Persia is where civil society was born you moron On Oct 3, 2:37 pm, Travis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > From: *Travis* > Date: Thu, Oct 2, 2008 > Subject: Fourteen Centuries of War Against European Civilization > > http://europenews.dk/en/node/14593 > > Fourteen Centuries of War Against European Civilization > > By > Fjordman<http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.com/2008/09/fourteen-centuries-of-war-a...>September > 30 2008 > > The following essay is an amalgam of my previous online essays, among them > *Who > Are We, Who Are Our Enemies — The Cost of Historical > Amnesia<http://www.islam-watch.org/Fjordman/CostHistoricalAmnesia.htm>, > Why We Should Oppose an Independent > Kosovo<http://www.globalpolitician.com/23845-kosovo> > ,* *Refuting God's > Crucible<http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/021342.php> > * and *The Truth About Islam in > Europe<http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/3017> > *. > > The Jihad, the Islamic so-called Holy War, has been a fact of life in > Europe, Asia, Africa and the Near and Middle East for more than 1300 years, > but this is the first history of the Muslim wars in Europe ever to be > published. Hundreds of books, however, have appeared on its Christian > counterpart, the Crusades, to which the Jihad is often compared, although > they lasted less than two hundred years and unlike the Jihad, which is > universal, were largely but not completely confined to the Holy Land. > > Moreover, the Crusades have been over for more than 700 years, while a > Jihad is still going on in the world. The Jihad has been the most unrecorded > and disregarded major event of history. It has, in fact, been largely > ignored. For instance, the Encyclopaedia Britannica gives the Crusades > eighty times more space than the Jihad. > > The above quote is from Paul Fregosi's book *Jihad in the > West<http://www.amazon.com/Jihad-West-Muslim-Conquests-Centuries/dp/157392...> > * from 1998. Mr. Fregosi found that his book about the history of Islamic > Holy War in Europe from the 7th to the 20th centuries was difficult to get > published in the mid-1990s, when publishers had the Salman Rushdie case in > fresh memory. > > [image: The Legacy of Jihad by Andrew Bostom]A few years later, perhaps the > most comprehensive and scholarly book on the subject to date, *The Legacy of > Jihad<http://www.amazon.com/Legacy-Jihad-Islamic-Holy-Non-Muslims/dp/159102...> > *, was published by Andrew G. Bostom. He has written about what he > calls "America's > First War on > Terror<http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=22314>." > Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, then serving as American ambassadors to > France and Britain, respectively, met in 1786 in London with the Tripolitan > Ambassador to Britain, Sidi Haji Abdul Rahman Adja. These future American > presidents were attempting to negotiate a peace treaty which would spare the > United States the ravages of Jihad piracy — murder and enslavement emanating > from the so-called Barbary States of North Africa, corresponding to modern > Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya. > > Bostom notes that "an aggressive jihad was *already* being waged against the > United States almost 200 years prior to America becoming a dominant > international power in the Middle East." Israel has nothing to do with it. > The Barbary Jihad piracy had been going on since the earliest Arab-Islamic > expansion in the 7th and 8th centuries. Francisco Gabrieli states that: > > According to present-day concepts of international relations, such > activities amounted to piracy, but they correspond perfectly to jihad, an > Islamic religious duty. The conquest of Crete, in the east, and a good > portion of the corsair warfare along the Provencal and Italian coasts, in > the West, are among the most conspicuous instances of such "private > initiative" which contributed to Arab domination in the Mediterranean. > > A proto-typical Muslim naval razzia occurred in 846 when a fleet of Arab > Jihadists arrived at the mouth of the Tiber, made their way to Rome, sacked > the city, and carried away from the basilica of St. Peter all of the gold > and silver it contained. The creation of the Vatican as a walled "city > within a city" was in response to the recurrent threat of Islamic Jihad > raids. > > [image: Barbary Pirates]Bostom notes that "By June/July 1815 the ably > commanded U.S. naval forces had dealt their Barbary jihadist adversaries a > quick series of crushing defeats. This success ignited the imagination of > the Old World powers to rise up against the Barbary pirates." > > Yet some Arabs seem to miss the good old days when they could extract jizya > payments from the West. Libyan terrorist-sponsoring leader Muammar Gaddafi > has stated that he thinks that European nations should pay 10 billion euros > ($12.7 billion dollars) a year to Africa to help it stop migrants seeking a > better life flooding northwards into Europe. He added without elaborating: > "Earth belongs to everybody. Why they (young Africans) emigrated to Europe — > this should be answered by Europeans." Apart from being a clear-cut example > of how migration, or rather population dumping, has become a tool for > blackmail in the 21st century, this is a throwback to the age when Tripoli > could extract payments from Europe. > > Robert Davis <http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/022872.php>, > professor of history at Ohio State University, developed new methodical > enumeration in his book *Christian Slaves, Muslim > Masters<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1403945519/brusselsjournal-20/...