Kuoleman Ideologia

Myönnettäköön, että en tule koskaan tottumaan siihen näkyyn, kun ihmiset hurraavat ja juhlivat toisten viattomien ihmisten julmaa ja veristä kuolemaa, olivatpa olosuhteet sitten mitkä tahansa. Tähän näkyyn meitä on kuitenkin totutettu katsauksissa Lähi-itään liittyvään konfliktiin. Niin Israelissa tapahtuneisiin terrori-iskuihin kuin Yhdysvalloissa tapahtuneeseen vuoden 2001 terrori-iskujen sarjaan liittyvät unohtumattomat kuvat juhlivista ihmisistä kaduilla ampumassa ilmaan ja jakamassa lapsille karamelleja tapausten kunniaksi.

Kun länsimaiset äidit ja isät toivovat lapsilleen pitkää ikää, ovat islamilaisen fundamentalismin aivopesun kohteiksi joutuneet äidit ottaneet meille käsittämättömän elämän asenteen; heille on kunniaksi se, jos mahdollisimman moni heidän lapsistaan kuolisi marttyyrina ja tappaisi siinä ohessa mahdollisimman monta vääräuskoista. Näin on tapahtunut lukuisia kertoja Israelissa, Irakissa ja sittemmin myös meidän omalla maaperällämme Euroopassa Lontoon ja Madridin terrori-iskujen myötä. Yhä käsittämättömämmäksi tilanteen tekee se, että suurin osa näistä itsemurha-iskijöistä oli lähtöisin varakkaasta tai vähintään keskiluokkaisesta perheestä. Useat heistä ovat olleet korkeasti koulutettuja. Perustelut siihen, että terrorismi juontaa juurensa köyhyydestä, alkaa yhä enemmissä määrin olemaan hataralla pohjalla.

Viimeisin lisäys tähän surulliseen kuoleman ideologian jatkumoon on torstai-iltana Jerusalemin Kiryat Moshessa tapahtunut terrori-isku, jossa on tähän mennessä kuollut 8 siviiliä. Jälleen kerran Gazassa ja Libanonissa Hizbollahin joukoissa juhlittiin. Miksi tämä terroristi astui varmaan kuolemaan, vieden mukanaan syyttömiä sivullisia? Syy ei voi olla Israelin Gazan miehityksessä, sillä Israel ei ole enää vuoden 2005 jälkeen miehittänyt Gazaa. Sen sijaan Hamas on ottanut Gazassa lähes täyden hallinnan, ja on käyttänyt tämän valta-asemansa laajentaakseen terrorismia israelilaisiin siviilikohteisiin.

Syy ei myöskään voi olla kurja elämäntilanne, sillä kyse oli henkilöstä joka oli itä-Jerusalemilainen Israelin arabi, nauttien kaikkia Israelin kansalaisuuden tuomia etuoikeuksia. Syynä ei myöskään voi olla ns. "laittomat siirokunnat", sillä ne eivät olleet Arafatin aikanakaan este rauhalle. Oslon sopimuksessa siirtokuntien kohtalosta oli itse asiassa päästy yhteisymmärrykseen.

Ja mitä sitten, vaikka nämä edellä mainitut olisivatkin "häirinneet" mainittua terroristia? Voiko mikään oikeuttaa viattomien tappamiseen? Voiko väkivallalla saavuttaa rauhaa? Ja voiko syyttömien kuolema koskaan, missään olosuhteissa, olla juhlan aihe?

Olen itse asunut sekä itä- , että Länsi-Jerusalemissa. Itä-Jerusalem on juutalais - ja arabiasutuksiin jakautunut alue niin sanotun Vihreän Linjan seudulla, jossa muslimien rukouskutsut soivat perjantaisin ja kaupat menevät kiinni sapatiksi. Jokaisena viikonloppuna arabialueilta kuului ilotulitusta ja ampumista jonkin onnellisen hääparin kunniaksi samalla kun juutalaiset olivat hiljentyneet omilla asuinalueillaan perhekeskeiseen sapatin viettoon.

Toisaalta Länsi-Jerusalem jäi mieleeni länsimaisena asuinalueena jolla oli tosin omaleimainen uskonnollisen juutalaisuuden sävy. Sapatteina koko Länsi-Jerusalem lähes pysähtyi. Ortodoksiset juutalaiset aloittivat sapattia varten valmistautumisen jo torstai-iltana menemällä Yeshivoihin lukemaan Tooraa. Asuin vain muutaman kilometrin päässä Kiryat Moshesta, jossa viimeisin terrori-isku tapahtui. Voin kuvitella, että siellä oli edellä mainitsemani kaltainen torstai-ilta käynnissä terroristin aloittaessa hurjan tulituksensa.

Koraania on tulkittu monin tavoin, mutta valitettavasti siinä on jakeita jotka kehottavat suoranaiseen väkivaltaan kristittyjä ja juutalaisia kohtaan, tulkitsisipa niitä miten tahansa. Nämä jakeet ovat valjastettu nykypäivän Jihadismiksi, jossa taistellaan ensinnäkin juutalaisvaltion olemassaoloa vastaan, ja sen jälkeen myös koko ei-islamilaista maailmaa kohtaan. Määränpäänä ei ole vähempi, kuin koko maailman saavuttaminen islamin alaisuuteen. Ensin Israel, sitten muu Eurooppa jne. Merkittävää on myös se, että islam kieltää muslimeja tekemästä pysyvää rauhaa vääräuskoisten kanssa. Tämän pitäisi selittää paljon.

Valitettavasti olemme aikakaudessa, jolloin ääri-islam nostaa päätään ei pelkästään Lähi-idässä, vaan maailmanlaajuisesti. Tulituskohteena ei ole pelkästään Israel ja juutalaiset, vaan koko länsimainen elämäntyyli. Palestiinalaisen Hamas - järjestön televisio pyrkii sumeilematta aivopesemään seuraavaa sukupolvea tätä taistelua varten. Ensin tuli Mikki Hiiren irvikuva Farfour - hiiri, joka kehotti palestiinalaislapsia vihaamaan juutalaisia. Kansainvälinen paheksunta johti Farfour - hiiren hyllyttämiseen, joka toteutettiin siten, että lapsille uskoteltiin juutalaisten tappaneen Farfourin. Uusin versio tälle sairaalle propagandalle on kuitenkin jo ilmestynyt Assud- kaniinin muodossa, joka kehottaa lapsia tappamaan tanskalaiset, vastineena pilakuva- kohulle.

Toisaalta Hizbollah ja useat muutkin Israelin tuhoamiseen itsensä pyhittäneet järjestöt ovat organisoineet omat kampanjansa lapsien aivopesuun. He eivät kasvata lapsiaan rauhaan ja elämään, vaan sotaan ja kuolemaan. Kuolemalla on ääri-islamissa hyvä kaiku, koska ainoastaan marttyyrit ansaitsevat varmuudella paikan paratiisissa. Vain marttyyrikuoleman kautta voi ihminen olla varma pelastuksestaan.

Sen lisäksi hänen perheensä saa osakseen suuren maallisen kunnian yhteisönsä keskellä, ja mainittavan arvoisen rahallisen palkkion. Marttyyrien nimet nostetaan kunniaan ja heidän urotekoaan kerrotaan lapsille ja lastenlapsille. Nämä ihmispolot huijataan tappamaan itsensä ja muut uskonnollisin perustein, jotta järjestöjen poliititset intressit toteutuisivat. Silti esimerkiksi EU on kieltäytynyt nimeämästä monia näitä järjestöjä terroristi-järjestöjen listalle. Mikä häpeä.

