We just don't like bullies, tyrants and dictators. We believe everyone should be as free as the average American citizen and enjoy the level of technology, equality and overall sense of well-being that we have come to take for granted. Now what's so wrong with that? Who could possibly object to freedom, equality, and a better standard of living? Well... the dictators, tyrants and bullies, of course.

You will note - perhaps for the very first time (which is why I am mentioning it) - that the only nations or groups who hate us do so because whatever form of hierarchal leadership controlling these groups have alot to lose if their followers wake up and realize they'd be better off on our side. This is not arrogance on my part or in the American attitude, it is simple truth. The leaders of those who hate us live as well (or better) than us without the nagging need to worry about equality of lifestyle for their followers. The upper echelons reap all of the benefits of their "society" while performing little or none of the work necessary to provide these benefits. Those who do provide the work get few or none of the benefits. This frustrates and infuriates the American sense of Justice. Occasionally to the point where we feel it is necessary to act. And when one of these dictators, tyrants or bullies actually gives us a valid (or semi-valid) reason to step in and make a few adjustments to their world view...

PS: The Arab nations were once leaders in science, engineering technology, medicine and, yes, organized religion. Internecine warfare, together with a heaping helping of "olde fashioned" Crusader revisionism, decimated the Arab world, destroyed centuries of knowledge with the destruction of the great libraries, and pretty much set the Arab world back into the stone age. That's a pretty good reason to be pissed off, but it seems an awful long time to hold a grudge. The world today is more than willing to share the marvels of technology and education - every bit as much (if not more) than the ancient Arabic universities. If they would just quit trying to kill us all of the time and exercise a modicum of civility, chances are we could all get along just fine.

Then again, maybe not . . .

Reform vs. Islamism in the Arab World Today - Menahem Milson. This paper is designed to introduce the reader to the phenomenon of radical Islam, or Islamism, and to place it in its proper historical and religious context. Following a general introduction to the topic, the first half of the paper presents an outline of modern developments in Islamic thought and behavior in the context of historical developments in the Arab world, focusing on the Salafiyya in Egypt, the Wahhabiyya in Saudi Arabia, and their common progeny among the non-state terror organizations. The second half of the paper looks at the jihadist ideology of Islamism. It analyses the two fundamental concepts of jihad (holy war) and shahada (martyrdom), both in traditionally normative Islam and in the Islamist lexicon. Finally, the paper describes some of the Arab critics of Islamism, their ideas for reform, and their place in the general framework of modern Islamic thought.

Johnathan Galt Films - Jihadist audio & video provided by Glen Jenvey. Spooky stuff. Secret tapes of Sheikh Abu Hamza tell British supporters that looting are legitimate weapons against the infidel (enemies) of Islam. To watch some samples you need either windows media player - mpeg media or real player.

Stop Navel Gazing - Caroline Glick. When we pay attention to our enemies and see the scope of their ambitions and depth of their hatred we must come to a revolutionary conclusion. We, Israelis, Americans, and indeed all non-fascistic Muslims constitute the frontline in the war wherever we are. It was not US military deployment in Saudi Arabia that precipitated the September 11 attacks anymore than it was the Israeli presence in Lebanon or in Gaza or Judea and Samaria or Jerusalem that precipitated the Palestinian-led jihad against Israel. It is our existence that provokes our enemy.

Know The Enemy (And What He Believes) By David Horowitz. FrontPageMagazine.com June 25, 2002. Americans wake up! Your enemies hate you for who you are. They hate you because you are democratic, and tolerant and unbelieving. They hate you because you are Christians: "America’s standing with the Christians of the world against the Muslims has stripped the camouflage from its face." And they hate you because you are Hindus and Buddhists and secularists and Jews.