> > * which indicates that perhaps one and one-quarter *million* white European > Christians were enslaved by Barbary Muslims just from 1530 through 1780 — a > far greater number than had been estimated before: > > [image: Christian Slaves, Muslim Masters]Enslavement was a very real > possibility for anyone who traveled in the Mediterranean, or who lived along > the shores in places like Italy, France, Spain and Portugal, and even as far > north as England and Iceland. Much of what has been written gives the > impression that there were not many slaves and minimizes the impact that > slavery had on Europe," Davis said. "Most accounts only look at slavery in > one place, or only for a short period of time. But when you take a broader, > longer view, the massive scope of this slavery and its powerful impact > become clear. > > Corsairs from cities in North Africa — Tunis, Algiers etc. — would raid > ships in the Mediterranean and Atlantic, as well as seaside villages to > capture men, women and children. The impact was devastating — France, > England, and Spain each lost thousands of ships, and long stretches of the > Spanish and Italian coasts were almost completely abandoned by their > inhabitants. > > At its peak, the destruction and depopulation of some areas probably > exceeded what European slavers would later inflict on the African interior. > The lives of European slaves were often no better than the victims of the > transatlantic slave trade, which tapped into the pre-established Islamic > slave-trade in Africa. "As far as daily living conditions, the Mediterranean > slaves certainly didn't have it better," Davis says. While African slaves > did grueling labor on sugar and cotton plantations in the Americas, European > slaves were often worked just as hard and as lethally — in quarries, in > heavy construction, and above all rowing the corsair galleys. > > Throughout most of the seventeenth century, the English alone lost at least > 400 sailors a year to the slavers. One American slave reported that 130 > American seamen had been enslaved by the Algerians in the Mediterranean and > Atlantic just between 1785 and 1793 (which prompted the later military > response from the Americans). In his book *White > Gold<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0312425295/brusselsjournal-20/...> > *, Giles Milton describes how regular Jihad razzias in Europe extended as > far north as Iceland. Even during the time of Queen Elizabeth I, while > William Shakespeare was writing his plays and poems, young Englishmen risked > being surprised by a fleet of Muslim pirates showing up at their village, or > being kidnapped while fishing at sea: > > By the end of the dreadful summer of 1625, the mayor of Plymouth reckoned > that 1,000 skiffs had been destroyed, and a similar number of villagers > carried off into slavery." Such events took place across much of Europe, > also in Wales and southern Ireland: "In 1631…200 Islamic soldiers…sailed to > the village of Baltimore, storming ashore with swords drawn and catching the > villagers totally by surprise. (They) carried off 237 men, women, and > children and took them to Algiers…The French padre Pierre Dan was in the > city (Algiers) at the time…He witnessed the sale of the captives in the > slave auction. 'It was a pitiful sight to see them exposed in the > market…Women were separated from their husbands and the children from their > fathers…on one side a husband was sold; on the other his wife; and her > daughter was torn from her arms without the hope that they'd ever see each > other again'. > > The Englishman Thomas Pellow was enslaved in Morocco for twenty-three years > after being captured by Barbary pirates as a cabin boy on a small English > vessel in 1716. He was tortured until he accepted Islam. For weeks he was > beaten and starved, and finally gave in after his torturer resorted to > "burning my flesh off my bones by fire, which the tyrant did, by frequent > repetitions, after a most cruel manner." > > *God's Crucible: Islam and the Making of Europe, > 570-1215<http://www.amazon.com/Gods-Crucible-Making-Europe-570-1215/dp/0393064...> > * was written by David Levering Lewis, the American historian and two-time > winner of the prestigious Pulitzer Prize. He states that Muslims did not > enslave their co-religionists, only infidels. Yes, but why is that better? > > As Robert Spencer writes in his book *Religion of Peace?*: "The Qur'an says > that the followers of Muhammad are 'ruthless to the unbelievers but merciful > to one another' (48:29), and that the unbelievers are the 'worst of created > beings' (98:6). One may exercise the Golden Rule in relation to a fellow > Muslim, but according to the laws of Islam, the same courtesy is not to be > extended to unbelievers. That is one principal reason why the primary source > of slaves in the Islamic world has been non-Muslims, whether Jews, > Christians, Hindus, or pagans. Most slaves were non-Muslims who had been > captured during jihad warfare." > > Slavery was taken for granted throughout Islamic history. When it was > finally abolished this was due to Western pressure, especially the efforts > of the British Empire. Spencer again: "Nor was there a Muslim abolitionist > movement, no Clarkson, Wilberforce, or Garrison. When the slave trade ended, > it was ended not through Muslim efforts but through British military force. > Even so, there is evidence that slavery continues beneath the surface in > some Muslim countries — notably Saudi Arabia, which only abolished slavery > in 1962; Yemen and Oman, both of which ended legal slavery in 1970; and > Niger, which didn't abolish slavery until 2004. In Niger, the ban is widely > ignored, and as many as one million people remain in bondage. Slaves are > bred, often raped, and generally treated like animals. There are even > slavery cases involving Muslims in the United States. A Saudi named Homaidan > al-Turki was sentenced in September 2006 to twenty-seven years to life in > prison for keeping a woman as a slave in his Colorado home. For his part, > al-Turki claimed that he was a victim of anti-Muslim bias." > > Jihad slavery was widespread in Africa and in many regions of Asia. Indian > historian K. S. Lal states that wherever Jihadists conquered a territory, > "there developed a system of slavery peculiar to the clime, terrain, and > populace of the place." When Muslim armies invaded India, "its people began > to be enslaved in droves to be sold in foreign lands or employed in various > capacities on menial and not-so-menial jobs within the country." > > Briefly summed up, *God's Crucible* laments the fact that Charles Martel, > "the Hammer," halted the advancing Islamic Jihad at the Battle of Tours or, > Battle of Poitiers, in 732: > > Had 'Abd al-Rahman's men prevailed that October day, the post-Roman Occident > would probably have been incorporated into a cosmopolitan, Muslim > *regnum*unobstructed by borders, as they hypothesize — one devoid of a > priestly > caste, animated by the dogma of equality of the faithful, and respectful of > all religious faiths. Curiously, such speculation has a French pedigree. > Forty years ago, two historians, Jean-Henri Roy and Jean Deviosse enumerated > the benefits of a Muslim triumph at Poitiers: astronomy; trigonometry; > Arabic numerals; the corpus of Greek philosophy. 'We [Europe] would have > gained 267 years,' according to their calculations. 