Koska tulee aika, jolloin EU ja koko läntinen maailma tuomitsevat tämän järkyttävän lasten ja yleisten ihmisoikeuksien polkemisen? Milloin tulee se päivä, kun meidän päättäjämme tuomitsevat suoralta kädeltä tämän "kuoleman ideologian" ja sen sijaan kehottavat näitä ääri-islamilaisia järjestöjä valmistamaan lapsiansa elämää ja suvaitsevaisuutta varten? Pelkään, että mikäli emme pian tätä tuomiota lausu, joudumme itse sen uhreiksi. Kyse ei ole vain juutalaisten ja arabien välisestä käsirysystä. Kyse on demokratiasta, uskonnonvapaudesta ja .. viime kädessä... elämästä itsestään.

Tällä hetkellä varsinkin Hamasin hallinnoiman Gazan alueella on kasvamassa kokonainen pienten terroristien armeija, jotka eivät ole koskaan saaneet kuulla lausetta "sinun elämäsi on kallisarvoinen ja korvaamaton." He elävät kuolemaa varten. Meidän tulisi tuomita terrorismi jo näiden viattomien, aivopestyjen lasten tähden.

Wall knocked down at the Rafah crossing: “The price for a ton of TNT has gone down.”

Der Spiegel, no. 6, 2008

Middle East

THE MARCH ON EREZ

Anxiety about rocket attacks in Israel
Hamas jubilation in Cairo; Knocking down Gaza border wall proven major success for Islamists

by Amira El Ahl and Christoph Schult

It’s been raining since early morning and the wet desert sand has transformed the main street of the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing into a muddy morass along which Chinese motorcycles, herds of goats, and pickup trucks carrying gas cans make their slippery way toward Gaza. Standing on the edge of the road, Hamad Kischta lights a cigarette and talks about prices.

“Everything’s gotten very cheap now,” says the Palestinian. Up until a week ago, the members of his clan were active smugglers, but now, with a huge hole punched in the wall between Gaza and Egypt, the value of the tunnels under the dunes has plummeted. “Kalashnikovs are going for only $300,” laments Kischta, “and the price of TNT has dropped from $15,000 to $5,000 per ton.”

One week after the opening of the border, Gaza’s Islamic Hamas government went on a weapons shopping spree and established a massive armory. As a result, instead of homemade Kassam rockets that are a threat to Israeli border towns, the country may now face rocket attacks with foreign made weapons that can reach large Israeli cities such as Ashkelon. “More Russian-grade rockets arrived in Gaza yesterday,” notes Kischta.

And yet this new threat along one of the world’s most conflict-ridden borders has garnered little attention. What has been etched into TV viewers’ minds instead are images of tens of thousands of Palestinians surging through the hole in the border wall to purchase staples such as milk and flour. For the Hamas government, this represents a PR coup that may change the course of policy and events for the region’s key stakeholders.

Israel, whose government locked down the Gaza border after having incurred an endless series of rocket attacks, is now being blamed for the humanitarian plight of the Palestinians, notwithstanding the uncertainty as to how severe the Gazan population’s suffering has been under the sanctions. The autonomous Palestinian government’s moderate Fatah party has felt compelled to lift its self-imposed severance of relations with Hamas, as has Egypt, which had been boycotting the Hamas government since it strong-armed its way into power last summer.

Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak reluctantly received the leader of Hamas last Wednesday in Cairo, with a view to brokering a compromise with the moderate Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. Mubarak, who is normally anything but reticent in his dealings with radical Islamists, was forced to stand by helplessly in the face of the exodus of Palestinians from Gaza, since Mubarak’s compatriots would have taken a dim view of any use of violence against the individuals charging across the border.

And with good reason, since Egyptians now avail themselves of every opportunity to affirm their solidarity with their Palestinian brethren – one example being soccer star Mohammed Abu Tureika exhorting the crowd at a recent match against Sudan to show “solidarity with Gaza.” The Mubarak regime has even been forced to swallow manifestations of solidarity for Hamas from unexpected quarters such as the international book fair in Cairo.

The gaping hole in the Rafah wall has clearly demonstrated to the Israeli government that it can no longer afford to simply ignore Hamas. The policy of collective punishment for supporting fundamentalists has failed, notwithstanding last Wednesday’s Israeli Supreme Court ruling upholding restrictions on supplies of fuel and power to Gaza.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is leery of embarking on a large-scale military incursion into Gaza, particularly in view of a parliamentary committee’s final report released last week and attesting to serious errors in the handling of the 2006 Lebanon war. And in any case, Olmert is currently focused on trying to save his coalition and ensuring he isn’t forced out of office by the combined efforts of opponents in his own Kadima party and defense minister Ehud Barak from the Labor party. Hence, Olmert has little time to devote to Gaza.

According to Ahmed Yousef, chief advisor to Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, knocking down the Rafah wall is probably the greatest success Hamas has scored since winning the parliamentary elections two years ago. Speaking from his Gaza City office, Yousef said he has received phone calls from around the world congratulating him on the action – including from self-appointed emissaries of European governments. “Hamas is once again a player to be reckoned with,” exulted Yousef.

However, the breach in the border also poses a risk for Hamas in the long run. There are increasing signs that al-Qaida cells are being established in Gaza, a form of competition that Hamas fears.

Hamas rejects any return to the 2005 treaty according to which the Israelis can seal off the crossing to the Egyptian city of Rafah at will. But international observers feel that such a move may be in the cards. All that has prevented this from happening thus far are the EU soldiers themselves. “The EU border police could withdraw,” says Yousef. Hamas has no intention of completely surrendering border control. One possible solution might be for President Abbas’s police to monitor the crossing, which must in any case remain open so that goods can be brought in. In Yousef’s view, Egypt should supply Gaza with diesel fuel and electricity, to nullify the effects of the Israeli sanctions.

According to Israeli diplomats speaking on condition of anonymity, the Israeli government would even be willing to give up control of the ten-kilometer stretch between Gaza and the Egyptian Sinai known as the Philadelphi Route, in the interest of completely ridding itself of any responsibility for Gaza. Long-term closure of all crossings into Israel would also reduce the risk of terrorist attacks and would bring to fruition the “disengagement” strategy proposed two and a half years ago by then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for the withdrawal of Jewish settlers from Gaza.

But Hamas wants to prevent this from happening at all costs. The Islamist leaders are hatching a plan that would continue to place the blame for Gaza’s plight squarely on Israel’s shoulders. Ahmed Yousef would like to pull off another Rafah-style exploit, but this time against the Palestinians’ archenemy, Israel. He is planning a mass march to the Erez border crossing in northern Gaza. “We’re going to send half a million people there, mainly women and children. Then we’ll see how the Israelis react,” he says. A devilish scheme, since the Israelis would not react as passively to the storming of their border as the Egyptians did. But Yousef is not impressed by such objections. “If the Israelis want our blood, I’m willing to sacrifice my children.”

Yousef has already asked international observers to participate in the “march on Erez.” Some have already agreed to come, and Yousef is happy about this. “This,” he says, “is the beginning of the third Intifada.”

Abuse of Israel's Humanitarian Policy for the Purpose of Terrorist Activity, Continued.......

Israeli Security Agency (ISA) report
January 2008

Smuggling terrorists into Israeli territory using medical documentation

The demilitarized zone in the Gaza Strip, the security inspections and the interdiction activities of the security forces all create significant obstacles for terrorist organizations trying to smuggle terrorists into Israel.

In recent years there has been an increase in attempts by Palestinian terrorist organizations to overcome these obstacles by smuggling terrorists and terror organization members through the existing crossing points into Israel under the pretence of being patients seeking medical treatment. This is an abuse of Israel's humanitarian policy of rendering medical attention to all who need it.

