ARAB REACTIONS TO THE EVENTS OF THE 11TH OF SEPTEMBER
"I know a man of great wealth and terrifying influence, a tyrant who forces
everyone to obey him... Suddenly, from out of the darkness, he is thrashed
soundly on the backside. He turns around - but sees only ghosts." Ahmad
Ragab, Al-Akhbar (Egypt), September 17, 2001.
"In all honesty, and without beating around the bush: I am happy about [what
happened to] America; I am happy about the great number of American dead.
Let them accuse me of whatever they want. It doesn't matter and it does not
lessen the happiness and excitement that overwhelm me. No one can make me
take back what I say, no matter what their claims and explanations. All the
innocent citizens who were killed are victims of America's barbarism and
terror, ranging over half a century... Count up the number killed by
American weapons in the world and compare it to the number of those killed
in the US; you will find that the number of [American dead] is much less
than one percent [of the latter]. I have a right to rejoice; I have a right
to be filled with happiness; the Americans are finally tasting the
bitterness of death." Ahmad Murad, Al-Arabi (Egypt), September 16, 2001.
"I rejoiced greatly at what happened to the American government, and I was
very sorry about the civilian dead. Is this a contradiction? Of course it is
a contradiction, but that's the way it was." Said Sh'eib Al-Arabi
(Egypt), September 16, 2001.
"I cannot describe how joyful I felt. Of course, I didn't rejoice over the
victims, because we must not gloat over the dead, but I rejoiced because the
honor of the US has become a floor rag." Maher Zuhdi: Al-Arabi (Egypt),
September 16, 2001.
"Oh, yeah, guys, Her Royal Highness America has taken this defeat; she has
turned out to be a paper tiger, and the Americans [have turned out to be] no
more than a gang of delinquent children. It transpires that Bush...- who
treated us like servants in his court - is no head of state, but a mouse
leading a gang of mice. At the moment [this] occurred in New York and
Washington, he left for parts unknown ..."
"Oh yeah, guys, they told us that he who stings America ends up in the
grave. They told us that [America] protects the Arab royal families. They
told us that [America] can find a black ant on a dark night in the parched
desert; that it has the most powerful intelligence apparatus in the world
that can detect what happens in our bedrooms; an apparatus that knows what
kind of underwear the president of Iraq [wears]... It has been proven that
it was all an illusion..." Salim 'Azzouz, Al-Ahrar (Egypt), September
14, 2001.
"If Osama bin Laden is proven to be involved in the attacks on the U.S., I will make a statue of him and set it in my home; I will also hang his picture in my office. Because he has proven to us that the U.S., which we thought was an undefeatable force, can be humiliated"; Salim Azzouz, Al-Ahrar (Egypt) September 24, 2001.
"I loved Osama bin Laden's face, because it inspired confidence. I was amazed by his total belief in what he says... I very much admired this man, who chose ... and I am not addressing the quality of the choices he makes... to leave a life of luxury, to take up arms against who he considers to be the enemy, and to go down in history as a man who shook the greatest empire in history." Said Sh'eib, Al-Arabi (Egypt), September 23, 2001.
WHAT ARABS REALLY FEEL ABOUT AMERICANS AND BRITAIN
"O brother believers, the criminals, the terrorists are the Jews, who have
butchered our children, orphaned them, widowed our women and desecrated our
holy places and sacred sites. They are the terrorists. They are the ones who
must be butchered and killed, as Allah the Almighty said: 'Fight them: Allah
will torture them at your hands, and will humiliate them and will help you
to overcome them, and will relieve the minds of the believers...."
"Have no mercy on the Jews, no matter where they are, in any country. Fight
them, wherever you are. Wherever you meet them, kill them. Wherever you are,
kill those Jews and those Americans who are like them and those who stand by
them they are all in one trench, against the Arabs and the Muslims because
they established Israel here, in the beating heart of the Arab world, in
Palestine. They created it to be the outpost of their civilization and the
vanguard of their army, and to be the sword of the West and the crusaders,
hanging over the necks of the monotheists, the Muslims in these lands. They
wanted the Jews to be their spearhead."
"Let us put our trust in Allah, close ranks, and unite our words, and the
slogan of us all should be, 'Jihad! Jihad! For the sake of Palestine, and
for the sake of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa (mosque)!'"
