Regnery, 2008.
During the height of the Cold War many Westerners refused to believe that there was an “evil empire” intent on conquering the world. And if they did recognise the overt nature of Soviet imperialism, they were taken in by the covert operations. Thus agents of influence working in the West could use ‘peace studies’, the academia and the media to push their agenda.
In the same way today many Westerners do not want to admit to an Islamist threat, or want to play it down, or somehow blame the West for terror and jihad. And while they may acknowledge overt acts of terrorism, they are ignorant or gullible about covert jihad. Like the Soviets of old, the jihadists have learned that stealth operations can be just as effective as the use of bombs and guns.
Indeed, they are achieving far more by these covert measures than by a direct frontal assault. And they are fooling many in the West, just as the various Soviet front groups did during the Cold War. Anyone doubting that radical Islam is actively working to subvert the West needs to read this book.
Robert Spencer is superbly placed to tackle this topic. He has written numerous books on Islam and the threat that it poses to the free West. In this important volume he documents how the terrorists are winning without terrorism. Jihad has not been rejected; it has simply been temporarily suspended in favour of other tactics aimed at achieving the same ends.
The goal remains the same, says Spencer: “the imposition of jihadists’ ideology over the world”. They have learned how to co-opt and subvert Western education, media, the legal system and even top levels of government. And they have been very successful at this. Says Spencer, “they are well-funded, well-organised, and persistent”.
Although this volume focuses primarily on America, it is certainly applicable to most of the West. Spencer begins by quoting the jihadists themselves, making it clear that nothing less than the complete victory of Islam and the total imposition of sharia law is what is being worked toward.
He examines how radical groups such as the Islamic Brotherhood are working with “moderate” groups such as the Council on American-Islamic Relations to achieve their goals. Indeed, numerous groups which pass themselves off as moderates are really nothing more than front organisations for the radical jihadists and their hegemonic agenda.
A major way in which the jihadists are achieving their goals of subjugation and victory is by using the rhetoric of racism, multiculturalism and victimhood. These groups have been quite adept at getting Westerners to believe that any criticism of Islam is “hate-speech” and “Islamophobia”; is racist and intolerant; and is at odds with a multicultural society. They even now call opposition to the jihadist program “terrorism”!
Thus they intimidate their opponents into silence. And often the West is aiding and abetting this process. So fearful has the West become of appearing to be racist, bigoted, intolerant or judgmental, that laws are being passed and guidelines implemented which severely restrict genuine freedom of speech, all for fear of offending Muslim sensibilities.
Religious vilification laws, anti-discrimination legislation, and “hate-crimes” acts are being passed everywhere. The effect is to silence critics of radical Islam, while allowing the stealth and not-so-stealth jihadists to push their agenda at will. Vocal critics of Islam such as Oriana Fallaci, Mark Steyn and Geert Wilders have all faced legal and governmental opposition.
Consider the issue of education. Spencer documents how school textbooks dealing with Islam are presenting a whitewashed version of events, while being harshly critical of Christianity and the West. Muslims are demanding – and getting – the right to vet what our textbooks actually say. We are allowing this censorship to take place, and providing a platform for jihadist indoctrination and propaganda.
And while Christian students are banned from praying, reading the Bible, or citing the Ten Commandments in public schools, pro-Muslim classes and courses proliferate. In some schools there are exercises in which “classmates will become Muslims”. They memorise parts of the Koran, adopt Muslim names and shout “Allahu akbar”.
Then there is the “Islamic Pledge of Allegiance” in private Muslim schools which begins with these words: “As an American Muslim, I pledge allegiance to ALLAH and His Prophet”.
This indoctrination is certainly occurring at university Middle Eastern Studies departments. Many are now funded by Saudi Arabia, and most now promote the politically correct, pro-Islam agenda. They have become “propaganda mills for the view that Westerners themselves, and Americans in particular, are ultimately to blame for the actions of Islamic terrorists”.
Spencer also discusses how Muslims in Western nations are increasingly demanding “separate but equal” treatment, refusing to blend in but insisting on living free of Western influence, values and law. Spencer also looks at how calls for sharia law are being realised, with a two-tier legal system springing up around the West. These developments are part of Islamic supremacist ideology which argues for the inferiority of anything non-Muslim.
The book concludes with recommendations on how we can turn all this around. But in the face of the extensive, pervasive and ever-increasing stealth jihad, one wonders if these will be enough. Indeed one wonders if America and the West have the resolve to stand up for their Judeo-Christian foundations, and for freedom and democracy, or whether they will cave in to the onslaught of the jihadists.
However things pan out, we cannot say we haven’t been warned. This book certainly sounds the alarm. It is hoped that the warnings are read and heeded. If not, the future looks bleak indeed.
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