'We might have been > spared the wars of religion.' To press the logic of this disconcerting > analysis, the victory of Charles the Hammer must be seen as greatly > contributing to the creation of an economically retarded, balkanized, > fratricidal Europe that, in defining itself in opposition to Islam, made > virtues out of religious persecution, cultural particularism, and hereditary > aristocracy. > > David Levering Lewis is clearly sympathetic towards this view, and writes > that the Carolingian order, established Charles Martel (*Carolus* in Latin) > and his grandson Charlemagne, was "religiously intolerant, intellectually > impoverished, socially calcified, and economically primitive." Curiously, he > mentions in passing that there was continuous "out-migration to the > Christian kingdoms" from al-Andalus. Why did they move to the Christian > lands, whose economy was "little better than late Neolithic," if life was so > sweet in al-Andalus? Lewis states that: "At the end of the eighth century, > Europe was militarily strong enough to defend itself from Islam, thanks in > part to Charlemagne and his predecessors. The question was whether it was > politically, economically, and culturally better off for being able to do > so." > > [image: EuroMed map]*God's Crucible* was published during a time when Spain > and Portugal under Islamic occupation are being hailed as a model of > coexistence with Islam. The European Union recently announced its intentions > of expanding to include the Muslim Middle East and North Africa. There is a > concerted effort going on to present Islam as something non-threatening, > indeed benevolent. In May 2008, Germany's *Der Spiegel*, Europe's largest > weekly magazine, hailed al-Andalus as a "Multicultural > model<http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,554746,00.html>" > for Europe: "For nearly 800 years, the inhabitants of al-Andalus, as the > Arab dynasties called their empire on the Iberian Peninsula, allowed Jews, > Christians and Muslims to coexist in a spirit of mutual respect — a > situation that benefited all." Never mind that Richard Fletcher states in > his book *Moorish > Spain<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0520248406/brusselsjournal-20/...> > * that "Moorish Spain was not a tolerant and enlightened society even in its > most cultivated epoch." > > The European Union, the Council of Europe and numerous Islamic organizations > are working hard to rewrite European school textbooks in order to promote > Islam. In the European Parliament, the German Christian Democrat Hans-Gert > Pöttering<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/02/16/wtort...>has > stated that textbooks should be reviewed for intolerant depictions of > Islam to ensure that they don't propagate "prejudice." He suggested that the > EU should co-operate with the Organization of the Islamic Conference to > create a textbook review committee. The OIC desires to rewrite textbooks > around the world to remove anything critical of Islam, silence mentioning of > the victims of 1400 years of Islamic Jihad and glorify the achievements of > "Islamic civilization." > > Robert Spencer writes in *Religion of Peace?: Why Christianity Is and Islam > Isn't<http://www.amazon.com/Religion-Peace-Christianity-Islam-Isnt/dp/15969...> > *: "Islamic apologist Karen Armstrong enunciates the common wisdom when she > says that 'until 1492, Jews and Christians lived peaceably and productively > together in Muslim Spain — a coexistence that was impossible elsewhere in > Europe.' Even the U.S. State Department has proclaimed that 'during the > Islamic period in Spain, Jews, Christians, and Muslims lived together in > peace and mutual respect, creating a diverse society in which vibrant > exchanges of ideas took place.'" > > Those who want a second opinion can start with reading the online > essay *Andalusian > Myth, Eurabian > Reality<http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/001665.php> > * by Bat Ye'or and Andrew G. Bostom: "There were rarely periods of peace in > the Amirate of Cordova (756-912), nor later. Al-Andalus represented the land > of jihad par excellence. Every year, sometimes twice a year, raiding > expeditions were sent to ravage the Christian Spanish kingdoms to the north, > the Basque regions, or France and the Rhone valley, bringing back booty and > slaves. Andalusian corsairs attacked and invaded along the Sicilian and > Italian coasts, even as far as the Aegean Islands, looting and burning as > they went. Thousands of people were deported to slavery in Andalusia, where > the caliph kept a militia of tens of thousand of Christian slaves brought > from all parts of Christian Europe (the Saqaliba), and a harem filled with > captured Christian women." > > David Levering Lewis mentions "a small group of Andalusian Christians" > filled with "fanaticism" who engaged in "a senseless spike in religious > provocation" where individual Christian priests and laypersons "publicly > disrespected mosques, the Qur'an, and the Prophet's name." Because of this, > Cordoba's *qadi* (Islamic judge), poor thing, had no choice. The ruler > Muhammad I "approved his *qadi*'s death sentence in 851-52 for thirteen > Christians for whom clemency was impolitic if not impossible under Malikite > *Sharia*." > > Unfortunately, these "Christian militants," as Mr. Lewis calls them, were > still deaf to all pleas of behaving in a properly submissive manner to > Muslims, and more death sentences ensued: > > Twenty or so 'Mozarab martyrs' were dispatched in 853 or the year following, > and a dozen more afterward. In another wave of Christian blasphemy in 859, > thirteen more were executed, along with two daughters of a prominent Muslim > family living in distant Huesca who defiantly disclosed their secret > Christian conversion. > > Lewis believes that: "A poll taken of Andalusians of all faiths would have > shown an overwhelming disapproval of the 'Mozarab martyrs.' These Christian > extremists were an aberration not because they acted outside history but > because they were premature — three centuries ahead of the history whose > intense cultural nationalism and religious intolerance were inculcated in > the decades after the Battle of Clavijo." > > [image: Afonso III]The "religious intolerance" he is referring to is not the > Jihad waged against Christians and Jews in Spain and Portugal; it is the * > Reconquista*, the Christian reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula. It is > traditionally seen to have begun with Pelayo in 718. Although initially > slow, it speeded up from the eleventh century onwards. The Portuguese had > been liberated in 1249 under King Afonso III. The concept "Holy War" was > originally alien to Christianity and was imported to Europe only after > Europeans had been confronted with centuries of Islamic Jihad. > > Lewis himself states (correctly) that people during this "golden age of > tolerance" were executed for criticizing Islam. Isn't that disturbing, given > that al-Andalus is now supposed to serve as the blueprint for our > coexistence with Islam, according to our authorities and media? "Blasphemy" > against Islam and Muhammad is punishable by death in sharia law, which is > why the Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh was murdered by a Muslim in Amsterdam > in 2004. > > Even for those non-Muslims who accept Islamic rule life is harsh, with > severe economic strains and the constant threat of violence in the back of > your mind. Scholar Bat Ye'or is an expert on dhimmitude, the oppressive > system for non-Muslims under Islamic rule, described in the book *Islam and > Dhimmitude<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0838639437/brusselsjournal-20/...> > *. She writes this about the Jihad slave system: > > When Amr conquered Tripoli (Libya) in 643, he forced the Jewish and > Christian Berbers to give their wives and children as slaves to the Arab > army as part of their *jizya*. From 652 until its conquest in 1276, Nubia > was forced to send an annual contingent of slaves to Cairo. Treaties > concluded with the towns of Transoxiana [Iranian central Asia], Sijistan > [eastern Iran], Armenia, and Fezzan (Maghreb) under the Umayyads and > Abbasids stipulated an annual dispatch of slaves from both sexes. However, > the main sources for the supply of slaves remained the regular raids on > villages within the dar-al-harb [non-Islamic regions] and the military > expeditions which swept more deeply into the infidel lands, emptying towns > and provinces of their inhabitants. > > According to Robert Spencer, "Although the strictness with which the laws of > dhimmitude (the subservient status of Jews and Christians) were enforced > varied, they were never abolished, and during times of relaxation the > subject populations always lived in fear that they would be enforced with > new stringency. Muslim rulers did not forget that the Qur'an mandates that > both Jews and Christians must 'feel themselves subdued.' One notable > instance is recounted by Arab historian Philip Hitti: 'The caliph > al-Mutawakkil in 850 and 854 decreed that Christians and Jews should affix > wooden images of devils to their houses, level their graves even with the > ground, wear outer garments of honey color, i.e., yellow, put two > honey-colored patches on the clothes of their slaves… and ride only on mules > and asses with wooden saddles marked by two pomegranate-like balls on the > cantle.'" > > In 1888, a Tunisian Jew noted: "The Jew is prohibited in this country to > wear the same clothes as a Muslim and may not wear a red tarbush. He can be > seen to bow down with his whole body to a Muslim child and permit him the > traditional privilege of striking him in the face, a gesture that can prove > to be of the gravest consequence. Indeed, the present writer has received > such blows. In such matters the offenders act with complete impunity, for > this has been the custom from time immemorial." > > Maimonides, the renowned medieval Jewish philosopher and physician who had > to flee Islamic-ruled Spain due to an aggressive Jihad, stated that "the > Arabs have persecuted us severely, and passed baneful and discriminatory > legislation against us… Never did a nation molest, degrade, debase, and hate > us as much as they." Jews could teach rabbinic law to Christians, but > Muslims will interpret what they are taught "according to their erroneous > principles and they will oppress us. [F]or this reason… they hate all > [non-Muslims] who live among them." Christians "admit that the text of the > Torah, such as we have it, is intact." > > What about science and learning? Scholar Toby E. Huff, author of the book *The > Rise of Early Modern Science: Islam, China and the > West<http://www.amazon.com/Rise-Early-Modern-Science-Islam/dp/0521529948> > *, warns that if Islam had taken over Europe, later Western scientific > achievements <http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/018746.php>would > have been impossible: > > If Spain had persisted as an Islamic land into the later centuries — say, > until the time of Napoleon — it would have retained all the ideological, > legal, and institutional defects of Islamic civilization. A Spain dominated > by Islamic law would have been unable to found new universities based on the > European model of legally autonomous corporate governance, as corporations > do not exist in Islamic law. Furthermore, the Islamic model of education > rested on the absolute primacy of fiqh, of legal studies, and the standard > of preserving the great traditions of the past. This was symbolically > reflected in the ijaza, the personal authorization to transmit knowledge > from the past given by a learned man, a tradition quite different from the > West's group-administered certification (through examination) of > demonstrated learning. In the actual event, the founding of Spanish > universities in the thirteenth century, first in Palencia (1208-9), > Valladolid, Salamanca (1227-8), and so on, occurred in long-established > Christian areas, and the universities were modeled after the constitutions > of Paris and Bologna. > > [image: Bassam Tibi]Greek learning was never integrated into the regular > curriculum at Islamic schools, as it was in European universities. The > German-Syrian writer Bassam Tibi points out that "science" in the Islamic * > madrasa* meant the study of the Koran, the hadith, Arab history etc.: "Some > Islamic historians wrongly translate the term *madrasa* as university. This > is plainly incorrect: If we understand a university as *universitas > litterarum*, or consider, without the bias of Eurocentrism, the case of the > *universitas magistrorum* of the thirteenth century in Paris, we are bound > to recognise that the university is a seat for free and unrestrained enquiry > based on reason, is a European innovation in the history of mankind." > > According to the leading scholar Edward Grant in *Science and Religion, 400 > B.C. to A.D. 1550: From Aristotle to > Copernicus<http://www.amazon.com/Science-Religion-400-B-C-1550/dp/0801884012/> > *, Islam is a theocracy in which religion and state form a single entity. > There is thus no secular state apparatus distinct from the Islamic religion: > > [Islamic madrasas] had as their primary mission the teaching of the