The Concept and Practice of Jihad in Islam by MICHAEL G. KNAPP; From Parameters, Spring 2003, pp. 82-94.: The word “jihad” means “struggle” or “striving” (in the way of God) or to work for a noble cause with determination; it does not mean “holy war” (war in Arabic is harb and holy is muqadassa). Unlike its medieval Christian counterpart term, “crusade” (“war for the cross”), however, the term jihad for Muslims has retained its religious and military connotation into modern times. The word jihad has appeared widely in the Western news media following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, but the true meaning of this term in the Islamic world (it is sometimes called the “sixth pillar” of the faith) is still not well understood by non-Muslims. In war, the first essential is to know your adversary—how he thinks and why he thinks that way, and what his strategy and objectives are—so that you can attempt to frustrate his plans and protect the lives of your fellow citizens. Understanding how radical Muslims see jihad and are employing it asymmetrically against us can provide us with that kind of perspective. This article will trace the development of jihad through early Islamic history into the present day, and will focus on how jihad in concept and practice has been appropriated and distorted by Muslim extremists as part of their violent campaign against the West and their own governments. Jihad as a centerpiece of radical thought is illustrated by examining the doctrines of prominent extremist groups such as Hamas and Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Misuse of the term by prominent extremist leaders, such as by Osama bin Laden and others in the quote above, is also addressed.

The Middle East Scholars and the Gulf War by Norvell B. DeAtkine; From Parameters, Summer 1993, pp. 53-63.: The Arabist revisionists have been hard at work dissecting the causes and results of the 1991 Gulf War. Their passionate and often acerbic outpourings are everywhere evident. It would seem that in order to be published, the first requirement is that the piece either push a thesis that we should not have initiated military action against Iraq or that the war was pursued with unnecessary brutality, e.g. striking Iraqi columns on their way out of Kuwait--or conversely that the war was terminated too early, allowing Saddam Hussein to regroup and remain in power. A frequent ancillary argument to these positions has been to point to the intervention of US forces as the reason for the plight of the Shia or the Kurds and a host of other ills in the region.

The Origins of al Qaeda’s Ideology: Implications for US Strategy by CHRISTOPHER HENZEL ; From Parameters, Spring 2005, pp. 69-80.: The leader of Sadat’s assassins, Bin Laden’s chief ideologue, and a leading American neoconservative supporter of Israel all call for a revolutionary transformation of the Middle East. However, the United States, the existing Arab regimes, and the traditional Sunni clerical establishments all share an interest in avoiding instability and revolution. This shared interest makes the establishments in the Sunni world America’s natural partners in the struggle against al Qaeda and similar movements. If American strategists fail to understand and exploit the divide between the establishments and the revolutionaries within Sunni Islam, the United States will play into the radicals’ hands, and turn fence-sitting Sunnis into enemies. 

Thoughts on September 11th - An adequate response to terrorism should not only be military, but include a shift in international policies which cause the formation of terrorist groups.

Hussein Condemns American Aggression in U.N. Message By Colum Lynch THE WASHINGTON POST -- UNITED NATIONS. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein declared Thursday that his country “is clear of all nuclear, chemical and biological weapons” and urged the United Nations to resist the Bush administration’s campaign to obtain U.N. backing for a military strike against his government. “I hereby declare before you that Iraq is clear of all nuclear, chemical and biological weapons,” the Iraqi foreign minister said, reading from Saddam’s message to the world body. “The U.S. administration wants to destroy Iraq in order to control the Middle East oil. In targeting Iraq, the United States administration is acting on behalf of Zionism which has been killing the heroic people of Palestine, destroying their property, murdering their children, and seeking to impose their domination on the whole world.” This story was published on Friday, September 20, 2002. Volume 122, Number 41.

Palestinian Authority condemns 'cruel aggression' against Iraq Communicated by the Office of the Prime Minister of Israel, December 28, 1998. Following are several examples of recent Palestinian statements of support for Iraq...

Arabs and the Future of National Cultures —Or: Why We’re Always on the Wrong Side of Civilization War? Well, unless you can read Arabic (I can't) this one probably won't be much help. If you do, I suspect there is much to learn from this, the "'Net’s First Arabic Site!