These attempts have three main features:

1. Location and recruitment of Palestinians who require genuine medical treatment, some of whom are recruited after receiving an entry permit to Israel and have proved to terrorist organizations that they can enter the State of Israel legally. Others obtain the entry permits with the assistance of terrorist organizations.
2. Forgery of medical certificates or receiving genuine medical certificates by fraud or bribery. Terrorist organizations use their connections with members of the Palestinian establishment such as doctors and hospital administrative workers, who issue these certificates either under threat by terrorist organizations or in exchange for bribes. They use other methods as well.
3. Exploitation of visitation permits in Israel issued to relatives of patients hospitalized in Israeli hospitals.

The activity of the security forces to interdict these attempts has prevented many terrorist activities and severe terrorist attacks, including suicide bombings in Israel, deadly shooting at Israelis and placement of lethal explosive charges. In addition, security forces have prevented attempts to smuggle explosive experts from the Gaza Strip under medical pretenses to enhance the capabilities of terrorist organizations in Judea and Samaria and the establishment of new terrorist squads.

In recent years there has been an increase in attempts to smuggle female suicide bombers under the guise of medical reasons, on the assumption that they will be given entry permits more easily and will be able to enter Israel without arousing suspicion.

Prominent examples of using medical certificates for smuggling terrorists into Israel

May '07 – The arrest of two female suicide bombers at the Erez crossing who received an authentic entry permit into Israel using false medical information. They planned to carry out a double suicide bombing in Tel Aviv and in Netanya.

Fatma Zak, 39, a Gaza resident and pregnant mother of eight, together with her niece Ruda Haviv, 30, also a Gaza resident and mother of four, were apprehended on May 30, 2007 at the Erez crossing. Under questioning by the Israeli Security Agency, they confessed to planning to carry out a double suicide bombing in Tel Aviv and in Netanya under the guidance of the Gaza-based Islamic Jihad. They planned on executing these suicide bombings in a restaurant, a celebration hall or in the vicinity of large numbers of soldiers.

For the purpose of entering Israel, one of the Islamic Jihad members acquired genuine medical certificates based on false medical information allowing Haviv to have a medical examination in a hospital located in Ramallah, accompanied by Zak. Furthermore, the Islamic Jihad operative instructed the two to actually undergo the medical examination at the hospital to authenticate their cover story. After completion of the examination, the two were supposed to inform the Islamic Jihad operatives in the Gaza Strip of their whereabouts and they, in turn, promised them that in a short while an operative would bring them explosive belts and take them to the attack sites.

Some time before the two left for Israel they underwent training on how to use explosive belts and Zak even had training on the use of an AK-47 assault rifle. Zak and Haviv were briefed by their dispatchers on the clothing they should wear on the day of the attack so as not to arouse suspicion as they approached the targets.

September 2006 – The arrest of a member of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) at the Erez crossing who had received an entry permit into Israel on humanitarian grounds. He received the permit due to medical problems and planned to use it to establish terrorist cells in the West Bank.

Jaber Hasan Jaber Darabiye, a Gaza resident born in 1963, confessed under questioning by the Israeli Security Agency that he was recruited in 2006 to the Popular Resistance Committees and was supposed to establish terrorist cells in the West Bank for the purpose of committing terrorist attacks against the State of Israel.

To carry out this plan, the Popular Resistance Committees operatives took advantage of Darabiye's medical problems to acquire a genuine entry permit for medical treatment in Israel, which would allow him to go to the West Bank and carry out his mission.

To do so, Darabiye applied for documentation attesting to his medical condition so he could receive entry permits for medical treatment in Israel. He was apprehended on arrival at the Erez crossing on September 28, 2006.
June 2005 – A female suicide bomber who was supposed to enter Israel for medical examinations was arrested at the Erez crossing with an explosive belt strapped to her body.

On June 20, 2005 Wafa Samir Ibrahim Bass, a 21-year-old resident of Jebaliah, was apprehended at the Erez crossing with an explosive belt strapped to her body.

During the security inspection, Wafa aroused suspicion and responded by trying to activate the explosive belt she was wearing. Under questioning, she testified that she had been sent by the Fatach/El-Aqsa infrastructure in the northern Gaza Strip, using the medical treatment permit that was issued to her. Wafa was scheduled to go to the Soroka Medical Center in Beer Sheba for a follow-up examination – she had been hospitalized there in the past (December '04 - January '05) for treatment of severe burns on her body caused by the explosion of a gas cylinder. She was instructed by the organization to carry out the suicide bombing in a crowded area inside an Israeli hospital.

March 2005 – The arrest of a Hamas member, resident of the Gaza Strip, who planned on carrying out a suicide bombing in Israel after his arrival in the West Bank under the pretence of being a potential kidney donor

Muhammed Subahi abd el-Me'ati Bahisi, 26, a HAMAS member and resident of Dir el Balah, testified during his interrogation that he left the Gaza Strip by virtue of a medical procedure that was initiated on behalf of his friend, an Israeli Arab to whom he was willing to donate a kidney. On the basis of Bahisi's request to check his compatibility for kidney donation as well as the fact that he was registered as a resident of the West Bank, the prohibition on his leaving the Gaza Strip was lifted. It was written that he could leave for medical tests using a one-day exit permit, accompanied by security or in an ambulance. On March 7, 2005 Bahisi left the Gaza Strip for Kalandia using a travel permit allowing him to enter the West Bank due to medical needs and based upon the fact that he is registered as a Kalandia resident in his identification card.

Under questioning, Bahisi testified that a day before his departure, when he received a permit to enter the West Bank and not only a single-entry permit for medical tests at the hospital, he notified Hamas operatives in Gaza about the permit which he had received.

The Hamas operatives instructed him to contact them approximately four months after his arrival in the West Bank and after he had arranged a place to stay without arousing suspicion. After that, they would send him an explosive belt to carry out a suicide bombing.

December 2004 – The arrest of a Hamas member who entered Israel through the Erez crossing using medical documents with the objective of carrying out a suicide bombing

On December 20, 2005, Hamad abed el-Karim Hamad Abu-Lihiya a resident of the Jebaliya refugee camp born in 1981, was apprehended in Baqa el Gharbiya. Abu-Lihiya was recruited as a terrorist by Hamas and smuggled into Israel for the sole purpose of perpetrating a suicide bombing in Israel.

Under questioning, Abu-Lihiya confessed that he was smuggled into Israel through the Erez crossing in August 2004, on the pretence of humanitarian grounds, as a "sleeper" terrorist on behalf of Hamas. He used documents alleging that he had cancer and required medical treatment in a hospital in the center of the country. The initial plan was to have another terrorist join him, and the two were supposed to receive weapons from collaborators inside Israel to be used for a terrorist attack.

December 2004 – The arrest of two terrorists of the El Aqsa Martyrs Brigades who planned on entering Israel through the 'khet' route after passing through Egypt under pretence of medical needs

In December 2004 Hasan Ahmed Ali Toum and Muhamed Diab Namer Jaarur were apprehended by the Israeli Security Agency. They are two terrorists from the Gaza Strip who belong to the El Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and who tried to enter Israel to carry out attacks on Israeli citizens.

