THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume XIV, Issue # 68, April 5, 2012
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
COURTROOM TERROR
By Raymond Ibrahim
MUSLIMS & THEIR RESORT TO TERRORISM: IS ISLAMIC TERRORISM OR JIHADISM A BYPRODUCT OF POLITICAL, SOCIAL, OR MILITARY WEAKNESS? IS
TERRORISM THE "WEAPON OF THE WEAK"? TERRORISM AS THE TYPICAL APPROACH OF MUSLIMS TO THOSE WHO TRANSGRESS THE BOUNDS OF SHARIA LAW --
THE HISTORY & DOCTRINES OF ISLAM & THE SHEER PREDICTABILITY OF MUSLIM BEHAVIOR: RAGE & VIOLENCE IN RESPONSE TO A NON-MUSLIM
INSULTING THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD -- RAGE & VIOLENCE TOWARD MUSLIM MEMBERS OF A LEGAL SYSTEM FOR TRYING TO REPRESENT AN "INFIDEL" -- THE
FOREGOING REACTIONS AS STANDARD MODES OF ISLAMIC BEHAVIOR, WITH AMPLE PRECEDENT.
FULL STORY:
Apologists often try to explain away Islamic terrorism as a byproduct of something else. The usual argument is that, because Muslims are politically, socially or
militarily weak — the archetypal example often given is Israel vis-à-vis the Palestinians — they have no choice but to resort to terror to strike at their stronger
adversaries. In other words, they resort to terrorism simply to even the odds — hence the argument that terrorism is the "weapon of the weak."
Though this narrative is widely accepted, it is demonstrably false. Consider the following account that took place a couple of weeks ago in Muslim-majority Egypt:
"More than 300 Muslim lawyers inside and outside a courthouse
in the southern Egyptian province of Assuit today [March 16, 2012]
prevented defense lawyer Ahmad Sayed Gabali, who is representing
the Christian, Makarem Diab, from going into court. Mr. Diab was
found guilty of 'Insulting the Muslim Prophet' and was scheduled
today for a hearing on his appeal. Attorney Dr. Naguib Gabriell,
head of the Egyptian Union of Human Rights Organizations, said
there was 'terror in the Assiut Court today.' He added that he was
on his way to court when he was advised that Muslim lawyers have
issued death threats to any Christian lawyers who attend the court
session. 'Makram Diab was assaulted by Muslim lawyers during his
transfer from the courtroom and security failed to protect him.' Peter
Sarwat, a Coptic lawyer, said that Muslim lawyers representing the
plaintiffs prevented the defense team from entering court: 'They
said no Muslim will defend a Christian. It was agreed that Christian
lawyers would take over and two Coptic lawyers volunteered, but
the Muslims decided later that even Christians would not defend
him.' Sarwat said the Muslim lawyers wanted to assault the Chief
Judge but he managed to leave the court via a rear door."
The report goes on to explain how Muslim lawyers and activists went to court to defend Diab's right to a fair trial only to be assaulted by other Muslim lawyers:
"They were assaulting us in a beastly and strange way, just because we went there to defend a citizen who happened to be a Christian," said one of the lawyers,
adding that exiting the court required security intervention: "We left court in a security vehicle which took us to Security headquarters, otherwise, we don't know
what the outcome would have been for us."
More details include eyewitnesses reporting that the Muslim lawyers were "armed with clubs." Several, including reporters, were injured in the ensuing melee,
and human rights groups were "forced out of the courtroom by the Muslims."
Was the condemned Christian's attorney right to categorize this incident as "terrorism"? According to Dictionary.com, the primary definition of terrorism
is "the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political purposes." In other words, terrorism is not just limited to 9/11-type strikes, but
involves intimidating, bullying, threatening, etc. — precisely what happened at this courthouse trial.
Some more key points to keep in mind:
Those making the death threats, physically assaulting others with clubs, and otherwise engaging in terrorist behavior were "more than 300 Muslim lawyers";
not jihadis or fugitives hiding out in caves, but lawyers.
The entire issue revolves around something that, by Western standards of freedom, would be a non-issue to start with: insulting a "holy" figure, Islam's
Prophet Muhammad. In a Western court of law, the Christian "blasphemer" would not even be tried, but rather the terrorist "lawyers."
The attacks on fellow Muslim lawyers who merely sought to represent the condemned Christian is in keeping with Islam's doctrines of loyalty and disloyalty,
which command Muslims always to side with fellow Muslims, while having enmity for non-Muslim infidels — certainly those perceived to have insulted their
prophet.
The ultimate lesson emerging from this shameful fiasco is one of sheer predictability. Anyone familiar with the doings of the Islamic world — its history, its
doctrines — cannot be surprised at any of the above: rage and violence in response to a non-Muslim insulting the Prophet; rage and violence toward Muslim
members of a legal system for trying to represent an "infidel" — these are quite standard, with ample precedent, regardless of whether the enraged Muslims
are suit-and-tie wearing lawyers, or kalashnikov-toting jihadis.
Contrary to popular belief, then, and as this episode clearly shows, Islamic terrorism is not a byproduct of "weakness," but rather the typical approach to those who
transgress the bounds of Sharia. Whether one man "blaspheming" Muhammad in a Muslim-majority nation (as in this example) or whether an entire nation existing
on land perceived to be Islam's (as in the case of Israel), terror is never far behind for those transgressing the bounds of Sharia.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Islamism & Jihadism -- The Threat of Radical Islam
Page Three
Page Two
Page One
Middle East -- Arabs, Arab States,
& Their Middle Eastern Neighbors
American Foreign Policy -- The Middle East
International Politics & World Disorder:
War, Peace, & Geopolitics in the Real World:
Foreign Affairs & U.S. National Security
Page Two
Page One
Islamist Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A.
Osama bin Laden & the Islamist Declaration of War
Against the U.S.A. & Western Civilization
Islamist International Terrorism &
U.S. Intelligence Agencies
Counterterrorism & U.S. National Security
U.S. National Security Strategy
Raymond Ibrahim, a historian of Islam, Islamism and the Middle East, is a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom
Center, an Associate Fellow at the Middle East Forum, and the editor of The Al-Qa'ida Reader, a collection of
tranlations of key texts and documents of the Islamist movement. Ibrahim's translations of the religious texts and political
propaganda comprising this collection help readers comprehend the origins, development, history, and serious danger of
the Islamist war doctrines of Usama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, the Founders of Al-Qa'ida.
The foregoing article by Ibrahim was originally published by the Gatestone Institute, April 5, 2012, and can be found on the Internet website maintained by the
Middle East Forum, a foreign policy think tank which seeks to define and promote American interests in the Middle East, defining U.S. interests to include
fighting radical Islam, working for Palestinian Arab acceptance of the State of Israel, improving the management of U.S. efforts to promote constitutional
democracy in the Middle East, reducing America's energy dependence on the Middle East, more robustly asserting U.S. interests vis-à-vis Saudi Arabia, and
countering the Iranian threat.
(URL: http://www.meforum.org/3207/courtroom-terror)
Republished with Permission of the Middle East Forum
Reprinted from the Middle East Forum News
mefnews@meforum.org (MEF NEWS)
April 5, 2012
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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Conservative Government Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity