-Caveat Lector- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">
</A> -Cui Bono?-
The article is intersting, but must be seen in the context of the day. The
article below is not written by a christian but shows the recurring theme of
expansion , contraction and threat leads groups of people to adopt extremist
philosophies.
I'm afraid history hasnt ended.
John
>---------- Forwarded message ----------
>Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2000 00:49:43 EST
>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
><< I have gone through a period of self doubt about 'islamphobia' and taken
>seriously the possibility the western view of Islam is a caricature. My
>conclusion is that it is -- for bending over backwards to give in an equal
>treatment and respect that any level playing evaluation of its human right
>record would deny. >>
>
>Here are excerpts from my correspondence with several reporters in 1996,
when
>I and my writings were targeted by Islamic groups as part of a broader
>pressure campaign. They tend to more than back up John's suspicions.
>----------
>In essence what seems to be happening is the following. A cluster of
>American Islamic pressure groups, some allegedly associated with Hamas and
>Hezbollah, have apparently been approaching publishers, film companies, and
>television enterprises for at least six years demanding that works be
>altered, removed from circulation, and, in many cases, that manuscripts in
>press not be published. Because publishers are literally afraid of being
>bombed, they immediately silence all publicity surrounding the
intimidation.
>Then, behind closed doors, they not only accede to Arab demands, but become
>their own self-censors. As one Islamic victim, author Paul Fregosi (a man
>with many respected historical works to his name) put it, his publisher
>killed his book saying, "We've got to play the game according to Moslem
>rules."
>
>The silence of intimidated publishers, from Bob Guccione, Sr. to the
>editorial staff at my own publishing house, Atlantic Monthly Press, is
>absolute. They will not honestly answer a question on this issue from the
>press. In fact, their silence has remained so complete that even John
>Blesso, head of the anti-censorship group for the Author's Guild, was
unaware
>of this ongoing campaign when we spoke in August, 1996. So was Orin
Teicher
>of the American Bookseller's Association, with whom I'd worked on
censorship
>issues (I founded and headed a national anti?censorship group from 1986
until
>1989) for several years.
>
>However Steven Emerson, perhaps the preeminent reporter on Arab terrorism's
>American links, was fully cognizant of this campaign and had been tracking
it
>for years when we spoke, which we have been doing since 1991. In fact, it
>was he who pointed out that it is not limited to the publishing industry,
but
>has targeted electronic media as well. Steven has done hour-long specials
on
>the subject of Islamic extremism for CBS-tv, PBS-tv, and has written on the
>topic for well over a decade, appearing in Newsweek, US News and World
Report
>(where he was a staffer for several years), the American Journalism Review,
>the Columbia Journalism Review, and many other outlets of similar or
greater
>prestige.
>
>You are likely to have some trouble getting through to Steven, since he has
>received many death threats and is justifiably wary of calls from people he
>does not know. However I copied him with our correspondence of last night.
>Hopefully this will get you through.
>
>Frankly, I was steamed because the head of the (Jewish) Anti Defamation
>League had personally refused my request for aid, explaining that with the
>lawsuits mounted against his organization by the American Arab
>Anti-Discrimination Committee he was "already in more trouble than we can
>handle." Even an allegedly aggressive organization like the ADL has thus
>been silenced.
>
>By the way, you'll notice that in the Agence France Presse story I sent as
>part of my original letter, there was an interesting sentence. "The paper
>quoted one Islamic expert who warned the publisher, Roger Boase, as saying
>the book was 'offensive to anyone who cares about the truth.'" My guess is
>that the "Islamic expert" is one of the pressure group representatives the
>American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee has been offering to publishers
>to pre-censor their manuscripts. The rhetoric quoted has the ADC style.
>This could mean that Little-Brown, a part of Time/Warner, Inc., is one of
th
>companies which has secretively caved in to Arab intimidation and is
allowing
>its books to be vetted in advance.
>
>The subject matter of the work which was cancelled on the "expert's"
>recommendation is the Islamic Crusade against Europe, which lasted from
>roughly 730 AD (when Moslem conquerors took Spain and were on the verge of
>seizing France) to 1540 AD (the last time Vienna was besieged by the
Turks).
