Brigitte Gabriel

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Brigitte Gabriel (born 1965) is a Lebanese American journalist, author and speaker on Islam and the Middle East. She claims to voice "what many in America are thinking but afraid to say out loud, for fear of being labeled a racist, bigot, Islamophobic, or intolerant."[1] She frequently lectures to American conservative-leaning organizations such as The Heritage Foundation, Christians United for Israel, Evangelicals and Jewish groups.

Gabriel comments that "anyone who voices his or her opinion contrary to 'politically correct think' is immediately tagged" a "racist" or "bigot" and that this has resulted in a "social paranoia which discourages free thought and expression."[2] Moreover, she states that societies and cultures must be held accountable for their actions and that "by not judging others... we have helped create the monsters we are dealing with today."[3]

In order to promote such views, Gabriel founded the American Congress For Truth and ACT! for America so that citizens may "Fearlessly speak out in defense of America, Israel and Western civilization."[4]

Contents

[edit] Early life

Brigitte Gabriel was born in 1965 in Lebanon to a Christian family.

According to Gabriel, during the Lebanese Civil War, militants launched an assault on a Lebanese military base near her family's house and bombed her home during a national attempt to overrun the Lebanese government. In April 1975 and following the collapse of the Lebanese Army, many Lebanese Christian militiamen found themselves defending their own homes and were heavily engaged in street fights against the Palestinian militias and the Lebanese National Movement(Leftist). Just ten years old at the time, Brigitte was severely injured and spent 2 1/2 months in a hospital recovering.[5] Gabriel was the only child of elderly parents. Their life savings were destroyed in the bombings, as well as their money, their restaurant and their rental rooms.[citation needed]

Gabriel reports that she and her parents were forced to live in an 8'x10' bomb shelter underground for seven years with only a small kerosene heater, no sanitary systems, no electricity or running water and little food.[6] To get water she states that she had to crawl in a ditch alongside a road to a spring in order to evade Muslim snipers (pg 44, ibid).

Later, in 1978, Gabriel's says a man warned her family of an impending attack on Christians by militias. She says that her life was saved that night when Israelis invaded Lebanon in Operation Litani. Later, her mother was seriously injured and was taken to an Israeli hospital where Gabriel noted the humanity of the Israelis in contrast to the propaganda against the Jews she says she saw as a child.[7]


[edit] Career

 This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (December 2008)

Gabriel is a former news anchor for “World News”, the Arabic evening news broadcast for Middle East Television a Christian television station seen throughout Israel, Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. She covered the Israeli withdrawal from central Lebanon, the Israeli Security Zone and the Palestinian uprising in the West Bank and Gaza.[citation needed]

Gabriel emigrated to the United States in 1989 and founded a television production, marketing and advertising agency.

Gabriel is the founder of the conservative ACT! (American Congress for Truth) for America, a non-profit issues advocacy organization. ACT! for America has hundreds of chapters across America and members in 20 countries outside of America.[citation needed]

Gabriel is a member of the Board of Advisors of the Intelligence Summit and lectures nationally and internationally on Global Terrorism. She has addressed former Prime Minister of Australia John Howard, Members of the U.S. Congress, The Joint Forces Staff College, The United States Special Operations Command, the FBI and members of the House of Commons in London.[8]

She is the author of the New York Times Bestseller BECAUSE THEY HATE: A Survivor of Terror Warns America, and THEY MUST BE STOPPED: Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and How We Can Do It. She is a regular guest analyst on Fox News Channel, CNN, MSNBC and various radio stations daily across America.