Islamic > religion, and paid little attention to the foreign sciences, which, as we > saw, were comprised of the science and natural philosophy derived ultimately > from the Greeks. The analytical subjects derived from the Greeks certainly > did not have equal status with religious and theological subjects. Indeed, > the foreign sciences played a rather marginal role in the madrasas, which > formed the core of Islamic higher education. Only those subjects that > illuminated the Qur'an or the religious law were taught. One such subject > was logic, which was found useful not only in semantics but was also > regarded as helpful in avoiding simple errors of inference. The primary > function of the madrasas, however, was 'to preserve learning and defend > orthodoxy' (Mottahedeh 1985, 91). In Islam, most theologians did not regard > natural philosophy as a subject helpful to a better understanding of > religion. On the contrary, it was usually viewed as a subject capable of > subverting the Islamic religion and, therefore, as potentially dangerous to > the faith. Natural philosophy always remained a peripheral discipline in the > lands of Islam and was never institutionalized within the educational > system, as it was in Latin Christendom. > > Fear and uncertainty afflicted all too many Islamic natural philosophers. As > Grant states, "Without the separation of church and state, and the > developments that proceeded as a consequence, the West would not have > produced a deeply rooted natural philosophy that was disseminated through > Europe by virtue of an extensive network of universities, which laid the > foundation for the great scientific advances made in the sixteenth and > seventeenth centuries, advances that have continued to the present day." > > The Age of Exploration during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries was > undertaken in order to get away from Muslims and re-establish contact with > the civilizations of Asia without hostile Muslim middlemen. Norman Davies > puts it this way in his monumental *Europe: A > History<http://www.amazon.com/Europe-History-Norman-Davies/dp/0060974680/> > *: > > Islam's conquests turned Europe into Christianity's main base. At the same > time the great swathe of Muslim territory cut the Christians off from > virtually all direct contact with other religions and civilizations. The > barrier of militant Islam turned the [European] Peninsula in on itself, > severing or transforming many of the earlier lines of commercial, > intellectual and political intercourse. > > Jihad piracy, slavery and attacks on European countries were a constant > menace from the Jihad in the seventh century until the so-called Barbary > States in North Africa in the nineteenth century. Some would argue that it > is resurfacing again now, for instance in the form of kidnapping of Western > tourists which is becoming increasingly common as I write these words, > encouraged by the ransom money often paid by European authorities. > > Jihad continues to this day in the Balkans, a region which was for centuries > under brutal Turkish rule. According to writer Ruth > King<http://mideastoutpost.com/archives/000357.html>, > "When Serbia became independent of Byzantine rule in the 12th century, its > economic, cultural, social and religious institutions were among the most > advanced in Europe. Serbia functioned as a bridge between Greco-Byzantine > civilization and the developing Western Renaissance. The center of the > Serbian Orthodox Church was in Kosovo where churches, monasteries and > monastic communities were established. A form of census in 1330, the 'Decani > Charter,' detailed the list of chartered villages and households, of which > only two percent were Albanian. The Ottomans invaded Serbia in 1389 and > consolidated their rule in 1459, propelling major parts of the Balkan > peninsula and adjacent southeast Europe into a Koran-dictated Dark Ages." > > Early in the twentieth century Serbian Christians comprised roughly > two-thirds of the population of Kosovo. After WW2, Communist dictator Tito > did not allow Serbs who fled from their homes to return and did not enforce > border controls as thousands of Albanians moved into Kosovo. This later led > to escalating violence against Christian Serbs. > > As King says, "Initially, the media reported the situation in Kosovo fairly. > For example, in July 1982 The New York Times noted: 'Serbs have been > harassed by Albanians and have packed up and left the region. The Albanian > nationalists have a two-point platform, first to establish what they call an > ethnically clean Albanian republic and then to merge with Albania for a > greater Albania. Some 57,000 Serbs have left Kosovo in the last decade.' > Five years later, in 1987, the Times was still reporting the persecution of > Serbs within Kosovo. 'Slavic Orthodox churches have been attacked, wells > poisoned, crops burned, Slavic boys knifed. Young Albanians have been told > to rape Serbian girls… Officials in Belgrade view the ethnic Albanian > challenge as imperiling the foundations of the multinational experiment > called federal Yugoslavia… Ethnic Albanians already control almost every > phase of life in the autonomous province of Kosovo, including the police, > judiciary, civil service, schools, and factories.'" > > [image: Kosovo independence]It was this situation that led to the rise of > Serb nationalist leader Slobodan Milosevic. However, according to Ruth King, > "While the brutality of the Milosevic regime was indeed a complicating > factor, he is long gone, but the KLA [Kosovo Liberation Army] continues its > assault on Serbs, on their churches, priests, homes, even on civilians > sitting in cafes, this under the nose of the U.S. and UN troops." > > Bosnia's wartime president Alija Izetbegovic died in 2003, hailed as a > moderate Muslim leader. Little was said in Western media about his 1970 > Islamic Declaration, where he advocated "a struggle for creating a great > Islamic federation from Morocco to Indonesia, from the tropical Africa to > the Central Asia," and that "The Islamic movement should and must start > taking over the power as soon as it is morally and numerically strong enough > to not only overthrow the existing non-Islamic, but also to build up a new > Islamic authority." > > According to Hugh Fitzgerald <http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/011437.php>, > "One must keep in mind both the way in which some atrocities ascribed to > Serbs were exaggerated, while the atrocities inflicted on them were > minimized or ignored altogether. But what was most disturbing was that there > was no context to anything: nothing about the centuries of Muslim rule. Had > such a history been discussed early on, Western governments might have > understood and attempted to assuage the deep fears evoked by the Bosnian > Muslim leader, Izetbegovic, when he wrote that he intended to create a > Muslim state in Bosnia and impose the Sharia not merely there, but > everywhere that Muslims had once ruled in the Balkans. Had the Western world > shown the slightest intelligent sympathy or understanding of what that set > off in the imagination of many Serbs (and elsewhere, among the Christians in > the Balkans and in Greece), there might never have been such a violent > Serbian reaction, and someone like Milosevic might never have obtained > power." > > [image: Skull Tower at Niš]In 1809, after the battle on Cegar Hill, by order > of Turkish pasha Hurshid the skulls of the killed Serbian soldiers were > built in a tower, Skull Tower, on the way to Constantinople. 