"...We will not give up a single grain of soil of Palestine, from Haifa, and
Jaffa, and Acre, and Mulabbas [Petah Tikva] and Salamah, and Majdal [Ashkelon],
and all the land, and Gaza, and the West Bank."
"...Allah, deal with the Jews, your enemies and the enemies of Islam. Deal
with the crusaders, and America, and Europe behind them, O Lord of the
worlds." Excerpts from a Friday sermon in the Zayed bin Sultan Aal Nahyan
mosque in Gaza, broadcast live on the official Palestinian Authority
television. The speaker is Dr. Ahmad Abu Halabiya, Member of the PA
appointed "Fatwa Council" and former acting Rector of the Islamic University
in Gaza, October 13, 2000.
"Allah is almighty. Had He wanted - He would have beaten them. But He
tests you in suffering. We must prepare the ground for the army of Allah
that is coming according to the [divine] predetermination. We must prepare a
foothold for them. Allah willing, this unjust state will be erased – Israel
will be erased; this unjust state, the United States, will be erased; this
unjust state, Britain, will be erased - they who caused this people's Nakbah
[the 1948 catastrophe']..."
"Oh beloved, we must be certain that victory will come. Shame and remorse on
whoever refrained from raids [against the enemy] or refrained from preaching
to himself [to raid]; shame and remorse on whoever refrained from raising
his children on Jihad; shame and remorse on whoever hated his Muslim brother
while loving one of the infidels; shame and remorse on whoever hid behind
excuses that have no basis with Allah..."
"Blessings to whoever waged Jihad for the sake of Allah; blessings to whoever raided for the sake of Allah; blessings to whoever put a belt of explosives on his body or on his sons' and plunged into the midst of the Jews, crying "Allahu Akbar, praise to Allah, There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is His messenger."
"Just as the building collapsed over the Jews in their
sinful dancing floor, I pray to Allah that this oppressive Knesset will
collapse over the heads of the Jews." Sheikh Ibrahim Mahdi, from a
sermon given in the Sheikh Ijlin Mosque, Gaza on the 8th of June 2001 and
broadcast on Palestinian Television.
PEACE? WHAT PEACE?
For several months we have all been watching the sickening violence in
Israel bring an end to all hopes for peace between Israel and the
Palestinians. Is it true then, as many say, that the peace process is now
dead, or is the truth that there has never been a peace process, but an
Israeli total surrender process? In this article and in those, which follow,
I intend to quote, not just from Israeli, or pro-Israeli sources, but almost
entirely from Arab sources, from Arab history, from the Koran, from the
Haddith (Moslem tradition) and from statements made by Moslem leaders to
their own people. Read them impartially and then you judge for yourselves
what is the truth.
Before I continue, I have no grudge against the Arabs. I like Arabs. I spent
five years in Israel and experienced a great deal of hospitality and
kindness from many Arab families. I sometimes sat in shops, owned by Arab
friends in the Old City of Jerusalem, and drank coffee and watched the
tourists as they went by. Most of those shopkeepers can tell what language
somebody speaks by the way he looks and the way he walks. I often went for
walks across the desert on my own with no weapons and experienced nothing
but kindness from those Arabs I met on the way- even though, in some cases,
our only common language was Hebrew!
At the same time I can honour the zeal, dedication and sincerity of many
Moslems and I can honour the moral lives that many of them lead- far more
moral lives than many of us lead in the Western World. I can even honour the
courage of many of those fighting for what they believe is right. (It takes
a considerable amount of courage- however misguided- to strap a bomb to
yourself and blow yourself up!) An Israeli soldier, for example, once told
me; If there were one thousand Israelis against one Jordanian Bedouin, he
would fight until he was killed. He would not surrender. If he were ordered
to surrender by his superiors he would obey the order but, even then, the
safest thing would be to give him a pat on the back and a packet of
cigarettes and tell him to go home!
Most Moslem Arabs are like most Israelis- or most Englishmen. They want to
be left alone to make a living and to feed their families. It is also a fact
that many in the Palestinian areas secretly wish the Jews were still running
things but would not dare to say so publicly. It is, for example, a fact
that, at the height of the Intifada, three times as many Arabs were killed
by their brother Arabs as by Israelis. The New York Times reported that when
Palestinians heard a knock at the door, they were relieved to see an Israeli
soldier rather than a masked Palestinian.