A Criticism of the Idea of Arab Nationalism The major contradiction in Arab nationalist thinking is seen in its most flagrant form in the adoption of certain cultural elements as language, common history and heritage, and tradition as defining features of that nationalism, while ignoring Islam out of a deep-seated secularist bias. Before Islam, the Arabs were living in what may be called their pre-history. A warring collection of tribes with various dialects and with none or very little of cultural life, especially on the intellectual plane. Islam introduced such an unimaginable qualitative change into the life of the Arabs that it would hardly be an exaggeration to say that it ' created ' the Arab identity anew.

Truth about Dahir Sen Professor Humayun Kabir had said that while the Government of India supported the Arabs against the Israelis, the people of India favored the Israelis against the Arabs. The reason, he. said, was the Arab invasion of Sindh twelve hundred years ago. He was quite right. The race memory has neither forgotten nor forgiven the Arab invasion. Even the Sindhi Muslims share this Indian resentment of the Arab aggression of long ago. Today they honor ``Dahir Sen of Sindhudesh'' --- and look upon Mohammed Bin Qasim as an invader.

Looking the tiger in the eye Arab reactions to 11 September betrayed, like nothing before, the current condition of the Arab world. Many Arab writers and commentators were gripped by a complete state of denial; it was all a hoax and the perpetrators could not have been Arabs, they protested. Denial persisted and grew throughout the year, as respected pundits continued to cry, 'where's the proof?' Apparently nothing would satisfy them until Mohamed Atta and his cohorts awoke from their eternal slumber beneath the rubble of the World Trade Center so that they could appear on Al-Jazeera and other satellite stations to give their personal testimony that they, indeed, had perpetrated that atrocious act. Or perhaps they thought the mighty US intelligence agency would cough up voice and video recordings that they had made but kept under wraps of the conspirators as they were plotting their attacks. Then, when the US did produce a recording of Bin Laden openly admitting that he masterminded the operation, Arab commentators shouted that it was faked. It did not stand up to logic that the leader of Al- Qa'eda would be so naïve as to leave behind such damning evidence, they said.

Peace, as opposed to Peace By Lisa Liel. January 24, 2002: In Arabic, 'peace' means "submission." Peace in Islam and in all cultures which grew out of Arabic domination means the submission of the weak to the strong. Who is weak and who is strong? The answer is simple. The one who submits is weak and the one to whom he submits is strong. And it is the natural order of things that the weak should submit to the strong. Islam means submission to God, and this is the model they have for peace.

Saudi Publications On Hate Ideology Fill American Mosques Center for Religious Freedom,  2005. The Center for Religious Freedom has gathered over 200 texts over the last twelve months -- all from American mosques and all spread, sponsored or otherwise generated by Saudi Arabia. They demonstrate the ongoing indoctrination of Muslims in the United States in the hostility and belligerence of Saudi Arabia’s hardline Wahhabi sect of Islam. All Saudis must be Muslim, and the Saudi government, in collaboration with the country’s religious establishment, enforces and imposes Wahhabism as the official state doctrine. In 2004, the United States State Department designated Saudi Arabia as a “Country of Particular Concern” under the International Religious Freedom Act after
finding for many years that “religious freedom did not exist” in the Kingdom.15 The Saudi policy of denying religious freedom is explained in one of the tracts in this study:

“Freedom of thinking requires permitting the denial of faith and attacking what is sacred, glorifying falsehood and defending the heretics, finding fault in religion and letting loose the ideas and pens to write of disbelief as one likes, and to put ornaments on sin as one likes.”

Islamistwatch.org A strange little blog that I can't quite figure out. On the one one hand, it provides many, many examples of radical thinking, on the other it appears to be somewhat apologetic in favor of Islam as a religion. It links to radical, and nominal texts, as well as sites that proclaims are "anti-Islamist." I found no "about us" or mission statement.

