Russian version
Turning swords into bombs
- Информация о материале
- Автор: Suzanne Fields
Jewish World Review Oct.
16, 2006 / 24 Tishrei, 5767
What is Islam? Is the barbarity of September 11 rooted in the preaching
of Muhammad? Or are the Islamists, the Islamic fascists bent on the destruction
of all who disagree with them, merely an aberration, mixing politics, religion
and violence in an appeal to the lowest psychological denominators of suicide
bombers?
Historians, political scientists and psychologists are all over the
place in supplying answers to these questions. Since most of the suicide
bombers are young men whose minds have been drowned in propaganda, doomed
to permanent adolescence, it's easy to speculate that they are a maladaptive
collective of perverse minds, having become twisted twigs of humanity feeding
on hate.
The historical forces at play are obvious. Bernard Lewis, a leading
scholar of Islamist rage, places the fault line at the failure of the Muslim
world to keep up with the West in the modern world. Diminishing Muslim
power is both a humiliation and in Muslim minds a reversal of divine law,
driving the losers to pick through the verses of the Koran to find justification
for violence against winners. The decline of Muslim fortunes began with
the fall of the Ottoman Empire and reached its nadir in recent times, encouraging
the likes of Osama bin Laden, educated and wealthy, to play the David to
the American Goliath.
Other scholars blame Western colonialism and imperialism, along with
Judeo-Christian traditions, as contributing to the violent mentality of
the extremists. These aberrations, they say, cannot be found in the teachings
of Muhammad. They reason that jihad initially was aimed at an inner quest
for personal not political improvement, that Islamists distorted this phenomenon
for their own malevolent ends, fusing politics and religion into an all-purpose
aggression for the "long-suffering victims" of Western imperial expansion.
But there's another view. "The Middle East's experience is the culmination
of long-existing indigenous trends, passions, and patterns of behavior,
first and foremost the region's millenarian imperial tradition," writes
Efraim Karsh, a British scholar, in "Islamic Imperialism," a provocative
and persuasive book. "External influences, however potent, have played
only a secondary role, constituting neither the primary force behind the
Middle East's political development nor the main cause of its notorious
volatility."
He looks directly to the words of Muhammad, who in his farewell address
to his followers ordered them to fight all men until they submit with the
assertion that "There is no god but Allah." It was not coincidence that
Osama bin Laden echoed these words in his glee after September 11: "I was
ordered to fight the people until they say there is no god but Allah and
his prophet is Muhammad."
Muhammad proselytized with violence and used violence to consolidate
conquest. Occupying territory was as important as converting or killing
unbelievers. When the Jews of Medina resisted Muhammad in the 7th century,
he beheaded the men and sold their women and children into slavery. The
prophet, who claimed to derive his power and authority from Allah, was
not only head of the captured states but was the single religious authority.
"This allowed the prophet to cloak political ambitions with a religious
aura," writes Mr. Karsh, a professor at the University of London, "and
to channel Islam's energies into its instrument of aggressive expansion."
The ultimate goal would be for the world either to embrace Islam or live
under its domination.
This goal was realized in part with the establishment of the Ottoman
Empire, which allowed certain other religions to exist but not prosper.
Christians who sought domination, on the other hand, never invoked the
teachings of Christ to justify violence. Early Christianity made clear
the distinction between G-d and Caesar, spiritual and earthly power, even
though such distinctions were not always honored.
"If Christendom was slower than Islam in marrying religious universalism
with political imperialism," says Professor Karsh, "it was faster in shedding
both notions." The imperialistic impulse, rooted in the beginning of Islam,
never fully retreated and is crucial today to understanding the shedding
of blood now in the name of Allah. Although Muhammad forbade violence against
the community of believers, it was easy in the chaos of the Middle East
to initiate violence against differing sects with their different interpretations
of the Koran.
The interpretation of the Islamist mentality as rooted in Muhammad's
appeal to violence, and the Islamist determination for religious domination
of the world, may not tell the whole story today, but it explains why,
for millions of Muslims, the image of the warrior trumps the image of a
prophet of peace — if, indeed, there ever was one.
© 2006, Creators Syndicate, Suzanne Fields
Russian version
Russian version
An introduction to MAOF
Haim Goldman
Haim Goldman
Dear Friends,
Would you believe that the undersigned has anything in common with
-- Professor Victor Davis Hanson (Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University),
-- Dr Charles Krauthammer, (Washington Post, Time, The Weekly Standard),
-- Caroline Glick (Deputy Managing Editor of the Jerusalem Post),
-- Jonathan Tobin (Executive Editor of the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent).
Amazingly, the editors of the MAOF website decided that the missives of the undersigned are worthy of translation and posting along the articles written by these distinguished authors.
The first letter was published without the consent of the undersigned.
However, after thorough examination of the laudable attitude of MAOF and of the excellent contents of the website, the undersigned had most graciously granted his permission for publication of his missives in both English and Russian.
“Analytical Group MAOF” [1] is an organisation founded about ten years ago by Russian-speaking Jewish intellectuals. The attitude of MAOF is definitely pro-Zionist -- unambiguously and unapologetically.
One of MAOF’s primary purposes is providing information and analysis about Middle-Eastern and world affairs as well as about Israel’s history, values and dilemmas. In addition to extensive publication activity in various media, MAOF also organises excursions and seminars. While the vast majority of the contents of the MAOF website is in Russian, texts originally written in English are provided in the original [2] as well as in Russian.
There are arguably about 250 millions of Russian-speakers worldwide and many of them do not read English. The indisputable motivation for the author’s permission was to grant those millions of disadvantaged people the grand benefit of reading the author’s ruminations. If the author is ever maliciously accused that his tacit motivation for authorising the publication was his craving to be listed along with the above-mentioned distinguished writers, his plea will definitely be “nolo contendere”.
The editors of MAOF expressed their gratitude by granting the undersigned a privilege that no other author got – the opportunity to review and correct the Russian translation before publication. The original letters of the undersigned are at [3] and their Russian version is at [4]. At of today, only two letters are posted but several other letters are pending translation.
You are kindly ENCOURAGED TO RECOMMEND the MAOF website to your friends and colleagues worldwide, particularly those who speak Russian. Those who do not enjoy the benefit of proficiency in the exquisite Russian language can find many thought-provoking and inspiring articles about Middle-Eastern and world affairs in the English section [2].
Sincerely,
Haim Goldman
28.10.2006
REFERENCES:
[1] http://maof.rjews.net
[2] section.php3? sid=37&num=25
[3] authorg.php3? id=2107&type=a
[4] authorg.php3? id=2166&type=a