(Myths and Facts, p. 170; New York Times; 12th June 1991.)
While the world mourns the Palestinian deaths- as we should- no one stops to
ask how many would be dead if Israeli forces were actually doing what they
are accused of; shooting civilians indiscriminately. If that were the case,
many tens of thousands of Palestinians would be dead.
When the British tried to control the last Palestinian intifada, the Arab
revolt of 1936-1939, entire villages were burned and more than 3,000
Palestinians were killed. In those days, we were not defending our homeland,
but controlling our Mandate.
During "Black September" when Palestinians rioted in Jordan and tried to
take it over in the 1970s, King Hussein massacred 2,500 Palestinians in 10
days.
Likewise, the late Syrian President Assad slaughtered 20,000 of his own
people during civil unrest in Hama. He sealed up their homes, pumped in
poison gas and then paved over the dead; 20,000 a toll that the Israel
intifada would need 100 years to match.
On the other side of the coin, not everything the Israelis do is right and
many Israeli soldiers are not boy scouts. During my time in Israel I met
some Israelis I’d have died for and a few I’d have cheerfully murdered. Many
Israelis, for example, hang their heads in shame at the way the Israeli army
retreated from Lebanon deserting thousands of Lebanese soldiers- and their
families- who had fought alongside them for years. At least one rabbi
declared publicly that the blood of those Lebanese- and many are being
tortured and killed- would be on the heads of the Israelis. Not
everything Israel does is right. Israelis are ordinary human beings and most
of them are not even religious so they do often get things wrong.
The war in Israel is not just between people-- it is between ideologies and
religions. The religion of the Arabs is Islam, so let’s talk about Islam and
Israel. In Islam the world is divided into two camps. Dar al-Islam (The
House of Submission) is the area controlled by Islam. (It is sometimes known
as Dar as-Salaam.) The Rest of the world is referred to as Dar al-Harb (The
House of the Sword). In other words, Dar al-Harb is the area not yet under
the domination of Islam. Israel is in an area that used to be part of Dar
al-Islam and, as such, is an offence to Islam and to Allah. (So, by the way,
is Spain-- according to some Moslems)
"O believers, prescribed for you is retaliation, touching the slain; freeman for freeman, slave for slave, female for female . . . In retaliation there is life for you, men possessed of minds; haply you will be god-fearing and fight in the way of God with those who fight with you. . . . And slay them wherever you come upon them, and expel them from where they expelled you; [your own] persecution is more grievous than slaying [others]. Whoso commits aggression against you, do you commit aggression against him like as he has committed against you . . . Prescribed for you is fighting, though it be hateful to you." Surah 2-(35-38)
" . . . take not to yourselves friends of them [the disbelievers] until they emigrate in the way of God; then, if they turn their backs, take them, and slay them wherever you find them . . . " Surah 4-39
"This is the recompense of those who fight against God and His Messenger, and hasten about the earth, to do corruption there: they shall be slaughtered, or crucified, or their hands and feet shall alternately be struck off, or they shall be banished from the land." Surah 5-40
"Fight them [the unbelievers], till there is no persecution and the religion is God's entirely." Surah 8-41
"It is not for any Prophet to have prisoners until he make wide slaughter in the land." Surah 3-42
"Slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them, and confine
them, and lie in wait for them at every place of ambush. Fight those who
believe not in God and the Last Day. And fight the unbelievers totally even
as they fight you totally; and know that God is with the godfearing. O
believers, fight the unbelievers who are near to you, and let them find in
you a harshness; and know that God is with the Godfearing." Surah 9
(43-46)
"The recompense of evil is evil the like of it . . . " Surah 42 (47)
"When you meet the unbelievers, smite their necks, then, when you have made wide slaughter among them, tie fast the bonds; then set them free, either by grace or ransom, till the war lays down its loads." Surah 47 (48)
"Mohammed is the Messenger of God, and those who are with him are hard against the unbelievers, merciful one to another." Surah 48 (49)
"Thou shalt not find any people who believe in God and the Last Day who
are loving to anyone who opposes God and His Messenger." "(Remember) when
your Lord revealed to the angels, "Verily I am with you, so keep firm those
who have believed. I will cast terror into the hearts of those who have
disbelieved, so strike them over the necks and smite over all their fingers
and toes. This is because they defied and disobeyed Allah and His Messenger
(Muhammad). And whoever defies and disobeys Allah and His Messenger, them
verily, Allah is severe in punishment. This is (the torment), so taste it;
and surely, for the disbelievers is the torment of the Fire" (Surat Al-Anfal
8:12-14).