3 meters high, > Skull Tower was built out of 952 skulls as a warning to the Serbian people > not to oppose their Muslim rulers. Some years later, a chapel was built over > the skulls. > > Similar Jihad massacres were committed not only against the Serbs, but > against the Greeks, the Bulgarians and other non-Muslims who slowly rebelled > against the Ottoman Empire throughout the 19th century. Professor Vahakn > Dadrian <http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/005865.php> and > others have clearly identified Jihad as a critical factor in the Armenian > genocide in the early 20th century. > > As Efraim > Karsh<http://www.opinionjournal.com/federation/feature/?id=110008181>notes, > "The Ottomans embarked on an orgy of bloodletting in response to the > nationalist aspirations of their European subjects. The Greek war of > independence of the 1820's, the Danubian uprisings of 1848 and the attendant > Crimean war, the Balkan explosion of the 1870's, the Greco-Ottoman war of > 1897—all were painful reminders of the costs of resisting Islamic imperial > rule." > > In his book *Onward Muslim > Soldiers<http://www.amazon.com/Onward-Muslim-Soldiers-Threatens-America/dp/089...> > *, Robert Spencer quotes a letter from Bosnia, written in 1860 by the acting > British Consul in Sarajevo, James > Zohrab<http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/006114.php> > : > > The hatred of the Christians toward the Bosniak Mussulmans is intense. > During a period of nearly 300 years they were subjected to much oppression > and cruelty. For them no other law but the caprice of their masters existed… > Oppression cannot now be carried on as openly as formerly, but it must not > be supposed that, because the Government employés do not generally appear as > the oppressors, the Christians are well treated and protected. > > The Islamic world is now using the Balkans as a launching pad for Jihad > against the rest of Europe. "There are religious centres in > Bulgaria<http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/000625.php>that belong to > Islamic groups financed mostly by Saudi Arabian groups," the > head of Bulgarian military intelligence has warned. According to him, the > centres were in southern and southeastern Bulgaria, where the country's > Muslims, mainly of Turkish origin, are concentrated, and "had links with > similar organisations in Kosovo, Bosnia and Macedonia. For them Bulgaria > seems to be a transit point to Western Europe." He said the steps were taken > to prevent terrorist groups gaining a foothold in Bulgaria, which shares a > border with Turkey. Bulgaria's Muslim minority accounts for more than 10 > percent of the country's population. > > The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia passed a law allowing ethnic > Albanians to display the Albanian national > flag<http://fjordman.blogspot.com/2005/07/turkish-and-albanian-flags-to-be...>in > areas where they form the majority. The decision came as a result of > seven months of heavy fighting in 2001 involving Albanian separatists, and > following pressure from the European Union <http://euobserver.com/9/22338>, > always ready to please Muslims. > > Ethnic Albanians make up about 25 per cent of Macedonia's population. If the > demographic trends are anything like in Kosovo, where the predominantly > Muslim Albanians have been out-breeding their non-Muslim neighbors, > Macedonians could be facing serious trouble in the future. In Kosovo, dozens > of churches and > monasteries<http://fjordman.blogspot.com/2005/09/last-orthodox-church-in-kosovo-m...>have > been destroyed or damaged following ethnic cleansing of Christian > Serbs, all under the auspices of NATO soldiers. > > [image: Armenian Genocide]Martti > Ahtisaari<http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Politics&loid=8.0.3...>, > former President of Finland and later Chief United Nations negotiator for > Kosovo, caused anger in Serbia when he stated that "Serbs are guilty as a > people," implying that they would have to pay for it, possibly by losing the > province of Kosovo. I disagree with Mr. Ahtisaari. It is one thing to > criticize the brutality of the Milosevic regime. It is quite another thing > to claim that "Serbs are guilty as a people." If anybody in the Balkans can > be called guilty as a people, it is the Turks, not the Serbs. The Turks have > left a trail of blood across much of Europe and the Mediterranean for > centuries, culminating in the Armenian genocide in the 20th century, which > Turkey still refuses to acknowledge, let alone apologize for. > > Dimitar > Angelov<http://www.americanthinker.com/2005/10/turkey_back_to_the_future.html>elucidates > the impact of the Ottoman Jihad on the vanquished Balkan > populations: > > …the conquest of the Balkan Peninsula accomplished by the Turks over the > course of about two centuries caused the incalculable ruin of material > goods, countless massacres, the enslavement and exile of a great part of the > population — in a word, a general and protracted decline of productivity, as > was the case with Asia Minor after it was occupied by the same invaders. > This decline in productivity is all the more striking when one recalls that > in the mid-fourteenth century, as the Ottomans were gaining a foothold on > the peninsula, the States that existed there — Byzantium, Bulgaria and > Serbia — had already reached a rather high level of economic and cultural > development….The campaigns of Mourad II (1421-1451) and especially those of > his successor, Mahomet II (1451-1481) in Serbia, Bosnia, Albania and in the > Byzantine princedom of the Peloponnesus, were of a particularly devastating > character. > > This Ottoman Jihad tradition is still continued by "secular" Turkey to this > day. Michael J. Totten visited Varosha, the Ghost City of > Cyprus<http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=18088_The_Ghost_City_of...