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Muslims and Israel: Moshe Sharon's War against Civilization

09/23/2006

Crusades against reason are not limited to one side in the Middle East conflict unfortunately. Recently, "terrorism expert" Moshe Sharon was quoted by Arutz 7 (the Setters' Web site) as having these opinions:


The veteran expert on Islam says that Western officials fail to grasp that the Arab and Islamic world truly see Israel’s establishment as a "reversal of history" and are therefore unable to ever accept peaceful relations with it. From Moslems’ perspective, "Islamic territory was taken away from Islam by Jews. You know by now that this can never be accepted, not even one meter. So everyone who thinks Tel Aviv is safe is making a grave mistake. Territory which at one time was dominated by Islamic rule, now has become non-Moslem. Non-Moslems are independent of Islamic rule and Jews have created their own independent state. It is anathema. Worse, Israel, a non-Moslem state, is ruling over Moslems. It is unthinkable that non-Moslems should rule over Moslems."

Sharon dismissed various peace treaties signed by Moslem and Arab officials over the years as "pieces of paper, parts of tactics and strategies… with no meaning."

...

"The difference between Judaism, Christianity and Islam is as follows: Judaism speaks about national salvation - namely, that at the end of the story, when the world becomes a better place, Israel will be in its own land, ruled by its own king and serving G-d. Christianity speaks about the idea that every single person in the world can be saved from his sins, while Islam speaks about ruling the world. I can quote here in Arabic, but there is no point in quoting Arabic, so let me quote a verse in English: 'Allah sent Mohammed with the true religion so that it should rule over all the religions.'"

(from http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=112066 )

The point of quoting in Arabic might have been to force Sharon to give the actual quote rather than a sorry distortion.

The above do not represent the views of fringe extremists in West Bank settlements. They are accepted as legitimate academic opinion in Israel, though they do not reflect the view of the government. They formed the basis for Sharon's lecture at the annual conference of the Herzliya Counter Terrorism Institute. Sharon is a professor in the the Hebrew University.

To those for whom it is not obvious, we will spell out what is wrong with these views, and why it is a disgrace that they are given legitimacy in public forums.

1- Arab and Muslim states have almost always honored treaties and agreements, contrary to Sharon's claim that treaties are just bits of paper for them. Famously, it was the Crusaders and not Salah Eddin who broke the peace in the Holy Land. Egypt and Jordan have honored their peace treaties with Israel.

2- Recognition of Israel might be a "reversal of history," but so is European control of once-Muslim Rumania, Yugoslavia and Spain. Muslims are sorry to lose "al-Andalus," but most Muslims are not anxious to reconquer any of these areas.

3- The quotation from the Quran that Sharon uses to illustrate his point is a distorted translation. Every religion unfortunately believes and announces that only they have the "real" answer to every question, and only they will be saved. In practice, this doesn't necessarily lead them to try to conquer the world.

There is a great industry in real and manufactured quotes used by partisans of all sides in the Middle East. Anti-Zionists have produced Zionist Quotes": reams of monstrous quotes of Ariel Sharon from interviews that never happened, mauled quotes of Moshe Dayan, and racist quotes by non-existent Zionism. Anti-Muslim partisans manufacture their own materials. Sharon's quote is from Surah 9, Verse 33 of the Quran. In his rendition, it says this:


" Allah sent Mohammed with the true religion so that it should rule over all the religions."


In actual fact, the verse of the Quran that Sharon was apparently quoting says this:


"It is He [God] Who has sent His Messenger with guidance and true Deen (faith) to make it prevail over all other deens (faiths) even though the pagans may hate it."


(Quran Sura 9, Verse 33 )

The message is that the logic of God's word as interpreted by Mohamed will prevail by its arguments over those of pagans and other religions. Is that any different from what other religions believe? Is that more threatening than the message of Judaism or Christianity?

The message of Judaism is not just national salvation as Dr Sharon believes. Perhaps Dr. Sharon forgot the book of Isaiah:


ISAIAH 2:2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.

ISAIAH 2:3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

ISAIAH 2:4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.


The nations will come to Jerusalem and will walk in the ways of Jacob, according to Isaiah, and the Lord God of Israel will judge all the nations. Is it a threatening message? No. It is a message of peace, but a message of Jewish-centered religion, just as the Muslim religion is centered on Islam and Muhamed. Doesn't the Christian religion also assert its own superiority over other religions? Does any religion advertise that it is inferior, and that really a different religion has the truth? Of course not. It would be absurd, just as Sharon's thesis is absurd and dangerous.

What should be even more frightening for those who worry about the security of Israel, is that Sharon's pseudo-academic "War of Civilization" rantings were presented at a supposedly serious forum on counter-terrorism. Is this the best that Israel's best brains can come up with in terms of strategy and understanding the enemy?

What sort of counter-insurgency goals could Sharon recommend based on the "discovery" that Muslims are going to be at war with Israel forever? Does he believe in "Kill them wherever you find them?" "The only good one is a dead one?" Does Sharon recommend seriously that 14 million Jews around the world should try to take on 1.3 billion Muslims?? Who can benefit from forcing every Muslim, moderate or not, to be identified with the goal of destroying Israel? Can it really benefit anyone except the Devil, Osama Bin Laden, Hassan Nasrallah and their friends?