"The recompense of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger
(Muhammad) and do mischief in the land is only that they shall be killed, or
crucified, or their hands and feet be cut off from opposite sides, or be
exiled from the land. That is their disgrace in this world, and a great
torment is theirs in the Hereafter" (Surat Al-Maidah 5:33).
"Verily, Allah loves those who fight in His Cause in rows as if they were
solid structures" (Surat As-Saff 61:4).
"Kill the Mushrikun (polytheists, Christians and non-Muslims), wherever you
find them, and capture them and besiege them, and lie in wait for them in
each and every ambush. But, if they repent and perform As-salat (public
prayer with Muslims) and give Zakat (Islamic alms), then leave their way
free. Allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful" (Surat At-Taubah 9:5).
"O Prophet, struggle with the unbelievers and the hypocrites, and be thou harsh with them." Surah 66 (51)
O Prophet! strive hard against the unbelievers and the Hypocrites, and be firm against them. Their abode is Hell,- an evil refuge indeed. Surah 9-73
Therefore listen not to the Unbelievers, but strive against them with the utmost strenuousness, with the (Qur'an). Surah 25-52
O Prophet! Strive hard against the Unbelievers and the Hypocrites, and be firm against them. Their abode is Hell,- an evil refuge (indeed). Surah 66-9
Those who believed and those who suffered exile and fought (and strove and struggled) in the path of God,- they have the hope of the Mercy of God: And God is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful. Surah 2-218
Did ye think that ye would enter Heaven without God testing those of you who fought hard (In His Cause) and remained steadfast? Surah 3-142
Not equal are those believers who sit (at home) and receive no hurt, and those who strive and fight in the cause of God with their goods and their persons. God hath granted a grade higher to those who strive and fight with their goods and persons than to those who sit (at home). Unto all (in Faith) Hath God promised good: But those who strive and fight Or think ye that ye shall be abandoned, as though God did not know those among you who strive with might and main, and take none for friends and protectors except God, His Apostle, and the (community of) Believers? But God is well- acquainted with (all) that ye do. Surah 9-16
Do ye make the giving of drink to pilgrims, or the maintenance of the Sacred Mosque, equal to (the pious service of) those who believe in God and the Last Day, and strive with might and main in the cause of God? They are not comparable in the sight of God: and God guides not those who do wrong. Surah 9-19
Those who believe, and suffer exile and strive with might and main, in God's cause, with their goods and their persons, have the highest rank in the sight of God: they are the people who will achieve (salvation). Surah 9-20
Say: If it be that your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your mates, or your kindred; the wealth that ye have gained; the commerce in which ye fear a decline: or the dwellings in which ye delight - are dearer to you than God, or His Apostle, or the striving in His cause;- then wait until God brings about His decision: and God guides not the rebellious. Surah 9-24
Those who believe in God and the Last Day ask thee for no exemption from fighting with their goods and persons. And God knoweth well those who do their duty. Surah 9-44
When a Sura comes down, enjoining them to believe in God and to strive and fight along with His Apostle, those with wealth and influence among them ask thee for exemption, and say: "Leave us (behind): we would be with those who sit (at home)." Surah 9-86
But the Apostle, and those who believe with him, strive and fight with their wealth and their persons: for them are (all) good things: and it is they who will prosper. Surah 9-88
O ye who believe! Take not my enemies and yours as friends (or protectors),- offering them (your) love, even though they have rejected the Truth that has come to you, and have (on the contrary) driven out the Prophet and yourselves (from your homes), (simply) because ye believe in God your Lord! If ye have come out to strive in My Way and to seek My Good Pleasure, (take them not as friends), holding secret converse of love (and friendship) with them: for I know full well all that ye conceal and all that ye reveal. And any of you that does this has strayed from the Straight Path. Surah 60-1
That ye believe in God and His Apostle, and that ye strive (your utmost)
in the Cause of God, with your property and your persons: That will be best
for you, if ye but knew! Surah 61-11
The governments of the world should know that Islam cannot be defeated.
