The Arabic Satellite TV station al-Jazeera shows footage of two Islamic Jihad leaders sitting at a table, speaking about the recent Israeli operation in Gaza against the terrorist infrastructure there, with the head of an Israeli soldier sitting in front of them on the table. 

Later, a video appears on an al-Qaeda-linked website showing the beheading of an American civilian in Iraq, Nick Berg, who was a Jew. In a grisly gesture, the executioners hold up the man's head for the camera. The decapitation recalled the kidnapping and videotaped beheading of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl -- another Jew -- in 2002 in Pakistan. Then, al-Jazeera re-broadcasts this beheading scene, like the earlier scene of an Israeli soldier's head sitting on a table, throughout the Arab world.

What's going on here?

The executioner in Iraq claimed his killing of a random American civilian was revenge for the mis-treatment of Iraqi prisoners in the Abu Ghraib prison. But one can wonder if Nick Berg was picked out because he was Jewish? The photos and reports of abuse and degrading behavior toward the Iraqi prisoners need to be investigated, and properly punished.

But was "revenge" against an innocent American civilian justified?

As President George W. Bush stated, "There will be a full accounting for the cruel and disgraceful abuse of the Iraqi detainees. The conduct that has come to light is an insult to the Iraqi people and an affront to the most basic standards of morality and decency. One basic difference between democracies and dictatorships is that free countries confront such abuses openly and directly...Today several formal investigations, led by senior military officials are underway...Some soldiers have already been charged, and those involved will answer for their conduct in an orderly and transparent process."

What we all know is that the behavior of a few American soldiers in Iraq, does not represent the values of America, or the West in general.

Every once in a great while, an Israeli soldier is disciplined for abuses toward the enemy also. But that's the point; it's not very often and they're being disciplined, in Israel and in America. These stressed-out behaviors by men and women put by their governments into very difficult situations aren't tolerated, and they are held accountable for their behavior.

Contrast this with the outrages perpetrated at the end of March in Fallujah, Iraq. The bodies of four murdered American security contractors are mutilated, then burned and displayed in public. Crowds gathered around to joyously view the dead Americans.

In Gaza they also celebrated the mutilation of the Americans...

And now this; the Israeli Army entered Zeitoun in Gaza recently, to destroy "Palestinian" weapons factories. In the operation, the soldiers blew up some 20 workshops that were used by terror groups to make weapons. The operation encountered resistance from hundreds of "Palestinian" fighters, but the Israeli troops suffered no casualties. After dawn, as the operation was being wrapped up, the soldiers began to withdraw from Zeitoun, when a bomb containing approximately 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of explosives was detonated against an Israeli armored personnel carrier carrying six members of the Givati Brigade's engineering corps. The vehicle was carrying explosives for use in demolishing the weapons manufactories, which intensified the effects of the blast. Pieces of the APC and of the soldiers' bodies were scattered for hundreds of meters roundabout, even landing on the rooftops of neighboring buildings.

Soon after the blast, Hamas terrorists excitedly displayed and played with the body parts in front of cameras. Gazan Arabs were seen dancing in the streets with pieces of the destroyed Israeli APC and pieces of dead Israeli soldiers. In another scene, shown on Israel's Channel Two TV, a Hamas gunman on a motorcycle held a bloodied burlap bag with body parts. An armed Hamas barbarian bragged how he had human remains from the APC blast, he proceeded to pull a finger out of the bag and shouted, "This is for Sheikh Yassin, and for the rest you'll pay in liberated prisoners." Fatah -- Arafat's group -- Hamas, and Islamic Jihad all competed to claim responsibility for the attack. It seemed like everyone in the neighborhood had a piece of metal they claimed came from the APC, or a piece of human remains that they said belonged to the Israeli soldiers.