>Whereas the West's Crusades against Islam, which were brutal and rapacious,
>lasted less than 200 years, the Islamic Holy War against Europe continued
for
> 800 years--four times as long. In that battle, men like Miguel Cervantes
>were made galley slaves by Moslem holy warriors (Cervantes lost a hand as a
>consequence). Islamic harems were stocked with enslaved European women
until
>the 18th century. And the famous Janissaries of the Turks were Christian
>children from the European Balkans who had been seized from their unwilling
>parents and raised to be cannon fodder for Allah. This practice also
>continued until a mere 200 years ago.
>
>In other words, intimidation has prevented the Time-Warner behemoth from
>publishing a book of history without which Americans cannot make informed
>decisions about the history of Islamic/Western relations.
>--------
>(from a press release issued at the time)
>
> The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), as part of a
ong
>plan of intimidation, has attempted to stop the publication of The Lucifer
>Principle: a scientific expedition into the forces of history, by Howard
>Bloom (Atlantic Monthly Press).
>
> The ADC characterizes The Lucifer Principle as "shocking" and
>"defamatory" to Islam. The ADC has insisted on an "apology" for "this
>defamatory material" and has demanded that Atlantic Monthly Press "drop any
>future editions of this book and discontinue the 'Lucifer Series' by Howard
>Bloom."
>
> Says Islamic-expert Steven Emerson, the ADC has a long and successful
>history of muzzling film, television and print media through similar forms
of`
>soft?spoken coercion. However the threat against Atlantic Monthly Press
>represents a giant step forward in the group's censorship efforts. The ADC
>offers to censor material for Atlantic Monthly before it can reach the
press.
> "In order to avert such instances of defamation in the future, we would
>gladly provide input--with no strings attached--on projects related to Arab
>or Muslim issues prior to publication." Secret deals of this nature have
>already been concluded, according to the ADC letter, "with Carlton Books
And
>Carolrhoda Books."
>
> The arrangement is a mild and relatively innocent looking version of
>that used by the PLO during the Lebanese-Israeli War of 1981. Journalists
>covering the conflict were delivered photos of "uncooperative" native
>Lebanese reporters and editors who had been hacked to pieces while alive.
>The foreign press contingent was then requested to stay in a single hotel
and
>each reporter was assigned a PLO "handler" through whom he received the
bulk
>of his "information." Six foreign journalists who strayed from the
courteous
>guidance of their handlers were shot.
>
> Says author Howard Bloom of all this, "I frankly cannot imagine the
ADC
>using violent tactics in the United States. However publishers apparently
>can. When the ADC picketed Omni magazine in 1991 over a similar dispute,
the
>magazine's executives imposed a code of silence upon their staff in fear of
>terrorist retribution. I am hoping Atlantic Monthly Press will not respond
>in a similar manner."
>
> Enclosed is a rundown of the ADC's charges against The Lucifer
Principle
>and Mr. Bloom's response.
>
> ADC CHARGES VERSUS THE FACTS
>
>The ADC, in its July 17 letter to Atlantic Monthly Press, implies that the
>Koran does not make statements against Christians and Jews.
The Koran, on the other hand, says:
>
> "...those who are Jews, and the Sabaeans, and the Christians, and
>the Magians, and those who join other gods with God, verily, God will
>decide between them on the resurrection...those who disbelieve [in
>Islam], for them are cut out garments of fire, there shall be poured
>over their heads boiling water, wherewith what is in their bellies shall
>be dissolved and their skins too, and for them are maces of iron.
>Whenever they desire to come forth therefrom through pain, they are sent
>back into it: 'And taste ye the torment of the burning!' (from
CD?ROM,
> LIBRARY OF THE FUTURE (R) Series Third Edition Ver. 5.01 Koran
>(Muslim) Religious Document Screen 366)
>
>The ADC letter implies that the Koran does not recommend killing
Christians,
>and states point?blank that "the Quran preaches tolerance and acceptance of
>Christians (and Jews) as 'People of the Book.'"
Yet the Koran says "Killthem wherever ye find them...kill them, for such
is the recompense of those that misbelieve." (LIBRARY OF THE FUTURE. Koran.
Screen 29).
And again about non?believers, "those whom God hath led astray...seize
them and kill them
>wheresoever ye find them; over these we have made for you manifest power."
>(LIBRARY OF THE FUTURE. Koran. Screen 94).
