Another Acadhimmi in the Daily Star

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Lebanon’s Daily Star government rag has been publishing a series of articles by Western academics and apologists for radical Islam, supporting John Kerry for President of the US.

Last Friday we had a Kerry advisor promising “radical changes” in Middle East policy if Kerry were elected.

And last Wednesday they published a quite astounding Neville Chamberlain-esque article by Mark LeVine, associate professor of Islamic studies at UC Irvine, arguing that the West should declare a truce with radical Islam, and let Europe lead the way. (Hat tip: Dhimmi Watch.)

According to LeVine, we need to stop confronting the mujahideen and engage in an extended bout of self-loathing and blame, examining the root causes of Middle East hatred of the West from the viewpoint of our history of brutal imperialism.

Not stated in the article, but very much between the lines: we must also toss Israel to the wolves, and he thinks if Kerry is elected there’s a better chance of that.

It is time for the United States to declare a truce with the Muslim world, and radical Islam in particular.

This may sound like a naive, even defeatist statement in the context of the 9-11 Commission Report’s reminder that the United States remains very much at war with “Islamist terrorism” and the ideas behind it. Yet a truce (Arabic hudna) rather than an increasingly dangerous “clash of civilizations” is the only way to avoid a long, ultimately catastrophic conflict. And it’s up to Europe to be the good broker.

Indeed, there is no chance for a halt in the “war on terror”, or any fundamental change in US foreign policy as long as George W Bush is president. Even if John Kerry wins the presidential election this November, the possibility that he might initiate such a transformation is slim. However, there is one difference - at least rhetorically - between the two possible presidencies: Kerry has made a point of saying that he would “listen” to European allies and strive to build a common approach to combating terrorism.

European leaders face the threat of an increasingly bloody conflict with Muslim extremists thanks to the continent’s imperial past in the region and, more important today, their perceived support for US policies in Israel/Palestine, Afghanistan, and Iraq. They would be wise to suggest that president Kerry call a truce so that the United States, the European Union, and more broadly the “West” can have the time collectively and publicly to explore the root causes of the violence against them that emanates from the Muslim world - something the 9-11 Commission should have, but did not, do. At least there’s a chance Kerry might listen, especially if the war in Iraq continues to spiral out of America’s control.

LeVine also relates a fun-house mirror version of Mohammed’s Treaty of Al-Hudaybiyya with the Meccan tribe of Quraish, the prototype for the Arab hudna (truce):

Clearly, a different kind of truce is needed; one that signals the first step in a genuine reappraisal of US (and to a lesser extent European) core positions and interests as well as those of Muslims, so that genuine peace and reconciliation become conceivable. There is some historical precedent for this kind of truce in Islam. The Prophet Mohammed agreed to the first Muslim truce in 628. Known as the Treaty of Hudaybiyah, it was between the nascent Muslim community and the Meccan pagans, and lasted for two years before the Meccans broke it by attacking Muslim Bedouin tribes. During the truce, however, the Muslims respected its terms, even though many of them felt it to be unfair.

For an exhaustive review of the historical sources that comes to a very different conclusion about the Treaty, who broke it and why, see: Muhammad and the Treaty of Hudaybiyya.

There’s a reason why Yasser Arafat often refers to Al-Hudaybiyya in his speeches; the “truce” it describes is really just a strategic pause to regroup and rearm.

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Last updated: 2023-04-04 11:11 am PDT
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