Hasan Toum went to Egypt after presenting documents certifying that he was to undergo medical treatment there. Toum was apprehended on December 12 following a chase which developed after he entered the Negev area from Egypt. During his questioning it became evident that his objective in entering Israel was to murder an Israeli citizen and bury his body, thus enabling Fatah members in the Gaza Strip to conduct negotiations with Israel for the release of prisoners. Furthermore, it became evident that Toum was planning to damage the railroad tracks in the Natanya area using explosive charges that he was supposed to get from the Fatah infrastructure in Judea and Samaria. Approximately a week before Toum's arrest, Muhamed Jaarur was apprehended at the Rafah crossing while attempting to leave Egypt. Under questioning, Jaarur admitted that he was supposed to leave for Egypt to join forces with Hasan Toum and from there to sneak into Israel to carry out terrorist attacks.

September 2004 – The arrest of a female terrorist sent by the El Aqsa Martyrs Brigades infrastructure in the Gaza Strip to carry out a suicide bombing in Israel, after she required medical treatment in an Israeli hospital

Suhad Fuzi Namar Aslan, 35, single and a resident of the Maghazi refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, was burnt during her childhood from a gas cylinder explosion.

Under questioning, Aslan said that Uda Mahmud Uda Abu Samra, an El Aqsa Martyrs Brigades member, planned to send her for plastic surgery at Al-Muqaddas hospital in Jerusalem and to take advantage of her medical condition by placing an explosive belt under her bandages and dispatching her to carry out a suicide bombing in Jerusalem. Abu Samra instructed Aslan to present a medical document from Al-Muqaddas hospital which confirmed that she had an appointment for a medical examination at the hospital, so she could arrange an entry permit to Israel. Aslan acquired the requested document and, after her entry was denied, she obtained a written medical report in English regarding her medical condition. After being denied entry for the second time by the Erez DCO (District Coordination Office), Aslan obtained an appointment to the hospital. Roughly one month after their initial attempts to receive an entry permit to Israel based upon her medical condition, Aslan received the awaited document.

Aslan left the Gaza Strip in August to undergo surgery in the Al-Muqaddas hospital in Jerusalem. She was operated on and hospitalized till September 9. She then stayed in the hospital an additional five days as per Abu Samra's instructions. Aslan was to wait at the hospital until someone sent by Abu Samra would meet her and drive her to the site of the intended attack. Aslan was apprehended by security forces before she managed to carry out their plans.

August 2004 – The arrest of an El Aqsa Martyrs Brigade member who was about to leave for Egypt and from there enter Israel to carry out attacks. He used forged medical documents which alleged he suffered from testicular cancer, when in fact he was perfectly healthy.

Nabil Maher Halil Misri, a 22-year-old bachelor and resident of the Jebaliya refugee camp, confessed during questioning that, together with another El Aqsa Martyrs Brigades member, Salem abd el-Rahman Salem Tabt, he planned to enter Israel using forged medical documents, when in fact he was perfectly healthy, for the purpose of carrying out terrorist attacks.

Misri said that at first, Tabt planned that he would go through the Erez crossing using a request for medical treatment in Israel. Although in fact Misri was completely healthy, Tabt managed to acquire documents stating that he suffered from testicular cancer. Furthermore, Misri said that Tabt used doctors for this purpose, bribing or threatening them to issue the medical documents. A short time before arriving at the Erez crossing, Misri was supposed to take a pill that would make it appear to the people in the vicinity that he required urgent medical attention and in this way he would receive permission to go to Tel Hashomer hospital. Misri was supposed to study the details of his illness and its side effects so that he could authenticate the cover story and pass the inquiry by the security forces in case he was questioned at the Erez crossing. As Misri approached Tel Hashomer hospital, he was to inform Tabt and wait for some young men to pick him up in order to carry out the terrorist attack. Tabt told Misri he succeeded in smuggling a Galil SAR rifle from the Gaza Strip to Israel, and that he should disguise himself as a soldier with a short haircut and a typical Israeli appearance and attack a Tel Aviv clubhouse.

When questioned, Misri said that after Tabt tried several times to submit the request for Misri's treatment at Tel Hashomer hospital and was denied, they decided to try a different approach.

After the failure of their plan to transfer Misri into Israel through the Erez crossing using medical documents, Tabt decided to try to get him to Egypt using these same documents and from there to smuggle him back into Israel through the Sinai, to carry out a terrorist attack. To do so, Misri had to renew his medical documents. Hayeiri abd el-Karim Muhamed Sisi, who was apprehended with Misri, was also supposed to go to Egypt using medical treatment as a cover story. During his questioning, Misri elaborated that he was instructed to wait for Hayeiri after reaching the Egyptian side of the border, and that he would bring him to an apartment in Israel and dispatch him to carry out the terrorist attack.

Exploitation of medical facilities and vehicles for perpetration of terrorist attacks

In addition to using medical documents to smuggle terrorists into Israel, terrorist organizations attempt to use ambulances to transfer weapons and explosives into Israel. They do this under the assumption that ambulances and medical staff are not thoroughly examined at IDF checkpoints, thereby exploiting the instructions given to IDF soldiers regarding behavior towards the civilian population, especially the sick and children.

Terrorist organizations also use hospitals to cover terrorist activity and as shelter from the Israeli security forces, thereby jeopardizing the lives of the doctors and patients.

These terrorists who view hospitals as a "safe haven" due to Israel's humanitarian policy have also used them as bases of departure to and return from terrorist attacks.

Since the beginning of the confrontation with the Palestinians in September 2000 numerous examples have arisen of this terrorist group activity.

Prominent examples of medical facilities and vehicles used for terrorist attacks

February 2007 – The arrest of an Islamic Jihad terrorist in Bat Yam after attempting to carry out a suicide attack in Israel. He admitted that he prepared for the attack from within the Jenin hospital building.

Omar Ahmed abd el-Rahman Alrub, 25, an Islamic Jihad member from the village of Jilabun near Jenin, was apprehended in Bat Yam on February 20, 2007, in response to a specific warning of his intention to carry out a terrorist attack in Israel. In addition, an explosive bag he was carrying, which did not go off due to a technical malfunction, was seized.

During the investigation of the attempted attack, it became evident that Alrub was instructed by Islamic Jihad operatives inside the governmental hospital in Jenin, where he was recorded on a video camera reading his will aloud, shortly before his departure to carry out the terrorist attack.

Abu Alrub testified during ISA questioning that he joined the organization after meeting some wanted Islamic Jihad operatives in the Jenin hospital. This meeting came about by chance when he came to visit an ill relative. During this meeting he was even photographed with the weapon of one of the militants.

From this and other investigations, it became evident that the governmental hospital in Jenin is being used as a shelter by dozens of wanted Islamic Jihad and Tanzim terrorists from northern Samaria and that they store vast quantities of weapons and explosives there. The hospital is also used as a base for launching shooting attacks against IDF forces in the area and for the perpetration of suicide attacks.

April 2006 – The arrest of a senior Tanzim operative in Bethlehem who used the hospital to hide from the security forces

Arafat Abu Shaira, a senior Tanzim operative in Bethlehem, was wanted for his involvement in the operation of numerous terrorist squads as well as the direction of shooting attacks, placement of lethal explosive charges and the planning of suicide bombing attacks in Israel. Shaira used to hide inside the city's hospital under the assumption that the security forces would not look for him there.

March 2006 – The production of the explosive belt on the rooftop of Refidia hospital in Nablus which was used to kill four Israeli citizens in the Kdumim suicide car bombing

The suicide attack was carried out on March 30, 2006, under the guidance of Tanzim operatives in Nablus, by Ahmed Masharqa, 24, from El Burej near Hebron. He hitchhiked a ride near Kdumim and, shortly before the car reached its destination, blew himself up, killing himself and the other four people in the car.