"Because They Hate" was put on the reading list at the FBI Academy and was assigned as mandatory reading for Navy SEALs heading to the Middle East.[9]

[edit] Criticisms of Islam

Gabriel is critical of Islam and believes that "the degraded state of Arab societies is caused by Islam. It kills self-expression, self-improvement, and empowerment because the religion demands that Islam be the center of one's life and existence, and it dictates how you should be, how you should live."[10]

She believes that Arab Muslims are "lagging behind" because of social and religious values. And as a result of these values, "they have an ingrained corruption that runs throughout their societies. They respect craftiness and deceit over honesty and virtue. They are consumed with hate for one another."[11]

Furthermore, she points out that "Islamic terrorists the world over, whom we characterize as fanatics, are really just very devout followers of Muhammad. They are following his example and doing exactly what the Koran teaches and their mullahs exhort them to do with a daily diet of righteous jihad."[12]

Since "Muslims consider the Koran the word of God and Muhammad the perfect model"[13] , she views Islamic terrorism as being borne out from Muhammad's behavior as a prophet and founder of Islam, who "was a warrior who preached violence and the slaughter of thousands in establishing and spreading Islam."[14]

In stating these points, Gabriel warns non-believers that as "infidels" they should be utmostly concerned since "the prophet Mohammed, a successful military leader who led his Muslim army against non-Muslims, is an inspiration to almost a billion people around the world."[15]

[edit] In defense of America, Israel and Western civilization

Gabriel is critical of Americans who "find all sorts of things wrong with America", who "badmouth and put down our culture, government, and country", while having "never experienced life in an oppressive culture or under an oppressive leadership such as is found in the Middle East."[16]

She believes that Americans should "acknowledge that our Western culture is.. better than others", and not "be afraid to stand up and lift your head and be proud of what America and Western culture stand for."[17]

While "all men are created equal", Gabriel points out that "societies and cultures are not created and do not develop equally." "It is not politicallly correct to say that our Western societies are better than the Muslim Arab societies, but we are, we have been, and we always will be."[18]

In stating this point, Gabriel views Western culture as being "superior" to Muslim Arab ones, "not because of our wealth but because of the way we think and live, and the values we hold dear and pass on to our future generations."[19]

In viewing America as "a powerful and great nation" possessing "superior.. culture and values", Gabriel sees the entitlements that American Western culture has bestowed through "the Judeo-Christian value system" and the ideals of the Founding Fathers, who "worked to establish rights for the individual, rights that did not exist under other forms of government at that time."[20]

This disparity in Muslim Arab cultures imbued with "religious hatred, humiliation, and resentment are the driving factors behind the Arab–Israeli conflict", where "radical Islamic supremacism... has come to the surface, overshadowing the nationalist rationale and moving on, seeking bigger game in the West."[21]

In seeking the destruction of the United States, the radical Islamists "know that if America, the keystone, falls, then the arch of Western civilization will collapse... of perhaps greater symbolic importance, is the destruction of the state of Israel."[22]

Since the destruction of Israel is seen as "a parallel strategic objective"[23], Gabriel views the survival of Israel as being of paramount importance as a vanguard of Western culture and as "the only Western-style nation in the Middle East, one that Arabs despise, feel threatened by, and vow to destroy."[24] With the rise of Islamic terrorism in the West, Gabriel warns that "Israel and the United States are not separate targets of Islamic terrorism", but rather "Israel and the United States share the [same] bull's-eye."[25]

[edit] Western misconceptions of Islam

Gabriel believes that the West sees Islam through a "prism, which reflects a Western worldview as well as a lack of knowledge in Islam as a religious and political identity."[26] The West has difficulty understanding that "the religion of Islam is not merely one segment of life", but rather "it regulates life completely, from the social and the political to the diplomatic, economic, and military. This combination of religion and politics as one is the foundation of Islam, an inseparable political/religious ideology of Islamic governments, and the basis of Muslim loyalties."[27]

"In the Islamic world it is religion and not national identity that defines their society and determines who belongs to it and who does not." "For Muslims, their loyalty and identity revolve around their religion." Muslims share in the belief of having a "divinely guided past and common sense of destiny", of belonging "to the supreme religion of earth - Islam - and.. are superior beings blessed by Allah and given authority over all other people because of their faith as professing Muslims."[28]

