Zionists Out of the Peace Movement

A group called Israel IDEA is sponsoring a visit to Ann Arbor by Brigitte Gabriel on Monday, December 4, 2006 at 8 PM in Auditorium C of Angell Hall, University of Michigan. Reports of Israel IDEA's activities have appeared on the web sites of the David Project and standwithus.com. and the group is, apparently, led by UM undergrads Jessica Risch and Brad Stulberg.

Brigitte Gabriel is the founder of the American Congress for Truth and the author of Because They Hate: A Survivor of Islamic Terror Warns America. Gabriel is a popular speaker on the pro-Israel lecture circuit and is a member of the Jewish National Fund Speakers Bureau. Muslims, Arabs, and their friends and allies should give Gabriel a proper welcome.

Below are a few excerpts from her welcome message on the American Congress for Truth web site.

... War has been declared on Christians, Jews, non-Muslims and secularists worldwide by Islamic extremists...simply because we are infidels according to their belief.

As Islamic fundamentalism spreads its tentacles worldwide, it is crucial for the people of the Western world to understand the danger, know what to expect, and know what to do about it.

Threats and realities of forced conversions to Islam, beheadings, torture and murder are quickly becoming commonplace. They’re rarely mentioned in the news and when they are, it’s with a disclaimer…the word “insurgent” has replaced the truth of “terrorists.”

Political correctness is killing us.

This Is The New Reality

We are in for the fight of our lives.

That we have not yet had another terrorist attack in the United States is remarkable, but it will happen. Al Queda keeps its promises.

How do I know this? I was born in Lebanon and raised as a Christian. When the Lebanese Civil War broke out, our family, and our Maronite community came under vicious attack by Islamic extremists.

They promised to destroy us, and as you know from the recent war in Lebanon, the country is now nearly Islamic.

... Yet the West does not fully realize the bloodthirsty intentions of the menace of fundamental Islam.

This enemy -- is relentless. It is determined.

Why Does Our Struggle Matter? It Matters Because...

If we don't win the war against Islamofascism other issues won't matter at all.

We won't have an economy to worry about.

We won't have equal rights for all.

We won't have our cherished freedom.

And we will live under Sharia Law.

We Must Win This War

The enemy loves death -- far more than we love life.

The enemy uses children as human bombs, mothers as suicide bombers, men driven by the glory of death and the promise of eternal sexual bliss in heaven...and martyrdom on earth.

This is the enemy reality: murder and death of "infidels" by any means for the glory of Allah.

The Maronites form the base community for the quasi-fascist Kata'ib Party, better known in the West as the Phalange Party (see Hizbullah, Israel, and the Gemayel Assassination) and have been allies of Israel and the West in Lebanon since at least early 1980s. The Israelis killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and Lebanese in the country from 1982 until 2000 (a point Gabriel seems to neglect) but it was Maronite militias who actually perpetrated the Israeli-sanctioned massacres at Sabra and Shatila in 1982. Despite this, contrary to Gabriel's claims, the Maronites not only survive but wield considerable power in Lebanon, including 34 out of 128 seats in the current Lebanese parliament.

Gabriel and her family come from Marjayoun in southern Lebanon. Marjayoun was the headquarters of Israeli occupation forces and Israel's proxy, the South Lebanon Army (SLA). In 2000, Hizbullah drove the Israelis from the country and the SLA collapsed. The SLA was mostly composed of Shi'a Muslims and Druze but was commanded by Christians. To quote the BBC:

The demoralised SLA force of 2,500 fighters has always been left to do the dirtiest work for Israel in what has always been a dirty conflict.

Most notoriously, they were in nominal charge of al-Khiam "prison" south of Marjayoun, the Israeli military headquarters in Lebanon.

Many hundreds of Lebanese prisoners have been held there over the years without trial and without charge, under inhuman conditions with routine torture.

Former detainees said that although there was no actual Israeli presence in al-Khiam, SLA interrogators received questions for captives by e-mail from their Israeli masters over the border.

Often the detainees were held merely as hostages, because they had relatives in the Shi'a guerrilla force Hezbollah, or because they refused to collaborate with Israel.

Most rank-and-file SLA troops, including thousands who initially fled to Israel, have been reintegrated into Lebanese society. However, true to her collaborationist roots, Gabriel is a staunch advocate for Israel who often conflates the US and Israel in her analysis and advocacy.

In a September 27, 2006, presentation to the Heritage Foundation, Gabriel endorsed an "intelligence community" estimate of "180 to 300 million" radicalized Muslims worldwide--these are the enemies she has declared war with. She also berated Muslim Americans for failing to:

... take to the streets and rally and send a message to the radicals in the Middle East that we are Americans first. You kill one of us, you kill all of us. We, we condemn Hamas, we condemn al-Qaeda, we condemn Jamal Islamiya, we condemn Hizbullah ... Let's talk about the passions of the Hizbullah supporters in Dearbornistan, Michigan, right here in our country. They were free to demonstrate in support of Hizbullah, against the United States of America. Yet, we haven't seen this passion and this numbers of people coming out to the streets to defend America.

In the same presentation she declared that Europe "has died" and been replaced by Muslim-dominated "Eurabia."

See also:

• Beirut Live blog entry on Gabriel: Propaganda Wars
• Bitter retreat for the SLA (BBC)
• Israel: Fear of torture and ill-treatment/Legal concern (Amnesty Int'l)

Update: Report on Brigitte Gabriel Talk

Last revised: 12/07/2006

Labels: Brigitte Gabriel, hasbara, Islam bashing, University of Michigan