>, > in 2005. The city was deserted during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974 > and is now fenced off and patrolled by the Turkish occupiers. The Turks > carved up the island. Greek Cypriot citizens in Varosha expected to return > to their homes within days. Instead, the Turks seized the empty city and > wrapped it in fencing and wire. > > In March 2006, Italian Luigi > Geninazzi<http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/010542.php>made > a report from the same area. 180,000 persons live in the northern part > of the island, 100,000 of whom are colonists originally from mainland > Turkey. According to Geninazzi, the Islamization of the north of Cyprus has > been concretized in the destruction of all that was Christian. Yannis > Eliades, director of the Byzantine Museum of Nicosia, calculates that 25,000 > icons have disappeared from the churches in the zone occupied by the Turks. > Stupendous Byzantine and Romanesque churches, imposing monasteries, mosaics > and frescoes have been sacked, violated, and destroyed. Many have been > turned into restaurants, bars, and nightclubs. Geninazzi confronted Huseyn > Ozel, a government spokesman for the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of > Northern Cyprus, with this. Most of the mosques in Greek Cypriot territory > have been restored. So why are churches still today being turned into > mosques? The Turkish Cypriot functionary spreads his arms wide: "It is an > Ottoman custom…" > > Yosef Bodansky <http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/005945.php>, director of > the Congressional Task Force on Terrorism and Conventional Warfare in > Washington in the USA, has stated that the Balkans was a "springboard for > Islamic extremism" in Europe, with the Islamic Republic of Iran as the main > driving force behind it. Iran and Saudi Arabia supplied funding, weapons and > men to the Bosnians during the war in the 1990s, and terrorist organization > Al-Qaeda gained a foothold in the Balkans. Saudi Arabia has invested more > than $1 billion in the Sarajevo > region<http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,383962,00.html>alone, > for projects that include the construction of 158 mosques. Sarajevo > has by now become an almost entirely Muslim city. > > [image: Kosovo church burns]Miroljub > Jevtic<http://www.fpn.bg.ac.yu/pages/p_id2/n_cv/MiroljubJevtic2s.html>, > professor at the Belgrade University and author of a number of books on the > topic of Islam and politics, believes the Western > world<http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/010112.php>is in > favor of detaching Kosovo from Christian Serbia by fiat and making it > into an independent (Muslim) state. The main argument of those supporting > this scenario, notably in the United States, is to improve their image in > the eyes of the Islamic world and "co-opt the influence of Islamic > 'extremists.'" > > Jevtic notes that "the fact that since the arrival of NATO to Kosovo over > 150 Christian churches have been destroyed and some 400 mosques have been > built, or are under construction, is for the Muslims a proof that if there > is a faith which is supported by true God — it is Islam! Because, why would > the Christian God, why would Jesus, permit the destruction of churches, > where He, Jesus, is glorified? Why would He, at the same time, permit the > construction of mosques, where His existence as God is denied? Why would He > permit it, moreover, in the presence of men who bear arms and who claim to > be Christians?" > > Miroljub Jevtic warns that the European Union's support for Albanian Muslim > demands could backfire badly: "Granting the independence to > Kosovo<http://www.serbianna.com/columns/jevtic/016.shtml>will be taken > as proof of Europe's own wish to cease to exist, as it not > only allows the expansion of Islam but is actively promoting it by aiding > those who are destroying churches, raping nuns, spitting on crosses and > daubing with excrement holy images of Christ." > > In Kosovo, dozens of churches and > monasteries<http://fjordman.blogspot.com/2005/09/last-orthodox-church-in-kosovo-m...>have > been destroyed following ethnic cleansing of Christian Serbs by the > predominantly Muslim Albanians, all under the auspices of NATO soldiers, and > Muslims are not ungrateful. Kosovo Albanians plan to honor their "savior," > former US President Bill Clinton, by erecting a > statue<http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=24&art_id=nw20070523...>of > him. Yet in 2007, four Albanians from Kosovo along with other Muslims > were arrested for conspiring to attack Fort > Dix<http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/016362.php>, > a military base in New Jersey, the USA, in order "to kill as many soldiers > as possible." > > Western governments are pushing for independence for a group of Jihadist > thugs who recently wanted to create the Osama bin > Laden<http://www.serbianna.com/columns/jatras/005.shtml>mosque in > Kosovo. This name was eventually changed for public relations > reasons since the Albanians knew they needed American political support. In > June 2007 the visiting US President George W. Bush was hailed as a hero by a > group of Albanians, who allegedly also stole his > watch<http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/016871.php>. > "Sooner rather than later you've got to say 'Enough's enough — Kosovo is > independent,'" Bush told cheering > Albanians<http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/016848.php>. > As German newspaper Süddeutsche > Zeitung<http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,520394,00.html>later > commented, "Why should the Albanians settle for autonomy when George > W. Bush had already promised them their own state?" > > President Bush declared a "war on terror" after the Jihadist attacks on the > United States in 2001. Six years later, all he has achieved is bleeding > American tax payers financially and American soldiers literally while > overseeing the eradication of non-Muslim communities in Iraq. Now his > administration supports independence for terrorist-sponsoring Muslims in the > Balkans and in the Palestinian territories. George W. Bush risks being > remembered as one of the worst presidents in American history. > > In a commentary, "We bombed the wrong