>
>It can be argued validly that these passages were written predominately in
>reference to Moslems who had abjured their faith. However later
generations,
>including those of the current century, have broadened the interpretation
to
>include all non?believers, including Christian westerners. William Shirer,
>in his Twentieth Century Journey, The Nightmare Years, recounts the
following
>story:
>
> "We were non believers the slashing of whose throats would hasten
one
>to the moslem heaven. A verse from the Koran that someone had recited to
>me in Kabul [Afghanistan] came running through my mind. 'And whenever
the
>sacred months are passed, kill those who join other gods with God
wherever
>you shall find them, and seize them and slay them, and lay in wait for
>them with every kind of ambush.'"
>
>But, it could be argued, Shirer was a non-Moslem who may easily have
>misinterpreted or misremembered what was said to him. Let us turn to
>possibly the most influential Koranic interpreter of the 20th Century, a
>Moslem whose posthumous guidance influences over 100 million Islamic
>adherents from Indonesia and Iran to the Philippines and the United States.
>
> "Every part of the body of a non?Moslem individual is impure, even
>the hair on his hand and his body hair, his nails, and all the
>secretions of his body. Any man or woman who denies the existence of
>God, or believes in His partners [the Christian Trinity], or else does
>not believe in His Prophet Mohammed,is impure (in the same way as are
>excrement, urine, dog, andwine). He is so even if he doubts any one of
>these principles." (Ayatollah Khomeini. Sayings of the Ayatollah
>Khomeini. New York: Bantam Books, 1980, p. 51.)
>
> "The person who governs the Moslem community must always have its
>interests at heart and not his own. This is why Islam has put so many
>people to death: to safeguard the interests of the Moslem community.
>Islam has obliterated many tribes because they were sources of
>corruption and harmful to the welfare of Moslems." (Ayatollah
Khomeini,Sayings of the Ayatollah Khomeini, p. 28.)
>
>Do the Ayatollah, his followers, and those of others like Sheik
Abdel-Rahman,
>derive their opinions from the Koran? Says the Ayatollah,
>
> "The Qur'an constantly discusses warfare against the unbelievers...."
(Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Islam and Revolution:
>Writings and Declarations of Imam Khomeini. Hamid Algar, trans.
>Berkeley, California: Mizan Press, 1981, p. 226.)
>
>The ADC also alleges that Howard Bloom has made "racist" and "defamatory"
>remarks by using the word "jihad" as a synonym for holy war, since "jihad"
>"can refer to a struggle not only of the sword, but also of the word and
>spirit." In pointing out this double?meaning of the term, the ADC is
>correct. But implying that the latter, spiritual interpretation is the
only
>interpretation properly associated with ancient and modern Islam is
seriously
>misleading.
>
>Says the Ayatollah, "Moslems have no alternative... to an armed holy war
>against profane governments. ...Holy war means the conquest of all
non?Moslem
>territories. ...It will ...be the duty of every able?bodied adult male to
>volunteer for this war of conquest, the final aim of which is to put
Koranic
>law in power from one end of the earth to the other. ...all other wars of
>conquest... are unjust and tyrannical and disregard the moral and
civilizing
>principles of Islam." (Ayatollah Khomeini, Sayings of the Ayatollah
Khomeini, p. 4.)
>
>And again, "Islam commands its followers to engage in warfare...."
(Ayatollah Khomeini, Islam and Revolution, p. 34.)
>
>Test the following quotes from the Ayatollah against the tolerant and
>peaceful nature of Islam implied by ADC letter?writer Ghada Khouri:
>
> "The leaders of the USSR and of England and the president of the
>United States are ...infidels...." (Ayatollah Khomeini, Sayings of the
>Ayatollah Khomeini, p. 26.)
>
> "Both law and reason require that we not allow governments to
>retain this non?Islamic or anti?Islamic character. ...all non?Islamic
>systems of government are the systems of kufr,since the ruler in each
>case is an instance of taghut [tyrant].... The social environment
>created by taghut and shirk invariably brings about... corruption on
>earth. This corruption must be swept away, and its instigators punished
>for their deeds. ...the just individual opposes him [the non?Islamic
>ruler] and struggles against him in order to destroy the environment of
>corruption. We have in reality, then, no choice but to destroy those
>systems of government that are corrupt in themselves and also entail the
> corruption of others.... This is a duty that all Muslims must
>fulfill...." (Ayatollah Khomeini, Islam and Revolution, p. 48.)
>
> "Europe [the West] is nothing but a collection of unjust
dictatorships;
all of humanity must strike these troublemakers with an
>iron hand if it wishes to regain its tranquillity. If Islamic
>civilization had governed the West, we would no longer have to put up
>with these barbaric goings?on unworthy even of wild animals."
