by Raymond Ibrahim<\/p>\n
PJ Media<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cAl Qaeda\u2019s Zawahiri Accuses Obama of Trying to \u2018Enslave\u2019 Arab World.\u201d So reads the headline of a recent\u00a0Fox News<\/a>\u00a0[1] report, which goes on to quote Zawahiri saying things such as \u201cObama\u2019s policy is nothing but another cycle in the Crusader and Zionist campaign to enslave and humiliate us, and to occupy our land and steal our wealth.\u201d<\/p>\n Two years earlier, Zawahiri was\u00a0even more dramatic<\/a>\u00a0[2]. Then he implored \u201cblacks in America, people of color, American Indians, Hispanics, and all the weak and oppressed in North and South America, in Africa and Asia, and all over the world, to know that when we wage jihad in Allah\u2019s path, we aren\u2019t waging jihad to lift oppression from Muslims only; we are waging jihad \u2026 to lift oppression from all mankind. \u2026 This is why I want every oppressed one on the face of the earth to know that our victory over America and the Crusading West \u2014 with Allah\u2019s permission \u2014 is a victory for them, because they shall be freed from the most powerful tyrannical force in the history of mankind.\u201d<\/p>\n Unfortunately for al Qaeda, its\u00a0very own words<\/a>\u00a0[3] \u2014 the Arabic ones directed at fellow Muslims which Westerners rarely see or read \u2014 unequivocally contradict its repeated attempts to portray itself as an organization out to spread\u00a0Robin Hood<\/a>\u00a0[4]-style justice and equanimity vis-\u00e0-vis a tyrannical U.S. For in these\u00a0Arabic treatises<\/a>\u00a0[5], al Qaeda makes it perfectly clear that, short of submitting to Islamic hegemony, the non-Muslim world is the enemy,\u00a0ipso facto<\/em>.<\/p>\n Yet doublespeak is definitely not the sole province of al Qaeda; the decades-long Arab-Israeli conflict has furnished the world with some of the most flagrant examples of Islamist doublespeak \u2014 emanating from such players as\u00a0Arafat, the PLO, and Hamas<\/a>\u00a0[6]. Hezbollah offers a recent example:<\/p>\n According to\u00a0Reuters<\/a>\u00a0[7], the terrorist organization\u2019s newly revised manifesto \u201ctones down Islamist rhetoric but maintains a tough line against Israel and the United States. The new manifesto drops reference to an Islamic republic in Lebanon, which has a substantial Christian population, confirming changes to Hezbollah thinking about the need to respect Lebanon\u2019s diversity.\u201d<\/p>\n In fact, this \u201cnew\u201d manifesto has been hailed as a progressive step forward for the terrorist organization: an\u00a0AFP<\/a>\u00a0[8] headline tells us that \u201cHezbollah strikes softer tone in second manifesto: [according to] analysts,\u201d such as one Paul Salem, head of the Beirut-based Carnegie Middle East Center, who asserts that the \u201cmanifesto is reassuring as it shows Hezbollah\u2019s integration with Lebanese political life.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, back on earth, a\u00a0Jerusalem Post<\/em><\/a>\u00a0[9] report reveals that this \u201ctoning down\u201d exists solely in the \u201cfor-infidels-only\u201d English version of the manifesto: \u201cIt is correct that the new manifesto does not include the previous document\u2019s call for the establishment of an \u2018Islamic republic\u2019 in Lebanon. But here an interesting discrepancy emerges. The longer,\u00a0Arabic version<\/a>[10] of the manifesto is steeped in religious rhetoric and Islamist terminology.\u201d<\/p>\n In fact, words and phrases that do not appear in the English version \u2014 \u201cresistance in the way of jihad,\u201d the \u201cjihadi way,\u201d \u201cmujahidin\u201d and \u201cmartyrs,\u201d even oblique praise for Sharia rule \u2014 appear in the Arabic version, demonstrating that Hezbollah does not \u201crespect Lebanon\u2019s diversity\u201d and is not \u201cintegrat[ing] with Lebanese [i.e., half-Christian] political life.\u201d<\/p>\n As the Jerusalem Post concludes, Hezbollah \u201cconsiders it in its interest to tone down or remove the pro-Iranian and jihadi parts of its identity when presenting itself to the outside world. But the full document in its original form suggests that the movement has not strayed far from its original path.\u201d<\/p>\n (Ironic, too, that Hezbollah ignored the fact that the Arabic and English versions would inevitably be compared and exposed. Perhaps its Shia proclivities, including an instinctual reliance on\u00a0taqiyya<\/em>, that is, doctrinal deceit, blinded it to this fact \u2014 that and perhaps its more plausible expectations that, even if they were to find out, few Westerners would care anyway.)<\/p>\n Aside from the fact that Hezbollah perfectly mirrors al Qaeda by saying one thing in English to infidels and another in Arabic to Muslims, so too does it employ the grievance-against-the-West paradigm. A\u00a0CNN<\/a>\u00a0[11] headline concerning this new manifesto summarizes by saying, \u201cHezbollah blames U.S. for all terrorism.\u201d In fact, the manifesto\u2019s first section, entitled \u201cDomination and Hegemony,\u201d is dedicated to portraying the U.S. as the \u201croot of all terror\u201d and a \u201cdanger that threatens the whole world,\u201d including by trying to dominate the Muslim world \u201cpolitically, culturally, economically, and through all aspects.