August 2004 – The arrest of the head of the Military Tanzim in Bethlehem and another senior terrorist hiding out in the Bethlehem French hospital

Adnan Muhamed Hasan Abiyat, the head of the Military Tanzim in Bethlehem, and Ratab Ali Hasan Nebahan, a senior operative of the Tanzim in Bethlehem, were apprehended in Bethlehem French hospital after hiding there for a prolonged period of time. They took advantage of the fact that the place had a special status, thereby placing the patients in jeopardy. The two were assisted by the hospital's employees and also concealed firearms on the hospital premises, including two AK-47 assault rifles, three M-16 rifles, a MAG/M240 machine gun and a large amount of ammunition.

July 2004 – The arrest of a terrorist who was recruited by the Tanzim in Bethlehem and involved in a plan to smuggle an ambulance rigged with explosives into Jerusalem

Muhamed Taleb Salam Darawi, 20, a member of the Palestinian National Security forces from Shawara village near Bethlehem, was recruited to a Tanzim cell in March 2004. Under questioning by the ISA, Darawi testified that, during a shift at the headquarters in Bethlehem, he met Faiz Fuaz Ayid Ahras a member of the Palestinian National Security Services from Rafah who was stationed in Bethlehem. Ahras, who was also a Tanzim member, requested Darawi to help him smuggle a suicide bomber with an explosive belt into Jerusalem using an ambulance. The ambulance was supposed to use the route bypassing the roadblocks situated between Bethlehem and Jerusalem.

Darawi spoke to two Tanzim operatives from the Bethlehem area, who were apprehended several months later, and told them that the ambulance, rigged with explosives, and a suicide bomber with an explosive belt were both standing by. Darawi requested the help of the two Tanzim operatives to smuggle the ambulance and the terrorist into Jerusalem. The plan failed when, after about a week, Darawi told Ahras that he had not found a way to smuggle the ambulance into Jerusalem.

November 2003 – The arrest of a chemist who supplied chemical compounds to the Hamas in Nablus using his hospital connections and ambulances to transport the substances

Rashad Tark Al Nimar, a chemistry PhD from Hawarah and the nephew of Faruq Qadumi, head of the political division of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) were apprehended on November 24, 2003. During his questioning Nimar confessed that he supplied chemical compounds to the military Hamas infrastructure in Nablus, taking advantage of his access to these substances through his work at hospitals in Nablus and Bethlehem. The chemicals were used in the production of explosive charges. He added that he used an ambulance to transport the chemical compounds to Hamas operatives. For example, he confessed to transporting two gallons of hydrogen peroxide to the ambulance company offices in Nablus, from which the operatives took the compounds. In a different case he promised an operative that he would obtain a chemical substance in Bethlehem and send it to him in Nablus in an ambulance.

August 2003 – The arrest of the chief of the Tanzim in Balata refugee camp and of a Hamas operative in Refidia hospital in Nablus, after they set up a Tanzim command post on the hospital roof.

Atman Ibrahim Asad Unis, born in 1977 and the chief of the Tanzim in Balata refugee camp, together with Wafad Bani Audah a Hamas operative, were apprehended on August 26, 2003 by Israeli security forces in Nablus after they set up a Tanzim command post on the hospital roof.

May 2003 – The arrest of a suicide terrorist affiliated with the PFLP, who attempted to slip into Qalqiliya from Nablus in an ambulance with the objective of carrying out a suicide attack in Israel.

Amar Naif Amar Haluan, born in 1985 in the village of Dejan near Nablus, was apprehended on May 13, 2003 in Qalqiliya on his way to carry out a suicide attack in Petah Tiqva. Under questioning, Haluan said that he attempted to leave Nablus and enter Qalqiliya with Zuhir Abed Jian Hamdan, a mother of eight. After they discovered that the roads were closed, they drove to the Alutani hospital and obtained an ambulance. They drove in the ambulance to the Qalqiliya roadblock with Zuhir wearing the explosive belt, but they were not allowed to pass because of IDF activity in the area. On the following day they met in the hospital with the intention of trying again to get through the roadblock using the ambulance. In the end, they drove to Qalqiliya using standard transportation and Haluan was arrested.

March 2002 – The arrest of a Tanzim member who worked as an ambulance driver for the Palestinian Red Crescent. Explosive belts and charges intended for Tanzim members in Ramallah were found in his ambulance .

Aslam Jibril, born in 1971 and a resident of Balata refugee camp near Nablus, worked as an ambulance driver for the Palestinian Red Crescent. He was apprehended on March 27, 2002 at an IDF checkpoint near Ramallah driving an ambulance containing an explosive belt and charges which were to have been transferred to Tanzim operatives in Ramallah. In addition, in the ambulance were children pretending to be patients. The explosive belt was discovered under a stretcher on which lay an ill child. The child's family was present with him in the ambulance during the incident.

October 2001 – The arrest of a Hamas member from Qalqiliya who worked as an ambulance driver and acted as a courier between Hamas headquarters in different cities

Nidal Nazal, a Hamas member from Qalqiliya and the brother of Nasser Nazal, one of the Hamas headquarter commanders in the city, was apprehended in October 2001. He exploited his relative freedom of movement between the Sharon area cities as an ambulance driver for the Palestinian Red Crescent to act as a courier between Hamas headquarters in different cities.

MC/PC.......

Multi-cultural & Politically Correct

Beyond Politically Incorrect!

EXCUSES, EXCUSES, or...It's OK if Incas kill children, since it's just part of their culture

On Star Trek, Multicultural Respect For Cultural Differences and Other Peoples reaches such a point of absurdity that holograms and androids are accorded equal status and rights. Klingons, generally denounced as a warlike, violent people, are accomodated, too. One may not kill microscopic robots infecting a computer system because they are "self aware."

In our real world, there is no country or culture that cannot be defended (except our own, of course, which is evidently worthless and not worth preserving). When I first heard about the issue of female circumcision in Africa, I immediately used it as an example of a cultural difference that was indefensible. I was immediately laughed at and told that this could not possibly happen. Immediately thereafter, Africans began defending the ritualistic mutilation we call female circumcision as a cultural custom that the West and the United Nations had no right to criticize. What all this adds up to is a "blinders on" view of reality, in which our own culture is degraded routinely, and stigmatized with allegations of racism and oppression, while other cultures are celebrated. We have moved from the nation-building assimilation model of the Melting Pot, in which everyone was expected to become an American and adapt to the indigenous culture, to a tribal model known as Multiculturalism.

The concept of multiculturalism concerned respecting differences and recognizing the good in certain differences. What it has become in practice is a method of whitewashing all evils done by others and stigmatizing ourselves. People become hypersensitive about noting the flaws of others and refrain from any criticism. At the same time, they are unduly penitent as to our own flaws and disdainful as to our virtues. Inevitably, I would say, this concept of emphasizing and celebrating cultural differences has degenerated into cliquish groups filled with too much pride and too much self-esteem (another buzz word...) who assert their own superiority under the guise of multiculturalism. As the dominant culture, we become attacked by all concerned. Every flaw is magnified. Every virtue ignored. By all means, talk about American racism, but ignore the xenophobic Chinese. Talk about SLAVERY in AmeriKa, but ignore the long, ugly African tradition of slavery, dating back thousands of years. Talk about American brutality, but ignore Idi Amin and Third World butchery.

How far can it go? Pretty far. In the November, 1999 issue of National Geographic, page 42, the author writes of the Incas and the Spanish invasion. Naturally, the caucasian Spanish are evil and this also means, as the flip side of the coin, that the Incas have to be defended. After all, if two evil groups are fighting each other, do we care? So, contrasting the Evil Spanish with the Virtuous and Wonderful Incas, the author writes: "The Inca were not the brutal conquerors the Spaniards were. They used gifts as well as spears to demonstrate power to potential subjects...Once in charge, the Inca assimilated new peoples with remarkable effectiveness-allowing local leaders to keep their posts but taking their sons to Cuzco for training...honoring local gods and religious practices but commingling them with Inca beliefs and rituals." The only problem with this line of argument? Uh, the Incas liked to murder children. Hmmm. How do we whitewash that?