"In Islamic teaching, all people will one day accept Islam or submit to its rule."[29] Since the Koran endorses "Jihad as a military tool"[30], it is this unequivocalness in military Jihad which "makes Islam different from other religions" with "its call to kill and subjugate all other members of other faiths. The terrorists of today as well as imams in mosques throughout the world are calling for the death of millions of people around the world in the name of Islam."[31]

Because in "Islamic teaching Islam cannot recognize political borders or permanent peace treaties", Jihad therefore becomes "a communal religious duty for all Muslims young and old throughout the world. The Koran informs its followers that there is always a holy war being fought, and instructs its followers to participate." The Koran sura 9:29 commands Muslims to "fight against those who do not believe in God or the judgement day, who permit what God and his messenger have forbidden, and who refuse allegiance to the true faith." "Today Islamists across the world commit terrorist attacks against people in the belief that this holy war must be fought to the death, that infidels must be killed for their lack of faith in the Koran."[32]

"This lack of understanding of Islam as a political movement" is best illustrated how in the West, "people still describe a mosque as a Muslim church, refer to the Koran as the Islamic bible, and equate sheikhs and mullahs with priests and rabbis. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Mosques are frequently used to preach hatred and killing in the name of Allah, and are places where militants can hide, store ammunition, and discuss strategy of war. The Koran, unlike the Bible, calls for a political movement for which all Muslims must fight, kill, and subjugate those of other faiths until Islam rules the world. And sheikhs and mullahs are political figures who urge their followers to fight and become martyrs in the name of God."[33]

[edit] Islam in the modern Western world

Muslims "are repulsed by Western societies that permit free sex, drugs, prostitution, nudity, and especially a woman's right to be a man's equal. They are repulsed by Western women's freedom, their dress code, and their independence. The position of women in the West is abhorrent in Islam's view and gives fuel to those purists who want to bring Allah's justice to earth and punish those who gave women such freedom and undermined God's will."[34]

"Islamists use women's rights in the West as a rallying point to show that unless stopped, this corruption, headed by the United States, is coming to their Islamic communities and countries." "They blame the deterioration of Western societies on women's rights, which allowed women to initiate divorce and destroy the family. They reinforce the Islamic teaching that women need to be controlled and beaten for the protection and preservation of culture and society."[35]

"To them, Western women who bare their legs, arms, hair, and make up their faces are bait for sin."[36] "Female freedom and independence is one of the greatest sins in Islam and is one of devout Muslim purists' greatest justifications for terrorism against Western societies." Koran 33:59

“ Prophet! Tell your wives and daughters and all Muslim women to draw cloaks and veils all over their bodies (screening themselves completely except for one or two eyes to see the way). That will be better.[37] ”

"Muslims are using multiculturalism to present Islam as an alternative to the Christian West. Muslims believe the West lacks spiritual commitment and political honor. They look at Western families torn by divorce, children raised without parental supervision, gay pride parades, murder, drugs, alcohol, and depression plaguing Western societies. They offer Islam to many who are lost in a society that doesn't have strong family ties and structure. Islam offers a community, which embraces the individual and offers spiritual dignity and meaning to life."[38]

[edit] The Islamization of the West

Gabriel believes that in the West, Islam seeks "cultural dominance" and is a "seditious culture" which is "advancing worldwide." "It is creating a crisis and laying a foundation that has the potential to change the future of people and cultures worldwide." "Its push to alter cultures is evident throughout the world."[39]

"The true agenda of radical Islamofascists is hidden beneath the slick, deceptive illusion of inclusion and assimilation. While mosques and madrassas spring up across the United States, Muslims are courted by American marketing machines", with "U.S. companies trying to cash in on the untapped demographic of American Muslims."[40]

"While Muslims, both moderate and radical, participate in the conspicuous consumption they have so decried as part of the evil web of the Great Satan, the terrorist underground grows almost undetected in cities across North America. While Muslims accuse American companies of discrimination and tie them up in court cases over human rights and freedom of expression, most Americans go about their daily grind oblivious to what is really happening. Preoccupied with the life that could so easily disappear because of their inaction, many Americans are oblivious to the accommodations occurring everywhere for Muslims who demand their freedoms", such as prayer rooms for Muslim employees and Muslim foot-washing basins installed at airports and universities.[41]