Arab Anti-Semitism, Arab Cartoons - Anti-Semitic Propaganda Links Between Nazis and Islamists

Europe Will Be Islamic by the End of the Century - Robert Spencer. How quickly is Europe being Islamized? So quickly that even historian Bernard Lewis, who has continued throughout his honor-laden career to be strangely disingenuous about certain realities of Islamic radicalism and terrorism, told the German newspaper Die Welt forthrightly that "Europe will be Islamic by the end of the century."

Muslims rule major Swedish city - Ali Dashti. Malmø, Sweden. The police now publicly admit what many Scandinavians have known for a long time: They no longer control the situation in the nations's third largest city. It is effectively ruled by violent gangs of Muslim immigrants. Some of the Muslims have lived in the area of Rosengård, Malmø, for twenty years, and still don't know how to read or write Swedish. Ambulance personnel are attacked by stones or weapons, and refuse to help anybody in the area without police escort. The immigrants also spit at them when they come to help. Recently, an Albanian youth was stabbed by an Arab, and was left bleeding to death on the ground while the ambulance waited for the police to arrive. The police themselves hesitate to enter parts of their own city unless they have several patrols, and need to have guards to watch their cars, otherwise they will be vandalized. "Something drastic has to be done, or much more blood will be spilled" says one of the locals.

Clash of Civilizations in Europe - Arnaud de Borchgrave.  Western Europe as a whole gets about half a million new Muslims a year. Most make their way from sub-Sahara Africa and North Africa, illegal immigrants smuggled by boat to Spain and Italy, where they are free to travel with impunity to the rest of Europe. Thus, Europe's Muslim population has doubled to 20 million in the last 10 years.

Islamic Europe? - Christopher Caldwell. SELDOM HAS THE COURSE of European history been changed by a non-politician's throwaway remark in a German-language newspaper on a Wednesday in the dead of the summer doldrums. But on July 28, Princeton historian Bernard Lewis told the conservative Hamburg-based daily Die Welt that Europe would be Islamic by the end of this century "at the very latest," and continental politics has not been the same since.

Jihad comes to Small Town, USA - Laura Mansfield. Laura Mansfield is a freelance writer with over 20 years of experience dealing with Middle East issues. She is fluent in written and spoken Arabic, and has an excellent understanding of the complex cultural, religious and historical issues. Her experience includes nearly seven years living and working in the region for a wide range of private and government clients.

Liberal America, Europe Slowly Rebelling Against The Values Required For Civilized Existence - Aisha Siddiqa Qureshi. Civilization as we know it is in jeopardy because liberals are so eager to abandon the values on which it rests. They are not willing to support the institutions that safeguard those values. Case in point: radical Islam threatens to subjugate the world and murder, enslave or convert all non-Muslims. Liberals are not even willing to support the institution most necessary for our defense against radical Islam: the military. Instead, they blame America.

Campus Support for Terrorism - Horowitz and Johnson. On university campuses across the country, tenured radicals teach their students that “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter,” and that America is “the world’s greatest terrorist state.”

The Middle Eastern Studies Association and more than 200 “Peace Studies” programs share the view that our terrorist enemies, however regrettable their public relations sense, are in fact the voice of the world’s “oppressed” and that by challenging the United States they are advancing the cause of “social justice.” Nor is the activity of these faculty radicals confined to academic theory. On every major American campus, left-wing professors are busily organizing anti-American “teach-ins” and demonstrations against the war, and providing their students with academic credit for joining the radical cause.

Gaining A Better Understanding of Sikhism Educational Video Don't be an idiot and attack a SIkh because you think they are Al Qaida. See also: On Common Ground: Sikh American Cultural Awareness Training and Gaining A Better Understanding of Hinduism Educational Video

Links under research:

The War that Dare Not Speak Its Name - Andrew C McCarthy

Dialogue: In the Name of Islam - Moderator:  Ray Suarez

Beyond Munich - The Spirit of Eurabia - Bat Ye'or

Saudi Venom in U.S. Mosques - Daniel Pipes 

Islamism's Campus Club - Jonathan Dowd-Gailey

 

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