(Ayatollah Khomeini, Sayings of the Ayatollah Khomeini, p. 5.)
>
>Finally, the ADC alleges that The Lucifer Principle "took the liberty to
>defame the Prophet Mohammed." The ADC follows this claim with phraseology
>which implies that Mohammed was a man of peace. To quote The Lucifer
>Principle:
>
> The fledgling prophet was no man of peace. He consolidated his
>hold over Medina by ordering opponents assassinated. (Tim Newark. The
>Barbarians: Warriors & Wars of the Dark Ages. London: Blandford Press,
>1985, p. 86.) Then he masterminded a series of assaults on passing
>Meccan caravans and the armed escorts sent to protect them. When
>Meccans, fearful of Mohammed's new power, attacked the outskirts of
>Medina, the "blessed one" led his faithful against the intruders and
>won. The holy man's military success impressed some of the fierce
>tribes that wandered in the hills outside of town. They signed up with
>the new, battle?tested religion. A few years later, the prophet marched
>his troops 200 miles to the Jewish town of Khaibar and conquered it.
He killed all of Khaibar's 900 men and carried off the women and children
as slaves.
>
>The Lucifer Principle's key source on the life of Mohammed is a book
written
>by an Islamic author, published by an Islamic publisher, and distributed
>exclusively in Islamic bookstores. This is Sarwat Saulat's The Life of The
>Prophet, Islamic Publications Ltd., Lahore, Pakistan, 1983.
>
>The Ayatollah more than backs up Saulat:
>
> "The idea of turning the other cheek has been wrongly attributed to
>Jesus (peace be unto him); it is those barbaric imperialists that have
>attributed it to him. Jesus was a prophet,and no prophet can be so
>illogical. ...to turn the other cheek...is the logic of the indolent,
>the logic of those who do not know God and who have not studied the
>Qu'ran." (Ayatollah Khomeini, Islam and Revolution, p. 219.)
>
> "the leaders of our religion were all soldiers, commanders, and
>warriors. They put on military dress and went into battle in the wars
>that are described for us in our history; they killed, and they were
>killed. The Commander of the Faithful himself [Mohammed] (upon whom be
>peace) would place a helmet on his blessed head, don his coat of chain
>mail, and gird on a sword." (Ayatollah Khomeini, Islam and Revolution,
>p. 35.)
>
>If Atlantic Monthly Press agrees to the ADC's offer of pre?censorship, and
if
>this "free guidance" is backed by the implied intimidation which has led
>Atlantic Monthly Press and numerous other publishers to fear bombings or
>other violent retribution, the American public may be permanently robbed of
>access to balanced and accurate accounts of Islam.
>---
>A few brief updates. Since this material was written in 1996, governments
>adhering to the Ayatollah Khomeni's extremist interpretation of Islam have
>come to power in Sudan, Afghanistan, and in the second largest island of
the
>Philippines, now known as the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, thus
>adding another 68 million to the number of those under the rule of Islam's
>most virulent interpreters. In addition, political observers have felt for
>some time that Pakistan is close to coming under the control of its
>extremist, Khomeneite elements, which already dominate much of Pakistani
>society. If this were to occur, it would bring another 135 million into
the
>Khomeneite fold.
>
>Meanwhile, the forces labeled Chechen rebels by the Western press include
>Islamic insurgents determined to turn all of Central Asia, including
>Chechnya, Dagestan Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and
the
>Chinese province of Xinjiang, into a single Taliban-style Islamic state
>Training the "Chechen" militants is one of the group's two key leaders, a
>veteran of the Afghan wars whom Reuters identifies as "a shadowy
>Jordanian-born figure know as Hattab." The New York Times reports that
>Hattab is "a well-trained guerrilla fighter who has taken up residence in
>Chechnya, after 15 years of commando experience in Afghanistan, Iraq and
>the Middle East. His training center, reportedly located on the territory
>of a former children's summer camps, has attracted volunteers from
>predominately Muslim countries in the former Soviet Union."
>
>Meanwhile in Iran, with its population 63 million, elements attempting to
>soften the nation's earlier militancy have come under serious attack. The
>moderate mayor of Tehran, Gholamhossein Karbaschi, has just spent seven
>months in prison on what appear to be trumped up charges of "corruption."