"This tolerance and accommodation of religious practices in public places seems a smokescreen, a distraction to divert attention from what's actually happening - that while America and the West promote diversity, tolerance, and freedom, radical Muslims, hiding within our culture, are inserting their ways into Western daily life."[42]

The accommodation and appeasement of "Islamic demands to conform to Islamic law, culture, or tradition", compromises Western culture by contributing to the erosion of "democracy, freedom, enlightenment, and Judeo-Christian values."[43]

"Compromising freedom of speech and freedom of expression is the first dagger in the heart of Western societies. Appeasement is the result of accommodating a Muslim society that refuses to assimilate and prefers domination over assimilation." The West "is committing social suicide using the rope of political correctness."[44]

"According to Muslims, they are the victims of Judeo-Christian values, of discrimination, of xenophobia and, worse still, of Islamophobia. They create and perpetuate their victimhood by using the Western legal, political, and social systems to plead and 'prove' their case. At the same time, they erase from history their own display of aggression, and get upset when people like the Pope happen to point out their past transgressions."[45]

"The radicals of Islam have been telling us all along what they want. They want to rule, and they are finding democracy to be useful to legitimize their rise to power when the demographic numbers swing their way."[46] Muslim leaders in Europe "have not adopted European ways but instead are intent on converting Europe to Islamic laws and ways."[47] "Europe now has become home to millions of Muslim youth who may hold European citizenship but have no connection to European culture, identity, society, or values."[48]

[edit] Gabriel in the media

Gabriel has been accused of engaging in Islamophobia by journalist Pierre Tristam, a Lebanese Christian who accuses her of making "a career out [of] vilifying Muslims".[49]

A 2008 interview with Ms. Gabriel in the New York Times Magazine described Ms. Gabriel as a "radical Islamophobe" in its table of contents.[50] She has also been criticized for making blanket statements about Muslims such as "By today's standards, the 21st-century standards, Muslim people have less to contribute than their counterparts in civilised nations."[51]

Gabriel supports an open and honest dialogue of the ideology of Islam and in a symposium held in January 2009 titled "Homegrown Jihadis" by FrontPage Magazine, she stated: "Moderate Muslims must organize and engage those enlightened, educated and westernized Muslims in the community to begin a dialogue to discuss the possibility of reform in Islam just as Christianity and Judaism have been reformed."[52]

[edit] Books by Brigitte Gabriel

[edit] Because They Hate

Because They Hate: A Survivor of Terror Warns America. St. Martin's Press. 2006-09-05. ISBN 0312358377. 

In her first book Gabriel discusses her experiences as a Maronite Christian living in Lebanon during the civil war in the 1970s. She describes the story of her family and her childhood, hiding in a bomb shelter. She details her opinions that her country's inherent multicultural acceptance of all faiths and cultures including the then dominant Lebanese Christian phalangists, led to Lebanon's ruin by the continuous attacks from indigenous Muslims, other Christian groups and migrant Palestinians.

The book made the The New York Times hardcover best seller list.[53]

[edit] They Must Be Stopped

Gabriel, Brigitte (2008-08-19) (in English). They Must Be Stopped: Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and How We Can Do It. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 9780312383633. http://www.amazon.com/They-Must-Be-Stopped-Radical/dp/0312383630. ""Radical Islamists are telling us exactly where they stand and what are their intentions. We are refusing to understand their simple words and how serious they are in their faith and its commandments."" 