Islam will be victorious in all the countries of the world and Islam and the
teachings of the Koran will prevail all over the world; (Ayatollah
Khomeini; The Blood of the Moon; page 72)
We shall export our revolution to the whole world. Until the cry, Allahu
akbar, resounds over the whole world, there will be struggle. There will be
jihad! (The same)
If this is true in Dar al-Harb, it is a thousand times more true in Dar
al-Islam. The land, now known as Israel, is considered to have been stolen
from Dar al-Islam. It is against the Koran to allow non-Moslems to rule in
the House of Islam or to make peace with them.
Believers, do not seek the friendship of the infidels and those, who were
given the book before you, who have made of your religion a jest and a
diversion. Have fear of Allah, if you are true believers. When you call them
to pray, they treat their prayers as a jest and a diversion. This is because
they are devoid of understanding. Say People of the Book (Jews and
Christians) Is it not that you hate us only because we believe in Allah and
in which has been revealed to us and to others before, and because most of
you are evil-doers? Say: Shall I tell you who will receive a worse reward
from God? Those whom God has cursed and with whom he has been angry,
transforming them into apes and swine, and those who serve the devil. Worse
is the plight of these, and they have strayed farther from the right path.
The Koran; The Table; Chapter 5
Believers, take neither Jews nor Christians for your friends. They are
friends with one another. Whoever of you seeks their friendship shall become
one of their number. God does not guide the wrongdoers; (The same)
The one sent by Allah (Mohammed) has already said the great hour will not
come until the Moslems make war on the Jews and kill so many of them that
when a Jew would hide behind a tree or a stone these objects will speak and
say, O Moslem, servant of God, there is a Jew behind me. Come and kill him.
The Haddith (Moslem tradition)
Allah’s messenger- may peace be upon him- has commanded: Fight the Jews and
kill them. Pursue them until even a stone would say: Come here, Moslem,
there is a Jew hiding himself under me. Kill him. Kill him quickly;
(Moslem Tradition)
Narrated Anas bin Malik: A Jew passed by Allah's Apostle and said, "As-Samu
'Alaika." (Death to you) Allah's Apostle said in reply, "We 'Alaika."
Allah's Apostle then said to his companions, "Do you know what he (the Jew)
has said? He said, 'As-Samu 'Alaika.'" They said, "O Allah's Apostle! Shall
we kill him?" The Prophet, said, "No. When the people of the Book greet you,
say: 'Wa 'Alaikum.'" (Haddith, Volume 9, Book 84, Number 60J)
Our war against the Jews is an old struggle that began with Mohammed;It is
our duty to fight the Jews for the sake of Allah and religion .It is our
duty to end the war that Mohammed began. (Al Ahram. Nov 26th 1955)
Surely the judgment of Allah is reserved for them (Jews) until Palestine is
transferred from Dar al-Harb to Dar al-Islam; (Yasser Arafat. Quoted
inThe Blood of the Moon, p 47)
You don’t understand; Islam can never negotiate or recognize Israel; (Hamas
leader in BBC interview 1994)
So why has Yasser Arafat seemingly gone against the teachings of the Koran
to make peace with Israel? Many Arabs have wondered about this and he was
once asked why in a mosque in South Africa. This was his reply:
"In the name of Allah;believe me, there is a lot to be done. The Jihad will
continue;Our main battle is Jerusalem. Jerusalem; And here we are, I can’t-
and I have to speak frankly- I can’t do it alone; No, you have to come and
fight and to start the Jihad to liberate Jerusalem;No, it’s not their (Jews)
capital.. It is our capital. It is your capital;This agreement (Israeli-PLO
accord) I am not considering it more than the agreement between our prophet,
Mohammed and the Quraish tribe- a despicable truce. The same way Mohammed
had accepted it, we are accepting now this peace effort; From my heart, and
I am telling you frankly from brother to brother, we are in need of you. We
are in need of you as Moslems, as warriors of Jihad. Again I have to say;
onward to victory, onward to Jerusalem! They will enter the mosque as they
entered it before. (Yasser Arafat, Johannesburg mosque, May the 10th
1994)
During the period when Mohammed was taking over the Arabian peninsular, there was a tribe called the Quraish (possibly Jewish. At any rate, it was allied with the Jews), which occupied the area of Mecca. This tribe was too strong for him, so, in 628, he made a truce with them. This was known as the Truce of Hudaybiyyah and it promised peace if the Quraish would allow Moslems access to Mecca to worship. Two years later, when he was stronger, he suddenly attacked the Quraish and slaughtered every male among them. This is the truce to which Yasser Arafat was referring.