The author continues: "Child sacrifices were part of this approach. The Inca obtained children from throughout the empire and rewarded their families with positions or goods. Sacrifices were unifying events; children were often taken to Cuzco for celebrations before processions bore them on long journeys and up massive mountains to sacrifice sites." Oh. Child sacrifice isn't just a brutal, savage custom by murderers without conscience. It is just part of an "approach" of assimilating new peoples and incorporating Inca rituals unlike the "brutal Spaniards." It's a unifying event. I guess this is why the rebels in the American Civil War lost. They only made the argument that slavery was economically beneficial to the South; if they had said it was a "unifying event," then it would have been okay.

It is hard to read this nonsense without feeling that politically correct multiculturalism has gone off the deep end. The National Geographic piece is a good example of the whitewashing of other cultures. There is also the tactic of celebrating other cultures, even when they don't particularly deserve it. Every achievement by a minority becomes a Big Thing. Inevitably, this focuses the spotlight on the achievements of ethnic groups, and creates more and more barriers between unassimilated, hyphenated-Americans. Thus, in the Philadelphia Inquirer, March 12, 2000, page A3, the author reports on a new World War I memorial in Kansas City. Raad Cawthon, a black reporter, writes that WWI resulted in the death of 441 Kansas City residents. "One of them...was a woman; 18 were African Americans."

Can it get any more ridiculous? Of the total sum, neither women nor African Americans were major contributors of corpses. The article did not in any way concern racial issues. But spontaneously, this hypersensitive Black reporter felt obliged to start breaking down Americans into ethnic and gender categories, in a context in which it had no purpose whatsoever. In the New America, ethnicity is therefore the name of the game. The last thing you want to be is just a Euro-American. Find some minority group. Attach yourself to it. Proclaim your superiority-and the evil of the dominant culture. That's American today.

Of course, a few more decades of that, and America, to all practical purposes, won't exist any more as a nation.

--March 16, 2000

Little Green Footballs Has Been Inflitrated.......

LittleGreenFootballs has been infiltrated

Bottehond 25 december 2007

For some weeks a controversy rages between the counter-jihadis of Litte Green Footballs and a number of Islam-critical topbloggers. Your reporter went into the battle zone of this controversy to discover a sinister plot, and with that theexplanation why this matter went completely out of control.

On first glance the issue seems to be whether or not some European parties are fascist or not, notably Vlaams Belang and Sverigedemokraterna. Both parties sent representatives to the anti-Islam conference in Brussels, where nearly all relevant players were present. This hurt LGF's feelings, who in the meanwhile was being tipped off by Swedish anti-fascists.

But further investigation proved there is more going on. The debate went completely out of control: old alliances and long lasting friendships might very well be permanently damaged. How did this come to be?

Because of the Brussels Conference LGF boss Charles Johnson received messages from Europe about the assumed neo-Nazi secret agenda of Vlaams Belang and Sverigedemokraterna. Johnson obviously was flabbergasted. Understandable, because, as many posters said: "If it can be proven that European anti-Islam organizations are allied to fascists, many Americans will step aside from supporting the Euro anti-Islam organizations. An old problem was reborn again. Who doesn't remember the messages collected by Blokwatch (and partly fabricated by them) about the roots of Flemish nationalism, who, as is commonly known, en masse choose to support the Nazis during WW2, in the hope of gaining independence after the war. Blokwatch also collected a lot of material about contacts between Vlaams Blok and questionable neo-Nazi organisations and persons. A similar file was collected about Sverigedemokraterna. The Swedes had some members in their ranks who maintained similar contacts with questionable clubs and persons.

In the following weeks many bloggers pointed Johnson to the fact that most of the "evidence" was razor thin, could be easily countered and was often manipulated. Then something important happened. Every reasonable man with sufficient understanding of politics will understand the vulnerable position of the international anti-Islam movement, and will know he has to work carefully and with restriction. Not so on LGF. Every critical remark about the "evidence" or suggestion of making things up were tarred as fascists or VB apologists. Even the most reasonable posters were scolded and suspected. Johnson was not capable of keeping the situation under control. Far from it: he was tempted by a herd of Lizards (which is how the posters on LGF call themselves) to estrange himself even more from such reputable bloggers as Fjordman, the folks of Gates of Vienna and Brussels Journal.

In the ongoing debate a Norwegian antifascist, Øyvind Strømmen, showed up. He wrote the book "Eurofascism". Several times Charles Johnson published parts of this book, all of them accusations aimed at Vlaams Belang and Sverigedemokraterna. Of course, all of this was simply more of the same. In my opinion, it was a major error of Charles Johnson to quote from this book. Not just because the material was mainly irrelevant; to the contrary. Such accusations should always be taken seriously. But because he refused to call for a time-out or discuss matters with the (at that time) friends and allied bloggers, Johnson hanged himself with this, or better phrased, this evidence. That evidence became quickly irrelevant; matters had gone too far already. Apparently Charles Johnson had released the genie out of the bottle and had no idea how to get it back again. He had few options but to keep walking the path he made himself.

Now the smoke has cleared, mainly because Johnson's opponents had the wisdom not to overreact we can make up the balance sheet. Those who followed the debates have seen the resentful tone that many Lizards used. LGF is known as very much pro-Israel, which really is a point to their benefit. It's no surprise many Shoah survivors or descendants from them are amongst the Lizards, and they turned themselves away from the Euro movement. Add to this the deep suspicion many Americans hold about Europe, and European history, and we have the explanations for this debate that went completely out of control. At least, that is what a superficial observer will think.

However, to quote Daniël Belinfante: "there is more going on". Let's have a closer look at this gentleman Mr. Øyvind Strømmen. Who is he? A small investigation showed that Mr. Strømmen is member of this club:

http://webhost.ua.ac.be/extremismanddemocracy/members/MembersList-S.htm

When we read this list carefully, we find the name and founder of Blokwatch, the "anti-fascist" blog that began the accusations of fascism against Vlaams Belang. This is Bart Spruyt. You will find his name on this list.

But there is more: Mr. Spruyt, a friend of Øyvind Strømmen, did much to internationalize the 'anti-fascist' jihad by founding disreputable anarchistic-like clubs such as AFA Netherlands. These chappies are internationally organized. Scandinavia abounds with these little progressive clubs. Perhaps you recall the attempted murder on four SIOE members in Copenhagen, recently? Yes, friends of our friends Spruyt and Strømmen. Those of you who would bear the stench can open a cesspit of extreme left Inquisition. And be surprised of the way these little hysteric clubs work intimately together, internationally.

What are the conclusions of this little investigation? The obvious, of course. LGF has been infiltrated by left wing fanatics, who respect nobody and nothing to achieve their goals. Those who tar everybody fascist who resists, for example, the Islamization of Europe. We are talking here about delusional fanatics who are so utterly convinced of being right (compare them the Baader Meinhof gang) they don't worry about one victim more or less. They actually became what they fought: merciless fascists. Their current champion: Øyvind Strømmen. The man shows off with his many 'investigations', but got his 'investigation' directly from Marc Spruyt. I do not doubt this applies to his 'investigations' about Sverigedemokraterna as well.