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Because They Hate: A Survivor of Terror Warns America. page 205: St. Martin's Press. 2006-09-05. ISBN 0312358377. 
  2. ^ Because They Hate: A Survivor of Terror Warns America. page 216: St. Martin's Press. 2006-09-05. ISBN 0312358377. 
  3. ^ Because They Hate: A Survivor of Terror Warns America. page 186: St. Martin's Press. 2006-09-05. ISBN 0312358377. 
  4. ^ "American Congress for Truth". Mission Statement. American Congress for Truth. http://www.americancongressfortruth.com/mission-vision.asp. Retrieved on 2008-04-19.  Taken from the one of the 7 mission statements.
  5. ^ Because They Hate: A Survivor of Terror Warns America. St. Martin's Press. 2006-09-05. ISBN 0312358377. 
  6. ^ Because They Hate: A Survivor of Terror Warns America. St. Martin's Press. 2006-09-05. ISBN 0312358377. 
  7. ^ "Because They Hate: A Survivor of Islamic Terror Warns America". Heritage Live - Events. The Heritage Foundation. http://www.heritage.org/Press/Events/ev092706a.cfm. Retrieved on 2008-03-09. "Brigitte Gabriel lost her childhood to militant Islam."  – speaker profile from lecture series
  8. ^ Because They Hate: A Survivor of Terror Warns America. page xx-xxii, Intro to 2008 edition: St. Martin's Press. 2006-09-05. ISBN 0312358377. 
  9. ^ Because They Hate: A Survivor of Terror Warns America. page xx, Intro to 2008 edition: St. Martin's Press. 2006-09-05. ISBN 0312358377. 
  10. ^ Because They Hate: A Survivor of Terror Warns America. page 189: St. Martin's Press. 2006-09-05. ISBN 0312358377. 
  11. ^ Because They Hate: A Survivor of Terror Warns America. page 188: St. Martin's Press. 2006-09-05. ISBN 0312358377. 
  12. ^ Because They Hate: A Survivor of Terror Warns America. page 205: St. Martin's Press. 2006-09-05. ISBN 0312358377. 
  13. ^ Because They Hate: A Survivor of Terror Warns America. page 203: St. Martin's Press. 2006-09-05. ISBN 0312358377. 
  14. ^ Because They Hate: A Survivor of Terror Warns America. page 202: St. Martin's Press. 2006-09-05. ISBN 0312358377. 
  15. ^ Because They Hate: A Survivor of Terror Warns America. page 203: St. Martin's Press. 2006-09-05. ISBN 0312358377. 
  16. ^ Because They Hate: A Survivor of Terror Warns America. page 185-186: St. Martin's Press. 2006-09-05. ISBN 0312358377. 
  17. ^ Because They Hate: A Survivor of Terror Warns America. page 186: St. Martin's Press. 2006-09-05. ISBN 0312358377. 
  18. ^ Because They Hate: A Survivor of Terror Warns America. page 185: St. Martin's Press. 2006-09-05. ISBN 0312358377. 
  19. ^ Because They Hate: A Survivor of Terror Warns America. page 185: St. Martin's Press. 2006-09-05. ISBN 0312358377. 
  20. ^ Because They Hate: A Survivor of Terror Warns America. page 184-185: St. Martin's Press. 2006-09-05. ISBN 0312358377. 
  21. ^ Because They Hate: A Survivor of Terror Warns America. page 173-174: St. Martin's Press. 2006-09-05. ISBN 0312358377. 
  22. ^ Because They Hate: A Survivor of Terror Warns America. page 169: St. Martin's Press. 2006-09-05. ISBN 0312358377. 
  23. ^ Because They Hate: A Survivor of Terror Warns America. page 169: St. Martin's Press. 2006-09-05. ISBN 0312358377. 
  24. ^ Because They Hate: A Survivor of Terror Warns America. page 185: St. Martin's Press. 2006-09-05. ISBN 0312358377. 
  25. ^ Because They Hate: A Survivor of Terror Warns America. page 182: St. Martin's Press. 2006-09-05. ISBN 0312358377. 
  26. ^ They Must be Stopped: Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and How We Can Do It. page 24: St. Martin's Press. 2008-09-02. ISBN 0312383630. 
  27. ^ They Must be Stopped: Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and How We Can Do It. page 22: St. Martin's Press. 2008-09-02. ISBN 0312383630. 
  28. ^ They Must be Stopped: Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and How We Can Do It. page 21: St. Martin's Press. 2008-09-02. ISBN 0312383630. 
  29. ^ They Must be Stopped: Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and How We Can Do It. page 22: St. Martin's Press. 2008-09-02. ISBN 0312383630. 
