7/07 Because They Hate

Because They Hate
by
Larry Pratt

Brigitte Gabriel is a refugee from Muslim terrorism. Her book, Because They Hate, should be a wakeup call for those in the West who think negotiations and concessions will make the world safer.

Gabriel was born and raised in a Christian family in Lebanon. Her experience bears directly on what is happening in the West. Right now it is most obvious in Europe, but the danger signs of a growing Muslim population are already visible in the U.S.

Peaceful coexistence is not in the vocabulary of the Quran. Islamic militants can and do justify their positions using a transparent reading of the Quran and other Muslim holy books.

Gabriel points out that after the post-war (World War II) turmoil in Palestine and the creation of the state of Israel, Lebanon took in many Palestinian Muslims who had been displaced when they failed to wipe out Israel.

When the Muslim population of Lebanon, a predominantly Christian country, approached 40 percent, Muslim terrorism became an increasing scourge in the country. Roadblocks set up by jihadis kept her family from traveling over Christian holidays to see relatives. Had they been stopped by those manning the road blocks, their ID cards would have exposed them as Christian — and they would have been shot on the spot.

In her case, Gabriel’s family operated a hotel in a village not far from the Israeli border. Islamic fighters would launch missile attacks against Israel from the residential areas of her Christian village. Israeli return-fire meant that Gabriel had to live with her family in a bomb shelter adjacent to their devastated hotel.

Such a deal for the Muslim jihadis! Israel got the blame for causing civilian casualties in Lebanon even though the Israelis were firing in self defense. And, the Muslims saw Christian villages destroyed.

Gabriel writes in English because she was able to learn it while watching a battery-operated TV in her bomb shelter. Using the Arabic subtitles on her screen, she would write on her hand the phonetic equivalents of the English sounds she was hearing. That was her “school” for many years.

She pointed out in an interview I conducted with her on my Live Fire radio show that the Muslims made sure that Christian gun owners were disarmed and/or killed. Subjects of Muslim masters (dhimmis) must not own the means of self defense.

Gabriel’s warning can be reduced to this: fanatics with guns beat liberals with secular ideas. In other words, the jihadi is more than willing to die for his religion. Liberals typically think religion is nonsense, and so they have no appreciation for the intensity of belief and action found among Muslim fanatics.

(My interview with Brigitte Gabriel can be found at http://www.gunowners.org/radio.htm.