And then, this macabre scene on al-Jazeera TV, hooded Islamic Jihad spokesmen, sitting and talking on camera, with a human head from a dead Israeli soldier sitting in front of them on the table, as if nothing strange was happening. It was like a scene right out of a Hollywood horror flick, with the demented evil ones right before our eyes, except this was real...

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, participating in a Knesset ceremony commemorating the 59th anniversary since the end of World War II, responded to the APC blast by describing Israel's enemy as "cruel and inhumane."

Sharon told the Knesset that "We are fighting a ruthless enemy, without human feelings," and that Israel would strike back hard. "We will not stop fighting [the enemy] and hitting him, wherever he operates and hides," Sharon said; he added that Israel must continue striking out until the enemy is defeated.

In a quickly convened security cabinet meeting, it was reported that Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said the families of the slain soldiers should be asked for permission to distribute abroad the grisly footage of the "Palestinians" desecrating the bodies, so that the world will have a clear picture of the "monsters we are dealing with."

Even funerals, and memorial services apparently are no longer sacred...
 
Recently, a pregnant Israeli mother and her four young daughters were shot to death in their car on a Gazan road. First the terrorist barbarians shot at the car, then as it veered off the road, and came to a stop, they ran over to the car and at point-blank range, shot each of the occupants to death: Tali, the 8-month pregnant mother, Hila, 11, Hadar, 9, Roni, 7, and two-year-old Meirav. The murderers then continued to fire dozens of more bullets into their bodies.

When mourners came to the site of the murder, for a memorial service a week later, the terrorist barbarians, one of them apparently dressed as a woman, opened fire at the hundreds of Jews who came to participate. "Bullets whistled past our ears, and between our legs, and miraculously, no one was hurt," said the Gazan Jewish Community spokesman Eran Sternberg. IDF soldiers managed to kill two of the attackers.

"It was a humiliating experience for Jews who come to remember a slaughtered family to have to crouch and lie down while terrorists shoot wildly around," said David Hatuel -- husband and father of those murdered -- after the attack.

But these are the "New Barbarians"...

Even the Palestinian Authority understood that it wouldn't look good for them. They called on the terror groups and residents of the Gaza Strip who hold remains of the IDF soldiers to return the parts. In the statement, released after a meeting of PA officials in Ramallah, the Palestinian leadership called on the groups to treat the bodies "according to Islamic law, and not to hurt Islamic values." The PA condemned the "criminal" IDF operation, but called on the groups not to "tarnish the image and values of the Palestinians."

My question is, since mutilation of the enemy, and the degrading display of body parts is so widespread in the Arab world, is it really "against" Islamic values to do? What about the fact that Arafat's own group Fatah vied for claiming responsibility? And what about suicidal-genocidal bombing of innocent civilians, which certainly seems to have the go ahead of Islamic clerics?

Then along comes Prof. Yonah Alexander, a leading expert on terrorism and director of the Inter-Universities Center for Terrorism Studies, who in an interview recently said he believes it is only a matter of time before groups like al-Qaeda will use non-conventional weapons to propagate their Jihadist ideology and undermine Western Society. Alexander feels that al-Qaeda's next theater of operations will be Europe, where they have established an extensive network.

What he doesn't say is that besides the terror network they've set up, Muslims have been converting Europeans in droves to Islam.

In the United Kingdom, according to the first authoritative study of the phenomenon, carried by the Sunday Times on February 22, some of Britain's top landowners, celebrities, and the offspring of senior establishment figures, have embraced Islam after being disillusioned with Western values. For example, Jonathan Birt, the son of Lord Birt, former director-general of the BBC, and Emma Clark, the granddaughter of former liberal Prime Minister Herbert Asquith, are only two of 14,000 mostly-elite white Britons who have converted to Islam recently, according to the Sunday Times. Emma Clark said, "We're all the rage, I hope it's not a passing fashion."

Islam has even received formal acceptance at the heart of the British Establishment. The Queen recently approved new arrangements to allow Muslim staff at Buckingham Palace time off to attend Friday prayers at a mosque. A member of staff in the finance department was the first to take advantage of it.