On the very same day that Arafat signed the peace accord on the White
House lawn, he addressed the Palestinian Arabs on Jordanian TV. Since we
cannot defeat Israel in war, we do this in stages. We take any and every
territory we can of Palestine and establish a sovereignty there, and we use
it as a springboard to take more. When the time comes, we can get the Arab
nations to join us for the final blow against Israel.
In order to obtain the goal of returning to Palestine, all of us sometimes
have to grit our teeth (about the peace process) but it is forbidden that
this harm the continued struggle against the Zionist enemy. The speedy
retreat of Israel from the occupied areas is only the first stage in the
establishment of a Palestinian state with its capital in Jerusalem. Only a
state like that can then continue the struggle to remove the enemy from all
Palestinian lands. (Yasser Arafat, November 1994)
As long as Israel goes forward (with the process) there are no problems,
which is why we observe the agreements of peace and non-violence. But if and
when Israel will say: That’s it, we won’t talk about Jerusalem, we won’t
return refugees, we won’t dismantle settlements and we won’t retreat from
borders, then all the acts of violence will return. Except that this time
we’ll have 30,000 armed Palestinian soldiers. (Nabil Sha’ath, Nablus,
March 1996)
"Every time that you hear me declare a cease fire and a halt to the violence ignore these declarations. You know that I am under heavy pressure from the United States and Europe. You should ignore this and continue. You should know that we are in difficult financial situation because of the Intifada. We will not receive any more money from the United States and Israel will stop the monthly transfer of funds. Our only hope for getting money is from the Arab states. But the Arab states will not give money if there is not blood. Therefore, press, press, press ["idhas, idhas, idhas"]."- Yasser Arafat to Marwan Barghouti, General Secretary of Fatah (and Arafat's Tanzim militia) in the West Bank, Nov. 8, 2000.
"Had the U.S. and Israel not realized, before Oslo, that all that was left of the Palestinian National movement and the Pan-Arab movement was a wooden horse called Arafat or the PLO, they would never have opened their fortified gates and let it inside their walls."
"Despite the fact that we entered these walls in order to build, unlike the Greeks who entered in order to destroy, I now tell you all, all those to whom I spoke in a secret meeting during the days of Oslo: 'Climb into the horse and don't question what type of material the horse is made of. Climb into the horse, and we shall transform your climbing into that horse into a beginning of a building era rather than an era of the end of hope."'
"And indeed, there are those who climbed unto the horse and are [now] inside [the PA territory] whether they supported the Oslo Accords or not." Faisal Husseini, Palestinian negotiator, in what turned out to be his last interview before he died.
"Since brother Arafat is busy with many various missions, authority was delegated to leaders in the field, who are on the lowest level of the organizational hierarchy. However, the leadership of the Palestinian Authority (PA) remained the source of authority, and it alone was the factor capable of leading the operations of the Intifada throughout the homeland. I can say for certain that brother Abu-Ammar (Yassir Arafat) is the ultimate authority for all operations, and whoever thinks otherwise, does not know what is going on.
"When we declare the establishment of a state and independence, we will have the right to liberate the rest of the occupied land, because this land is not under dispute, as the Israelis claim, but rather it is occupied land which must return to its owners." (Interview with Palestinian Authority)
When I see a Jew before me, I kill him. If every Arab did this, it would
be the end of the Jews. Syrian Defence Minister Mustafa Tlal, May 2001.