  30. ^ They Must be Stopped: Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and How We Can Do It. page 23: St. Martin's Press. 2008-09-02. ISBN 0312383630. 
  31. ^ They Must be Stopped: Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and How We Can Do It. page 20: St. Martin's Press. 2008-09-02. ISBN 0312383630. 
  32. ^ They Must be Stopped: Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and How We Can Do It. page 22-23: St. Martin's Press. 2008-09-02. ISBN 0312383630. 
  33. ^ They Must be Stopped: Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and How We Can Do It. page 24: St. Martin's Press. 2008-09-02. ISBN 0312383630. 
  34. ^ They Must be Stopped: Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and How We Can Do It. page 61: St. Martin's Press. 2008-09-02. ISBN 0312383630. 
  35. ^ They Must be Stopped: Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and How We Can Do It. page 61: St. Martin's Press. 2008-09-02. ISBN 0312383630. 
  36. ^ They Must be Stopped: Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and How We Can Do It. page 61: St. Martin's Press. 2008-09-02. ISBN 0312383630. 
  37. ^ They Must be Stopped: Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and How We Can Do It. page 62: St. Martin's Press. 2008-09-02. ISBN 0312383630. 
  38. ^ They Must be Stopped: Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and How We Can Do It. page 146: St. Martin's Press. 2008-09-02. ISBN 0312383630. 
  39. ^ They Must be Stopped: Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and How We Can Do It. page 159: St. Martin's Press. 2008-09-02. ISBN 0312383630. 
  40. ^ They Must be Stopped: Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and How We Can Do It. page 160: St. Martin's Press. 2008-09-02. ISBN 0312383630. 
  41. ^ They Must be Stopped: Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and How We Can Do It. page 162-163: St. Martin's Press. 2008-09-02. ISBN 0312383630. 
  42. ^ They Must be Stopped: Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and How We Can Do It. page 163: St. Martin's Press. 2008-09-02. ISBN 0312383630. 
  43. ^ They Must be Stopped: Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and How We Can Do It. page 135-136: St. Martin's Press. 2008-09-02. ISBN 0312383630. 
  44. ^ They Must be Stopped: Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and How We Can Do It. page 136: St. Martin's Press. 2008-09-02. ISBN 0312383630. 
  45. ^ They Must be Stopped: Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and How We Can Do It. page 137: St. Martin's Press. 2008-09-02. ISBN 0312383630. 
  46. ^ They Must be Stopped: Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and How We Can Do It. page 128: St. Martin's Press. 2008-09-02. ISBN 0312383630. 
  47. ^ They Must be Stopped: Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and How We Can Do It. page 136: St. Martin's Press. 2008-09-02. ISBN 0312383630. 
  48. ^ They Must be Stopped: Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and How We Can Do It. page 137: St. Martin's Press. 2008-09-02. ISBN 0312383630. 
  49. ^ http://middleeast.about.com/od/religionsectarianism/a/me081011.htm
  50. ^ http://publiceditor.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/21/a-radical-islamophobe/
  51. ^ http://www.ajn.com.au/news/news.asp?pgID=3403
  52. ^ "FrontPageMagazine.com". Symposium: Homegrown Jihadis. FrontPage Magazine. http://www.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=33886. Retrieved on 2009-05-09.  Symposium held in January 2009.
  53. ^ "Hardcover Best Seller List". The New York Times Books. The New York Times Company. 2006-11-17. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/17/books/16blog-polibooks.html?_r=1&oref=slogin. Retrieved on 2008-03-09. "The author (who describes herself as an Arab Christian and victim of radical Islam) presents her view of terrorism." 

[edit] External links

[edit] Video

[edit] Critical Views

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