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mlchance
Guest
By Richard John Neuhaus:
Imagine a wealthy country that spends hundreds of millions of dollars setting up schools and publishing textbooks and other propaganda urging hatred of the United States and the destruction of the state of Israel. We might be inclined to view such a country as an enemy in the war on terrorism.
The country in question is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Freedom House has published an eighty-nine-page report, “Saudi Publications on Hate Ideology Fill American Mosques.” A year-long research project turned up hundreds of books, pamphlets, and other materials promoted in American mosques and reflecting the bloodcurdling views of the Wahhabi sect of Islam that is officially endorsed and funded by the Saudi government. In the late ’70s, the Saudis made a bargain with the Wahhabi leadership that, if they overlooked the corruption of the Saudi government and concentrated their attacks on the U.S. and Israel, the Wahhabis would be favored in Saudi Arabia and have generous access to its oil wealth.
The normally soft-spoken George Shultz, former U.S. secretary of state, calls it “a grotesque protection racket.” Fifteen of the nineteen terrorists in the September 11 attacks were Saudis. Saudi-sponsored propaganda calls for unlimited jihad against the Crusaders (i.e. Christians) and Jews, and also against other Muslims who do not toe the Wahhabi line.
Reading the report, one is struck by the detailed prescriptions (fatwas) laid down for Muslims living in America. They must never forget for a minute that they are living behind the lines in enemy territory; they must never greet the infidels or make any friendly gesture, unless the aim is to convert the infidels to Islam. Particular emphasis is placed on not recognizing the holy days or national observances of the infidels. In the Christmas season, for instance, even “Happy Holidays” is forbidden. Muslims who violate such rules are themselves infidels and permission is granted to “spill their blood and take their money.”
The Freedom House report notes that some Muslim religious leaders have been expelled from the country for their ties to terrorism, but many of the most influential mosques in New York, Los Angeles, Houston, and other major cities continue to press the Saudi-Wahhabi line of unremitting hatred for America and Americans. This, one might delicately observe, puts a severe crimp in hopes for the assimilation of several million Muslim immigrants. Freedom House acknowledges that the Saudis say they are “updating” some of the more vicious textbooks and other literature but notes that the people in charge of the updating are the same people who wrote and disseminated the offending material in the first place.
Freedom House is understandably skeptical. It is only a very small consolation to know that Muslim immigrants—or at least those adhering to the Saudi-Wahhabi line—will not be contributing to the scourge of “Happy Holidays” during the Christmas season.
Imagine a wealthy country that spends hundreds of millions of dollars setting up schools and publishing textbooks and other propaganda urging hatred of the United States and the destruction of the state of Israel. We might be inclined to view such a country as an enemy in the war on terrorism.
The country in question is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Freedom House has published an eighty-nine-page report, “Saudi Publications on Hate Ideology Fill American Mosques.” A year-long research project turned up hundreds of books, pamphlets, and other materials promoted in American mosques and reflecting the bloodcurdling views of the Wahhabi sect of Islam that is officially endorsed and funded by the Saudi government. In the late ’70s, the Saudis made a bargain with the Wahhabi leadership that, if they overlooked the corruption of the Saudi government and concentrated their attacks on the U.S. and Israel, the Wahhabis would be favored in Saudi Arabia and have generous access to its oil wealth.
The normally soft-spoken George Shultz, former U.S. secretary of state, calls it “a grotesque protection racket.” Fifteen of the nineteen terrorists in the September 11 attacks were Saudis. Saudi-sponsored propaganda calls for unlimited jihad against the Crusaders (i.e. Christians) and Jews, and also against other Muslims who do not toe the Wahhabi line.
Reading the report, one is struck by the detailed prescriptions (fatwas) laid down for Muslims living in America. They must never forget for a minute that they are living behind the lines in enemy territory; they must never greet the infidels or make any friendly gesture, unless the aim is to convert the infidels to Islam. Particular emphasis is placed on not recognizing the holy days or national observances of the infidels. In the Christmas season, for instance, even “Happy Holidays” is forbidden. Muslims who violate such rules are themselves infidels and permission is granted to “spill their blood and take their money.”
The Freedom House report notes that some Muslim religious leaders have been expelled from the country for their ties to terrorism, but many of the most influential mosques in New York, Los Angeles, Houston, and other major cities continue to press the Saudi-Wahhabi line of unremitting hatred for America and Americans. This, one might delicately observe, puts a severe crimp in hopes for the assimilation of several million Muslim immigrants. Freedom House acknowledges that the Saudis say they are “updating” some of the more vicious textbooks and other literature but notes that the people in charge of the updating are the same people who wrote and disseminated the offending material in the first place.
Freedom House is understandably skeptical. It is only a very small consolation to know that Muslim immigrants—or at least those adhering to the Saudi-Wahhabi line—will not be contributing to the scourge of “Happy Holidays” during the Christmas season.