\u201d<\/p>\n There is one final irony worth noting: Though duping infidels has a long pedigree, that the current deception revolves around Muslims portraying themselves as weak victims who need to rely on the goodwill of the despised infidels; that the lie reduces Muslims to evoking, of all things, \u201chumanitarianism\u201d \u2014 otherwise a maudlin Western abomination that directly contravenes Islamic law \u2014 surely this must sting Muslim pride. For it is incongruous to believe, as Islamists certainly do, that might not only makes right, but is a sign of divine approval; that Islam must proudly spread its hegemony, including by the sword, brooking no infidel nonsense, no talk of \u201cequality,\u201d \u201cfreedom,\u201d \u201ctolerance,\u201d etc. \u2014 I say, it is incongruous to believe all this and then turn around and play the role of poor victim, evoke lofty, liberal standards, implore the international (that is, infidel) community for aid, and whine about that big meanie, the U.S. and its supposed quest for \u201cdomination and hegemony\u201d \u2014 precisely what all Islamists most desire.<\/p>\n Yet so long as (naive or arrogant) Westerners continue believing their ideals are universally shared, irrespective of all evidence otherwise \u2014 from the antithetic dictates of Islamic law to al Qaeda\u2019s, Fatah\u2019s, Hamas\u2019, and Hezbollah\u2019s open advocacy for it (in Arabic at least) \u2014 the indignity of assuming an effete and, from an Arab point of view, emasculated role is a small and, quite possibly, temporary price to pay.<\/p>\n Article printed from Pajamas Media:\u00a0http:\/\/pajamasmedia.com<\/a> \u00a92009 Victor Davis Hanson<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Raymond Ibrahim PJ Media \u201cAl Qaeda\u2019s Zawahiri Accuses Obama of Trying to \u2018Enslave\u2019 Arab World.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[227,631],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p466Sb-x7","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5473,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/seeking-sympathy-from-the-infidel\/","url_meta":{"origin":2053,"position":0},"title":"Seeking Sympathy from the Infidel","author":"victorhanson","date":"May 21, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Zawahiri invokes the language of social justice. by Raymond Ibrahim National Review Online In an unprecedented effort to rally popular support, al Qaeda is apparently trying to refashion its image from an ultra-conservative, radical Islamist group with clear and precise goals \u2014 the ultimate being to implement\u00a0sharia\u00a0law around the globe\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Raymond Ibrahim"","block_context":{"text":"Raymond Ibrahim","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/our-contributors\/raymond-ibrahim\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6973,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/al-qaeda-the-defender-of-christians\/","url_meta":{"origin":2053,"position":1},"title":"Al Qaeda: The Defender of Christians?","author":"victorhanson","date":"February 4, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim \/\/\u00a0RaymondIbrahim.com\u00a0 Muslim persecution of Christians is the \u201cAchilles Heel\u201d of the global Islamic movement\u2019s image\u2014the surest way of exposing its supremacist and intolerant elements and one of the main reasons the major media and establishment rarely report or address it. 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\n
\nURL to article: http:\/\/pajamasmedia.com\/blog\/shameless-islamist-doublespeak-rages-on\/
\nURLs in this post:
\n[1] Fox News:\u00a0http:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/story\/0,2933,580162,00.html<\/a>
\n[2] even more dramatic: http:\/\/article.nationalreview.com\/?q=MzJmOWYwYWQ5MjFjMWU0NmE1YmRmNzUwZmFkMjM0ZTk=
\n[3] very own words:\u00a0http:\/\/www.meriajournal.com\/en\/asp\/journal\/2008\/december\/ibrahim\/6.pdf<\/a>
\n[4] Robin Hood: http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/mesh\/2008\/09\/osama_bin_laden_man_of_love\/
\n[5] Arabic treatises:\u00a0http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FAl-Qaeda-Reader-Raymond-Ibrahim%2Fdp%2F076792262X%2F&tag=pajamasmedia-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325<\/a>
\n[6] Arafat, the PLO, and Hamas:\u00a0http:\/\/97.74.65.51\/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=5382<\/a>
\n[7] Reuters:\u00a0http:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/idUSTRE5AT3VK20091130<\/a>
\n[8] AFP:http:\/\/www.google.com\/hostednews\/afp\/article\/ALeqM5iGj5x_8CjgSI_K1duV16qqNWEwNg<\/a>
\n[9] Jerusalem Post:\u00a0http:\/\/www.jpost.com\/servlet\/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1259243066099<\/a>
\n[10] Arabic version:\u00a0http:\/\/almanar.com.lb\/NewsSite\/NewsDetails.aspx?id=113293&language=ar<\/a>
\n[11] CNN:\u00a0http:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2009\/WORLD\/meast\/11\/30\/lebanon.hezbollah\/<\/a><\/p>\n