Please draw your own conclusions by reading his own forum. A very weak debater, drawing up smokescreen after smokescreen. All questions that might compromise him will remain unanswered. However, his strategy is clear enough: he wants to uncover the Islam-watchers as fascist fanatics, or at least as their helpers. Practically ALL Islam critics (Bat Ye 'Or, Oriana, Robert Spencer, Mark Steyn, Fjordman, just to mention a few) have been criticized by him. There can be no doubt at all: Øyvind Strømmen thinks Islamization is a hoax, and Islam critics are mentally ill or (his preference) fascists. And this is supposed to be the source of Johnson? An infamy!

Did Strømmen enter the debate alone? Of course not. I found so much hatred in the ongoing debate that my conclusion is that Charles Johnson not only has a very questionable advisor, but also that the Lizards have been infiltrated. Check it out for yourself. Observe the responses from the Lizards: foaming at the mouth as they blast their 'fascist' mantra to your postings. Amongst them are a lot of Europeans who will claim not to be left wing orientated. But also a bunch of Lizards who feed Charles Johnson with a deluge of evidence. Evidence collected for many years by the Strømmens and Spruyts of the world.

There is a little bit of good news to report as well. Charles Johnson has put some distance between himself and Strømmen. He repeatedly said that he doesn't agree with everything Strømmen said or stands for. Hardly possible, as Charles keeps the photo of Oriana prominently on his website. Hopefully he will realize one cannot have it both ways. I called on LGF for the relevant actors in this case to enter a debate. Face to face, for communication of such and important matter by mail will not do. The raid on LGF by Euro extremists makes it crystal clear that we cannot afford to. Only reason can heal the breech. Therefore I suggest that all involved pick up the job as soon as possible. That is to honestly what I as an irrelevant islam-watcher demand from all of them.

The only question remaining is: will Øyvind Strømmen hang Charles Johnson's scalp on his AFA belt, or will Charles Johnson see reason, and organize a mediation?

Bostom Essay Continued.......

IN FULL:

(This essay is based upon materials from my forthcoming, “The Legacy of Islamic Antisemitism”, 2008, on Prometheus Books.) December 13th marked the 804th anniversary of the death of Maimonides (d. 1203, in Cairo), renowned Talmudist, philosopher, astronomer, and physician. The biography of this “second Moses,” is often cited by those who would extol the purported Muslim ecumenism of the high Middle Ages—particularly in “Andalusia,” or Muslim Spain, invariably accompanied by a denunciation of the fanatical intolerance of Christian Western Europe, during the same era.

A particularly egregious example of this genre of loaded comparisons was made by Amartya Sen, the Nobel laureate economist, in his recent book Identity and Violence. Sen has the temerity to proclaim, “…the Jewish Philosopher Maimonides was forced to emigrate from an intolerant Europe in the twelfth century, he found a tolerant refuge in the Arab world.”

Sen's ahistorical drivel aside, Maimonides (b. 1135, in Cordova) was but thirteen years old (in 1148) when Muslim Cordova fell into the hands of the particularly fanatical Berber Muslim Almohads, who invaded the Iberian peninsula from North Africa. Maimonides and all the dhimmi Jews in Cordova were compelled to choose between Islam and exile. Choosing the latter course, Maimonides and his family for twelve years subsequently led a nomadic life, wandering across Spain. By 1160 they crossed the Mediterranean, and settled at Fez, Morocco (also under Almohad control) where, unknown to the authorities, they hoped to pass as Muslims, while living as crypto-Jews. Maimonides' dual life, however, became increasingly dangerous as his reputation was steadily growing, and the authorities began to inquire into the religious disposition of this highly gifted young man. He was even charged by an informer with the crime of having relapsed (apostasized) from Islam, and, but for the intercession of the poet and theologian Abu al-'Arab al Mu'ishah, a Muslim friend, he would have suffered the fate of his colleague Judah ibn Shoshan, who had shortly before been executed on a similar charge. Given these precarious circumstances, Maimonides' family left Fez, embarking in 1165 to Acre, then to Jerusalem, and on to Fostat (Cairo), where they settled, living once again as dhimmis, albeit under more tolerant Fatimid rule.

The jihad depredations of the Almohads (1130-1232) wreaked enormous destruction on both the Jewish and Christian populations in Spain and North Africa. A contemporary Judeo-Arabic account by Solomon Cohen (which comports with Arab historian Ibn Baydhaq's sequence of events), from January 1148 C.E, described the Muslim Almohad conquests in North Africa, and Spain, as follows:

Abd al-Mumin...the leader of the Almohads after the death of Muhammad Ibn Tumart the Mahdi ...captured Tlemcen [in the Maghreb] and killed all those who were in it, including the Jews, except those who embraced Islam...[In Sijilmasa] One hundred and fifty persons were killed for clinging to their [Jewish] faith... All the cities in the Almoravid [dynastic rulers of North Africa and Spain prior to the Almohads] state were conquered by the Almohads. One hundred thousand persons were killed in Fez on that occasion, and 120,000 in Marrakesh. The Jews in all [Maghreb] localities [conquered]...groaned under the heavy yoke of the Almohads; many had been killed, many others converted; none were able to appear in public as Jews...Large areas between Seville and Tortosa [in Spain] had likewise fallen into Almohad hands.

This devastation-massacre, captivity, and forced conversion-was described by the Jewish chronicler Abraham Ibn Daud, and the poet Abraham Ibn Ezra. Suspicious of the sincerity of the Jewish converts to Islam, Muslim "inquisitors", i.e., antedating their Christian Spanish counterparts by three centuries, removed the children from such families, placing them in the care of Muslim educators. When Sijilmasa [an oasis town southwest of Fez] was conquered by the Almohads in 1146, the Jews were given the option of conversion or death. While 150 Jews chose martyrdom, others converted to Islam, including the dayyan [rabbi, or assistant rabbi] Joseph b. Amram (who later reverted to Judaism). The town of Dar'a suffered a similar fate. Abraham Ibn Ezra's moving elegy Ahah Yarad Al Sefarad describes the Almohad destruction of both Spanish (Seville, Cordova, Jaen, Almeria) and North African Jewish communities, including Sijilmasa and Dar'a (along with others in Marrakesh, Fez, Tlemcen, Ceuta, and Meknes).

Ibn Aqnin (d. 1220), a renowned philosopher and commentator, who was born in Barcelona in 1150, fled the Almohad persecutions with his family, also escaping to Fez. Living there as a crypto-Jew, he met Maimonides and recorded his own poignant writings about the sufferings of the Jews under Almohad rule. Ibn Aqnin wrote during the reign of Abu Yusuf al-Mansur (r. 1184-1199), four decades after the onset of the Almohad persecutions in 1140. Thus the Jews forcibly converted to Islam were already third generation Muslims. Despite this, al-Mansur continued to impose restrictions upon them, which Ibn Aqnin chronicles. From his Tibb al-nufus (Therapy of the Soul), Ibn Aqnin, laments:

Our hearts are disquieted and our souls are affrighted at every moment that passes, for we have no security or stability...Past persecutions and former decrees were directed against those who remained faithful to the Law of Israel and kept them tenaciously so that they would even die for the sake of Heaven. In the event that they submitted to their demands, [our enemies] would extol and honor them. .. But in the present persecutions, on the contrary, however much we appear to obey their instructions to embrace their religion and forsake our own, they burden our yoke and render our travail more arduous. . . .Behold the hardships of the apostates of our land who completely abandoned the faith and changed their attire on account of these persecutions. But their conversion has been of no avail to them whatsoever, for they are subjected to the same vexations as those who have remained faithful to their creed. Indeed, even the conversion of their fathers or grandfathers...has been of no advantage to them.