>Four hundred and two relatively moderate candidates for office have been
>barred from running in upcoming elections by the fundamentalist Council of
>Guardians. Two students from Tehran's Amir Kabir Technical University were
>threatened earlier this month with death by a high ranking police chief,
then
>were "saved" by a one year prison sentence for publishing a satirical play
>which the courts said "blasphemed Islam." .President Mohammad Kahatami has
>been attacked for allowing increased freedom of expression, and AP reported
>on January 15 that "Vigilantes assaulted students, injuring several, as
they
>left a rare public lecture by a controversial Islamic thinker who has
>questioned religious rule by hard-line clerics." The intellectual giving
the
>speech was hustled away before he could be assaulted, but the windshield of
>his car was smashed as he was being driven from the scene.
>
>Of the world's two billion Moslems, over 131 million are now living under
>the rule of Islamic fundamentalists. This is a small percentage of the
>Islamic total, but it is more than the population of France and England
>combined.
>
>My sense is that John is less disturbed about Islam than he is about the
>suppression of free speech and other basic rights in numerous Islamic
>countries, many of which are not thought of as extremist. Saudi Arabia,
for
>example, is under the fundamentalist control of the Wahhabi movement, and
has
>been ever since the country was founded by Ibn Saud in 1932. Its
>restrictions on the activities of women and on free expression are severe.
>Saudi Arabia's religious police provided the model for the Taleban's
Ministry
>for the Propagation of Virtue and Suppression of Vice in Afghanistan, and
>it's the Saudi brand of Wahhabi strictness which the Central Asian rebels
>hope to impose on the vast lands between the Pamirs and the Caucusus.
>
>The Islamic attempt to stifle freedom of speech in the West has continued,
>sometimes assuming forms which seem to us bizarre. Take the following
>example of attempts to influence Disneyland's exhibitions in Orlando,
>Florida, as reported by Reuters in September of 1999, just five months ago:
>At a meeting of Arab foreign ministers chaired by Iraqi Foreign Minister
>Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf in Cairo, "The Arab ministers...discussed actions
>against entertainment giant Walt Disney Co., which angered Arabs and
Moslems
>by reported moves to depict Jerusalem as Israel's capital in a millennium
>exhibition in Florida. In a draft resolution they decided to form a
>committee including representatives of the Arab League, American
Arab-Islamic
>organisations and Palestinians, hoping to visit the exhibition before it
>opens to ensure that it does not carry any political nuances or touch upon
>the status of Jerusalem. The resolution also warned that if Disney does
not
>comply with the committee's decisions, it would be in violation of U.N.
>resolutions on Jerusalem and would push Arab countries to take 'necessary
and
>appropriate steps to face the situation.' Arab League sources earlier said
>Disney might be banned from selling its products in the Arab world. "
Since the Arab world constitures a considerable source of revenue for
virtually
any export-oriented American firm, this is no idle threat. The
export-oriented
firm in question here controls not only theme parks, but a media firm called
>ABC. To what extent is pressure of this sort influencing the way news is
>covered by ABC and its sister networks, NBC (owned by General
Electict,which
>sells jet engines to the Arab world), and CBS? All I know is that shortly
>after a producer from CBS' 60 Mintues took me out to dinner to discuss
>coverage of the spread of Khomeni-style Islamic fundamentalism and its
>implications for the West, the producer flew to Saudi Arabia and returned
>with a decided lack of enthusiasm for a story which he and his staff had
>previously thought was highly worthy of exposure. Howard
>----------
>Howard Bloom
>Visiting Scholar--New York University
>founder: International Paleopsychology Project; member: New York Academy of
>Sciences, American Association for the Advancement of Science, American
>Psychological Society, Academy of Political Science, Human Behavior and
>Evolution Society, European Sociobiological Society; board member: Epic of
>Evolution Society; executive editor -- New Paradigm book series
>
>International Paleopsychology Project
>705 President Street
>Brooklyn, NY 11215
>phone 718 622 2278
>fax 718 398 2551
>e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>www.paleopsych.org
>
>for two chapters from
>The Lucifer Principle: A Scientific Expedition Into the Forces of History,
>see www.bookworld.com/lucifer
>for serialized chapters from the upcoming Global Brain: the evolution of
mass
>mind from the Big Bang to the 22nd Century, see
>http://www.heise.de/tp/english/special/glob/default.html
>and just for the heck of it, see
>http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~skoyles/bloom.htm#Bloom
>
>
>
>
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