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Jewish World Review March 22, 2006 / 22 Adar, 5766 USArabia? By Abigail R. Esman
A forward looking must-read about the potentially irreversible consequences of blending foreign investment and radical ideology
Feel better now? Safer?
I don't.
Because the problem is not just Dubai Ports World. It isn't even the recent
reports that indicate the National Guard has been stretched too thin by the
loss of both manpower and equipment to Iraq, or the upcoming release of two
"Virginia Jihad" members, or the enrolment at Yale University of a former
Taliban spokesman. It isn't the recent relaxation of security rules on
airplanes (knives, scissors and knitting needles allowed on board and fewer
bag searches at airports), and the continuing lack of security measures at
major train stations throughout the country. It's not even the fact that
Dubai pulled out of the deal only when faced with an in-depth investigation
and at the request of the President (from whom, one can be certain,
alternative promises were made in exchange).
This is something much, much bigger.
In February, I attended a conference in the Netherlands featuring experts
on the concepts of dhimmitude, a word based on the Arabic word "dhimmi," or
"protected," and Eurabia, a word created by scholar Bat Ye'or to describe a
Euro-Arab solidarity that is leading gradually (though ever faster) to the
Islamization of our European friends and allies.
In essence, Europeans, says Ye'or, have acquiesced to the powers and
demands of the Arab world, cooperating and collaborating in areas of
foreign policy, economy, and culture, in return for which Europe will be —
in principle — safe from the violent conquest by Islam.
If this sounds like crazy conspiracy theory, in fact, it isn't really all
that different from the politics we're used to in America. Countries that
behave according to Western, Euro-American standards can count on
Euro-American investment and military support; those who do not can expect
repercussions. The difference here is simply one of a marriage between
church and state: for Islamic nations, they are one and the same. Follow
their religion, submit to their socio-economic demands, and their
governments will not persecute or attack.
Consider, too, the central premise of Bat Ye'or's argument: that according
to the principles of jihad, non-Muslims must be brought to convert —
preferably through peaceable means, but if necessary, through violence.
In an interview with John W. Whitehead of the Rutherford Institute, the
Egyptian born Bat Ye'or explains:
"According to the jihadic doctrine, the world is divided into two parts:
Muslims and Infidels, the latter living in the dar al-harb, the land of
war, because their land must be Islamized by peaceful means, or by war if
they resist. Before attacking the Infidels, Muslims must first call them to
convert; if they refuse, they are asked to pay a ransom; if they refuse
again, Muslims have the duty to wage war on them. Truce is accepted on
condition that the Infidels pay a regular ransom and put no obstacle to the
spread of Islam in their own countries. There are other conditions also,
like sending soldiers to fight for Islamic interests. A truce should not
last more than 10 years, and it is allowed only when the Muslim ruler is
weak. Otherwise, war against the Infidels is mandatory."
The words "put no obstacle to the spread of Islam in their countries"
explain, for instance, the establishment of Saudi-run mosques throughout
Europe (the largest of which is based in Rotterdam — home to Europe's major
port) and of Saudi-owned schools and bookstores where anti-Western texts
are taught and sold, where one finds books like The Muslim Way, a
bestseller in the Dutch Muslim community that advises its readers that it
is often necessary to beat women, that women are obliged to submit to their
husbands' sexual desires on demand, and that homosexuals should be burned,
stoned, or thrown from the highest available building, head first.
In exchange for this openness, Europe receives Arab oil, Arab investment,
and a "truce" of sorts by which, as Muslims become the majority in many
countries (which some believe could take place within decades), Jews and
Christians will be safe to practice their religions, just as they were
permitted to do — as dhimmis — in the 7th century, when, writes Bat Ye'or,
"the infidel population had to recognize Islamic ownership on their land,
submit to Islamic (i.e. Sharia) law, and accept payment of the poll tax. In
return they were granted the effective protection of Islamic law, which
gave them security, limited religious rights, and self administration in
religious and civil law." On her web site (dhimmitude.org) she further
notes, "Peace and security for non-Muslims are recognized only after their
submission. Protection status is provided through the Islamization of
conquered lands."
So what has this to do with American security today?
Just this: Influence and investment in the USA by Muslim nations —
particularly Saudi Arabia and the UAE — not only continues, but is
escalating, invading our institutions with the $20 million grant to Harvard
University by Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal for the establishment of an
Islamic Studies program (which can surely be expected to teach the kinds of
things that similarly-sponsored schools teach in Europe); with the purchase
last fall by Dubai's crown prince Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum of
230 Park Avenue, the building above New York's Grand Central Station; with
the takeover by another Dubai firm, Dubai Holdings, of the Doncasters
Group, a UK-based manufacturer of parts for military aircraft, tanks, and
petrochemical markets with plants throughout the US and Europe.