If we were to consider the persecutions that have befallen us in recent years, we would not find anything comparable recorded by our ancestors in their annals. We are made the object of inquisitions; great and small testify against us and judgments are pronounced, the least of which render lawful the spilling of our blood, the confiscation of our property, and the dishonor of our wives. ... the [Muslim] custodians are able to dispose of our young children and their belongings as they see fit. If they were given to an individual who feared Allah, then he would endeavor to educate the children in his religion, for one of their principles is that all children are originally born as Muslims and only their parents bring them up as Jews, Christians, or Magians. Thus, if this individual educates them in [what they state is] their original religion [i.e., Islam] and does not leave the children with those [i.e., the Jews] that will abduct them therefrom, he will obtain a considerable reward from Allah...
... We were prohibited to practice commerce, which is our livelihood, for there is no life without the food to sustain our bodies and clothes to protect them from the heat and cold. The latter can only be obtained through trade for this is their source and cause, without which its effect, namely our existence, would disappear. In so doing their design was to weaken our strong and annihilate our weak...
... Then they imposed upon us distinctive
garments...As for the decree enforcing the wearing of long sleeves, its purpose was to make us resemble the inferior state of women, who are without strength. They were intended by their length to make us unsightly, whereas their color was to make us loathsome... The purpose of these distinctive garments is to differentiate us from among them so that we should be recognized in our dealings with them without any doubt, in order that they might treat us with disparagement and humiliation. . . Moreover it allows our blood to be spilled with impunity. For whenever we travel on the wayside from town to town, we are waylaid by robbers and brigands and are murdered secretly at night or killed in
broad daylight...
Now, the purpose of the persecution of Ishmael, whether they require us to renounce our religion in public or in private is only to annihilate the faith of Israel and consequently one is bound to accept death rather than commit the slightest sin . . . as did the martyrs of Fez, Sijilmasa, and Dar'a.

Maimonides' The Epistle to the Jews of Yemen was written in about 1172 in reply to inquiries by Jacob ben Netan'el al-Fayyūmi, who headed the Jewish community in Yemen. At that time, the Jews of Yemen were experiencing a crisis-hardly unfamiliar to Maimonides-as they were being forced to convert to Islam, a campaign launched in about 1165 by 'Abd-al-Nabī ibn Mahdi. Maimonides provided the Yemenite Jewish communal leader with guidance, and what encouragement he could muster. The Epistle to the Jews of Yemen provides an unflinchingly honest view of what Maimonides thought of the Muslim prophet Muhammad, or "the Madman" as he calls him, and about Islam generally. Maimonides writes:

You write that the rebel leader in Yemen decreed compulsory apostasy for the Jews by forcing the Jewish inhabitants of all the places he had subdued to desert the Jewish religion just as the Berbers had compelled them to do in Maghreb [i.e.Islamic West]. Verily, this news has broken our backs and has astounded and dumbfounded the whole of our community. And rightly so. For these are evil tidings, "and whosoever heareth of them, both his ears tingle (I Samuel 3:11)." Indeed our hearts are weakened, our minds are confused, and the powers of the body wasted because of the dire misfortunes which brought religious persecutions upon us from the two ends of the world, the East and the West, "so that the enemies were in the midst of Israel, some on this side, and some on that side." (Joshua 8:22).

Maimonides makes clear that the unrelenting persecutions of the Jews by the Muslims is tantamount to forced conversion:

...the continuous persecutions will cause many to drift away from our faith, to have misgivings, or to go astray, because they witnessed our feebleness, and noted the triumph of our adversaries and their dominion over us...

He then notes: "After him arose the Madman who emulated his precursor since he paved the way for him. But he added the further objective of procuring rule and submission, and he invented his well known religion." Medieval Jewish writers often referred to Muhammad as ha-meshugga, Madman-the Hebrew term, as historian Norman Stillman has observed wryly, being "pregnant with connotations."

Georges Vajda's magisterial 1937 essay on the anti-Jewish motifs in the hadith, includes a fascinating discussion from Maimonides Teshuvot Responsa on the question of whether Jews should attempt to teach the Torah to Muslims, versus Christians. Although, in principle the response is negative, i.e., non-Jews were proscribed from formal study of the Torah per se, Maimonides makes this striking distinction between Christians and Muslims, regarding the teaching of the commandments and their explanations, because of the unique threat posed by Muslims due to their doctrinal intolerance:

...it is permitted to teach the commandments and the explanations according to [rabbinic] law to the Christians, but it is prohibited to do likewise for the Muslims. You know, in effect, that according to their belief this Torah is not from heaven and if you teach them something, they will find it contrary to their tradition, because their practices are confused and their opinions bizarre mippnei she-ba'uu la-hem debariim be-ma`asiim [because a mish-mash of various practices and strange, inapplicable statements were received by them.] What [one teaches them] will not convince them of the falseness of their opinions, but they will interpret it according to their erroneous principles and they will oppress us. [F]or this reason...they hate all [non-Muslims] who live among them. It would then just be a stumbling block for the Israelites who, because of their sins, are in captivity among them. On the contrary, the uncircumcised [Christians] admit that the text of the Torah, such as we have it, is intact. They interpret it only in an erroneous way and use it for purposes of the allegorical exegesis that is proper to them Ve-yirmezuu bah ha-remaziim hay-yedu`iim la-hem [They would exchange secret signs known only to them.] If one informs them about the correct interpretation, there is hope that they will return from their error, and even if they do not, there is not stumbling block for Israel, for they do not find in their religious law any contradiction with ours.

Returning to The Epistle to the Jews of Yemen, Maimonides highlights one of the presumptive reasons for Muslim hatred of Jews:

Inasmuch as the Muslims could not find a single proof in the entire Bible nor a reference or possible allusion to their prophet which they could utilize, they were compelled to accuse us saying, "You have altered the text of the Torah, and expunged every trace of the name of Mohammed therefrom." They could find nothing stronger than this ignominious argument.

Elaborating on the depth of Muslim hatred for the Jews, Maimonides makes a further profound observation regarding the Jewish predilection for denial, a feature that he insists will hasten their destruction:

Remember, my co-religionists, that on account of the vast number of our sins, God has hurled us in the midst of this people, the Arabs, who have persecuted us severely, and passed baneful and discriminatory legislation against us, as Scripture has forewarned us, 'Our enemies themselves shall judge us' (Deuteronomy 32:31). Never did a nation molest, degrade, debase and hate us as much as they .... Although we were dishonored by them beyond human endurance, and had to put with their fabrications, yet we behaved like him who is depicted by the inspired writer, "But I am as a deaf man, I hear not, and I am as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth." (Psalms 38:14). Similarly our sages instructed us to bear the prevarications and preposterousness of Ishmael in silence. They found a cryptic allusion for this attitude in the names of his sons "Mishma, Dumah, and Massa" (Genesis 25:14), which was interpreted to mean, "Listen, be silent, and endure." (Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, ad locum). We have acquiesced, both old and young, to inure ourselves to humiliation, as Isaiah instructed us "I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair." (50:6). All this notwithstanding, we do not escape this continued maltreatment which well nigh crushes us. No matter how much we suffer and elect to remain at peace with them, they stir up strife and sedition, as David predicted, "I am all peace, but when I speak, they are for war." (Psalms 120:7). If, therefore, we start trouble and claim power from them absurdly and preposterously we certainly give ourselves up to destruction."

Just over 800 years later, ignoring Maimonides sadly timeless observation about such feckless appeasement of Islamic supremacism-as the Israeli, most notably, and US governments are so wont to do-is truly "Meshugga," with all the modern and ancient connotations of the expression.