side?" former Canadian UNPROFOR > Commander Lewis MacKenzie wrote, "The Kosovo-Albanians have played us like a > Stradivarius. We have subsidized and indirectly supported their violent > campaign for an ethnically pure and independent Kosovo. We have never blamed > them for being the perpetrators of the violence in the early '90s and we > continue to portray them as the designated victim today in spite of evidence > to the contrary. When they achieve independence with the help of our tax > dollars combined with those of bin Laden and al-Qaeda, just consider the > message of encouragement this sends to other terrorist-supported > independence movements around the world." > > [image: Patrick Sookhdeo]I once listened to a speech by Patrick Sookhdeo, a > brave former Muslim who has published books such as *Global Jihad: The > Future in the Face of Militant > Islam<http://www.barnabasfund.org/resources/resources_02.php> > *. Sookhdeo had done a lot of excellent — and frightening — research > regarding the Islamization of Western Europe, especially Britain. He > recalled having a conversation with a senior Western official regarding what > would happen if Muslims in a region of, say, Britain or the Netherlands, > should declare that they would no longer accept the laws of the central > government and formed a breakaway Islamic Republic. This official then > replied that they would probably have to quietly accept that. When > witnessing Muslim riots in France and elsewhere, which more and more > resemble a civil war, this question is no longer just hypothetical. > > As writer Julia > Gorin<http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=%7B3D219423-45B4-...>has > warned, "An independent Kosovo will serve as a nod to secessionists > worldwide," and "history will show what no one cares to understand: the > current world war began officially in Yugoslavia" in the 1990s. > > [image: Map of the Balkans] > Granting Jihadist Muslims independence in Kosovo after they conducted ethnic > cleansing of non-Muslims has established an extremely dangerous precedent. > Not only is it immoral to sacrifice the freedom or perhaps existence of > smaller nations, be that the Serbs or the Israelis, in order to save your > own skin. As the example of Czechoslovakia demonstrated prior to WW2, it is > also counterproductive. Supporting independence for Muslim Albanians in > Kosovo will not lead to stabilization of the Balkans; it will rather lead to > the Balkanization of the West. The new thug state will serve as a launching > pad for Jihad activities against non-Muslims, just like an independent > Palestinian state would do in the Middle East. In the case of Kosovo, the > Russians are right and Western leaders, both in the European Union and the > United States, are wrong. The Serbs have suffered enough, and don't need to > be stabbed in the back by the West as well. > > Janos (John) Hunyadi, Hungarian warrior and captain-general, is today > virtually unknown outside Hungary and the Balkans, but he probably did more > than any other individual in stemming the Turkish invasion in the fifteenth > century. His actions spanned all the countries of south-eastern Europe, > leading international armies, negotiating with kings and popes. He died of > plague after having destroyed an Ottoman fleet outside Belgrade in1456. His > work slowed the Muslim advance, and may thus have saved Western Europe from > falling to Islam. By extension, he may have helped save Western civilization > in North America and Australia, too. Yet hardly anybody in West knows who he > is. Our children don't learn his name, they are only taught about the evils > of Western colonialism and the dangers of Islamophobia. > > Western Europe today is a strange and very dangerous mix of arrogance and > self-loathing. Muslims are creating havoc and attacking their non-Muslim > neighbors from Thailand to India. It is extremely arrogant to believe that > the result will be any different in the Netherlands, Britain or Italy, or > for that matter in the United States or Canada, than it has been everywhere > else. It won't. If we had the humility to listen to the advice of the Hindus > of India or even our Christian cousins in south-eastern Europe, we wouldn't > be in as much trouble as we are now. > > On the other hand, if we didn't have such a culture of self-loathing, where > our own cultural traditions are ridiculed in favor of a meaningless > Multicultural cocktail, we probably wouldn't have allowed massive Muslim > immigration, either. There doesn't have to be a contradiction between being > proud of your own cultural heritage and knowing that there may still be > lessons you can learn from others. A wise man can do both. Westerners of our > age do neither. > > Sun Tzu, a contemporary of the great Chinese thinker Confucius, wrote *The > Art of War*, the extremely influential book on military strategy, 2500 years > ago. It is a book that deserves to be read in full, but one of the most > famous quotations is this one: "So it is said that if you know your enemies > and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles; if you do > not know your enemies but do know yourself, you will win one and lose one; > if you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperiled in every > single battle." > > The West has forgotten who our enemies are, but worse, we have also > forgotten who we are. We are going to pay a heavy price for this historical > amnesia. > > __._,_.___ > Messages<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/grendelreport/messages;_ylc=X3oDMTJmcjV...> > [image: Yahoo! > Groups]<http://groups.yahoo.com/;_ylc=X3oDMTJlMmVpdTc4BF9TAzk3NDc2NTkwBGdycEl...> > Change settings via the > Web<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/grendelreport/join;_ylc=X3oDMTJncGh0cHA...>(Yahoo! > ID required) > Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily > Digest<[EMAIL PROTECTED]:+Digest>| > Switch > format to Traditional<[EMAIL PROTECTED]:+Traditional> > Visit Your Group > <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/grendelreport;_ylc=X3oDMTJlbGE1aHZnBF9T...>| > Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use <http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/>| Unsubscribe > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Recent Activity > > - 13 > New > Members<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/grendelreport/members;_ylc=X3oDMTJnbm81...> > > Visit Your Group > <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/grendelreport;_ylc=X3oDMTJmNXVnMjBhBF9T...> > Yahoo! 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