What sort of strategy and tactics does Sharon recommend? Will he stop the infidel devils with garlic or with pieces of the true Jewish Star, as the crusaders tried to stop Salah Eddin with pieces of the Holy Cross? Does he recommend garlic to drive away the boogiemen or putting a stake through their hearts? What possible strategy or tactic could really save a few million Jews if the 1.3 billion Muslims were really all intent on destroying the Jewish state? Does it help Israel to understand how to overcome dug-in emplacements in Lebanon? Does it help to counter the social and economic aid that Hezbolla provides? Will Moshe Sharon's thesis win one friend for Israel or for peace or for non-violence anywhere in the Muslim world?

If anyone really believes Sharon is right, then the only strategy possible is to get out of Israel right now, while the getting is good. Islam has been around for almost 1400 years and it isn't going anywhere. If Islam is united in seeking the destruction of Israel, if it cannot be moved from its purpose, then Israel will not endure. Abandon hope all ye who hold to Sharon's thesis.

Is this sort of bigoted speculation all that Israelis can expect from a supposedly prestigious academic counter-terrorism forum? Supposing that quoting the Quran could banish Mr Nasrallah, we must point out that Sharon didn't even quote the Quran correctly, displayed a childish understanding of Judaism and of comparative religion, and a singular lack of tact, considering that the knew his incitement would be publicized. How is this sort of rubbish better than the Palestinian and Muslim incitement that is pointed out incessantly by Palestinian Media Watch, MEMRI and other pro-Israel watchdogs? In fact, Nasrallah and the Hezbollah say that Israel and the Muslims are implacable enemies, and Sharon says the same thing! Does Sharon think Nasrallah speaks for all Muslims? Can he convince Israeli academics of this monstrous idea?

If they listen to counsel such as this, it is small wonder that Israel's counter terrorism experts have failed so miserably in trying to counter Mr. Nasrallah and the Hezbollah.

Ami Isseroff

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Replies: 3 comments

Shalom Ami:

I too was disturbed by the message that Moshe Sharon was delivering in his recent speech. Surely, not all Moslems, and not even all Moslem Arabs, hold this implacable hostility and hatred towards the State of Israel. On the other hand, we should be asking those populations themselves what their true feelings and intentions are, rather than basing any decisions on our own heartfelt desires concerning how we want them to view us. To say that there exists no underlying hostility at all on a purely religious level is likewise to ignore reality. One needs only listen to the rantings of certain religious figures in the Moslem world to see that at least a kernel of this exists. Whether this animosity can be changed by a political peace agreement (mostly with secular oriented Arab societies) remains to be seen. But, however radical and depressing Sharon's thesis is, it would be prudent to investigate it further in an attempt to discover just how widespread it might be.

Posted by Brian Freund @ 09/24/2006 04:51 PM CST

It always bothers me that the Arab-Israeli conflict is always dressed up in a relegious robe. It is NOT a relegious conflict, it is a civil conflict,unromantically political, with a sound base in economics.

The British needed the influence of Weisman to get the USA to participate in the First World War in support of the allies,,,IN RETURN the British would "TAKE" Palastine from the legacy of the Ottoman Empire and " GIVE " it to the "JEWS OF THE WORLD ( The Zionist Movement)" to establish a national country for them.From then on they would immigrate in hundreds of thousands to the PROMISED land, and by doing so OUST the people living in peace in that quarter of the earth.
On WHAT humane emotion was this decision based, if you please??
How would you , or how would any-one feel if YOUR home were wrapped up in a shining wrapper and given away, to ANYONE? How CAN the people of that land feel ANYTHING exept resentment. After how many generations now? the truth has become misty AT BEST in all but the memories of the people who are until this day fugitives regarded as "biased Moslims", "Radicals" and , finally in modern terminology "TERRORISTS", only because they feel resentment for being driven out of their homes. They are desperate, yes, but with reason. Wouldn't YOU be?? Would you feel friendly,towards new commers who decend upon you in this manner?? WHAT HAS RELEGION TO DO WITH IT ?? Do you think the Palastinians would feel any better if the relegion of the occupiers were Budism or Christian ? I think that you agree with me that THIS CONFLICT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH RELIGEON,just dirty politics.

Posted by shr @ 09/28/2006 01:12 PM CST

the thing is... everyone is asking why the state of israel is so hated in the Middle east. let me sum it up for u guys.

1. israel attacked lebanon, plalistine, jordan, Egypt, and syria.
2. israel caused a huge civil war in lebanon.
3. israel still has land that belongs to lebanon.
4. israel still has taken over much of palistine and wont return it.
5. israel wont give lebanon the mine maps. which means more mines are gonna kill more kids in lebanon everyday until the maps are given back.
6. israel still keeps on killing and kidnapping parlament members in the palistian gov. and it never has to pay a price.
7. the U.N. divided a united country(Palistine) in half and just gave the land to jews!!!!!! without the acceptance of palistine.
8. israel still has hundreds of thousands of prisoners for Jordan, lebaon,palistine,egypt,and syria.
9.israel never gets punished for anything it does because the U.S. is part of the security council.
10.israel uses the U.S. and gets all the money from it to support its wars!!!!!!!1

i think i said enough to explain the hatred for jews or israel by arabs and muslims around the world.

Posted by moussa @ 09/29/2006 03:46 AM CST


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