Doncasters' — now Dubai Holding's — biggest clients? Boeing, Honeywell,
Siemens, and General Electric. (It is perhaps worth noting that, as with
the Dubai Ports World transactions, many of those companies agreeing to be
purchased are not only European, but that of our closest European ally:
Great Britain. And to quote a piece in Al Bayan, a government run UAE
newspaper as cited by the Anti-Defamation League: "...But who planted the
biggest and the most dangerous virus in the region? Isn't it Britain and
Europe who planted the Israeli virus? Isn't America protecting and
injecting this virus in every aspect of life so it can penetrate and become
monstrous?"). Yet when questioned on these transactions, their defenders
are quick to pull the "racism" card, arguing that we don't want to anger
our "friends" in the United Arab Emirates, who have, they argue, supported
and assisted some of America's anti-terror efforts. (That they have
supported and assisted some of political Islam's most vicious terrorists in
their own effort is, apparently, not the point.)
In other words, the deal is struck: they'll be nice to us as long as we let
them take over our ports, our real estate, our train stations (the ones
lacking security systems), our institutions. If we refuse them, they may —
so the argument goes — get angry, pack up their toys and go home, and then
come back to bomb us in the morning.
These, we call our friends.
This, I call succumbing to terror.
This, I call dhimmitude.
Ye'or defines the term, in fact, in exactly this way, noting in her
interview with Whitehead that the concept "represents a behavior dictated
by fear (terrorism), pacifism when aggressed, rather than resistance,
servility because of cowardice and vulnerability."
Isn't that what this is?
THE SELLING OF THE MILITARY
(And of course, if it is true
that, as some have suggested, the UAE maintains friendly relations with the
USA in part because of its need to purchase our arms, well, they seem to be
doing away with that necessity quite handily.) Moreover, Doncasters — now
Dubai Holding — maintains close connections with General Electric — the
company that not only produces turbine engines for Boeing (among others)
but, as it announces proudly on its web site, "Whether you're with a
federal, state or local government agency, GE offers innovative
technologies to help make your world safer. GE can integrate the latest
advancements with your existing equipment and IT systems so you can
increase security at embassies, borders, military installations, water
treatment plants and other critical public infrastructure. Plus these
integrated systems capture valuable data you can use to improve procedures,
investigate events and prevent others from happening at all."
In the face of all this, the cancellation of the Dubai Ports World deal
(which now seems possibly not to have been cancelled after all) doesn't
seem to me to mean that much.
Okay, I know that some people do not see this as a threat. They argue that
the UAE has been an ally to the US. They maintain that in a globalized
economy, international exchanges of businesses are not only likely but
desirable, that there should be no difference between selling a company to
the UK and selling the same business to the Arab world — even to countries
which have taken a pronounced, militant stance against Israel, whose
anti-Semitic leanings and support of Hamas and of the Taliban are
well-documented, countries that have served as financial centers for
terrorists, countries that have, in fact, harbored the very terrorists who
killed thousands on our own shores.
Even, it seems, in the face of history.
(Whether the connections between some of these companies and friends,
members, and family of the Bush Administration are relevant here is another
question; stay tuned for Part Two of this investigation.)
Some defense contractors have told me global war by Islamic extremists is
becoming a business. Tactics and procedures are being tested in Sri Lanka,
bombs are tested in Indonesia, and suddenly they turn up in Afghanistan and
Iraq. And the UAE, they say, knows that military defense is a growth
business in the United States these days.
How do they know? Why do they know?
Speaking not of the UAE, but of their Saudi neighbors, Ibn Warraq, the
esteemed author of Leaving Islam and Why I Am Not A Muslim pointed out at
the Hague conference, "In August, 2002, the Rand Corporation published a
report that described Saudi Arabia as ' the kernel of evil, the prime
mover, the most dangerous opponent."
The report went on explain that "Saudi Arabia supports our enemies and
attacks our allies. The Saudis are active at every level of the terror
chain, from planners to financiers, from cadre to foot-soldier, from
ideologist to cheerleader'. And yet little seems to have changed in the
West's behavior towards a regime that has financed terrorism, funnelled
millions into madrassas that preach more anti-Western hatred, has corrupted
institutions of higher education like Harvard and Georgetown University,
has bought the favours of Western politicians and seeks to destroy Western
civilisation at every turn. We know the reason: oil. But until we address
the question of Saudi Arabia and its influence on life in the West we shall
have no progress, no rest."
Is the UAE really all that different? Is that a chance we want to take with
our military equipment, our clean water systems, our embassies, our
railways, our ports?
Author and scholar Robert Spencer may make you wonder. Asked to define
dhimmitude in his own words, he replied in an e-mail: It is the status that
Islamic law, the Sharia, mandates for non-Muslims, primarily Jews and
Christians. Dhimmis, "protected people," are free to practice their
religion in a Sharia regime, but are made subject to a number of
humiliating regulations designed to enforce the Koran's command that they
"feel themselves subdued."(Sura 9:29). This denial of equality of rights
and dignity remains part of the Sharia, and, as such, are part of the law
that global jihadists are laboring to impose everywhere, ultimately on the
entire human race."
Yes. I am afraid.
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Abigail R. Esman is an award-winning author-journalist who divides her time between New York and The Netherlands. In addition to her column in World Defense Review, her work has appeared in Foreign Policy, Salon.com, Esquire, Vogue, Glamour, Town & Country, The Christian Science Monitor and many others. She is currently working on a book about Muslim extremism and democracy in the West. Comment by clicking here.
© 2006, Abigail R. Esman. This article first appeared in World Defense Review
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