Many converts have been inspired by the pro-Islamic writings of Charles Le Gai Eaton, a former Foreign Office diplomat. "I have received letters from people who are put off by the wishy-washy standards of contemporary Christianity and they are looking for a religion which does not compromise too much with the modern world," said Eaton, who is author of Islam and the Destiny of Man.

There have been several cases in the last couple of years, of converts to Islam helping in the terror effort, for example the British "shoe bomber," and a British covert that planned on carrying out a Hizbollah attack in Israel. At least, both were captured before they could carry out their operations.

Alexander continued, "We can expect to see an escalation in terrorism on a global scale with a continuation of conventional acts of terror, such as suicide bombings and shooting, as well as mega-terror like September 11 in the US and March 11 in Spain. There will also be a move towards the use of non-conventional weapons: biological, chemical, nuclear as in dirty bombs, and cyber-terrorism, whereby perpetrators will try to disrupt power supplies and air traffic, for example, at the touch of a button."

He cited the examples of the anthrax attacks in the US after September 11, 2001, reports that al-Qaeda was trying to produce ricin, and the unsuccessful attempt to blow up the Pi Glilot fuel and gas storage depot in Israel as an indication toward the future.  "According to the studies we have conducted, we can expect a continuation of bus bombings like the ones that have occurred in Israel, as well as attempts to strike at chemical plants and infrastructure targets and super-terrorism with non-conventional weapons," said Alexander.

Beheadings, disgusting abuse of human remains, suicide bombings, and now mass genocidal terror?

In predicting that international terrorism will expand and intensify, Alexander referred to numerous disputes throughout the world, such as those in Chechnya, Kashmir, Afghanistan, the Middle East, and South America. He forgot to mention the Philippines and South Asia.

Notice most of these places include Muslims on one side of the conflict...

But, I feel Alexander is mistaken when he said, "Islam has been hijacked and taken hostage by extremists who are using it to serve their own interests." Suicide bombings against Israelis regularly garner 50-80% support amongst "Palestinians."

This is the same line of reasoning that George Bush and others have been using to divide the Arab/Islamic world into friends and foes. I don't agree. I believe the Jihadists speak for real Islam, as originally set out by Mohammed and his barbarian hordes. Islam started out as an Arab Imperialist movement, and has only put a "thin veneer" of "religion" over it. Notice, they started in Arabia and ended up ruling everything throughout the Middle East and North Africa, up to Spain and Southern France by the 700s. The Jihadists openly state that they want to introduce a worldwide caliphate, i.e. global Islamic conquest. But this has always been "traditional" Islam's ultimate goal too.

"What concerns many is the expansion of international networks as seen after the Madrid bombings, when links were discovered between Spanish citizens and people in North Africa, Asia, and with various other groups like Hamas," Alexander explained.

Because they draw from Muslim communities throughout the world; every Muslim is a potential Jihadist.

Discussing why experts feel that international terrorism will continue to expand, Alexander pointed to, "the education of hatred, including anti-Semitism, that we see all the time on various Internet sites."

Recent studies in Europe have show that anti-Israel activities by Arabs and Muslims have led to greater anti-Semitism in Europe. Arabs and Muslims carry out most attacks on Jews throughout Europe, and the atmosphere of Judeopathy they create, encourages both indigenous far-right elements and far-left anti-globalization activists to voice their own hatred of Jews and Israel. 

Alexander asked whether nations should give in to terrorism and whether civilization would survive in the event of the use of non-conventional weapons. He answered that submission only further motivates the terrorists and their leaders, while survival would depend on nations taking all necessary steps to reduce the risks. "Dealing with terrorism requires a broad range of responses, starting with clear and coherent policies. It is necessary to have quality intelligence, as well as law enforcement, the military, and the means to counter technological and cyber-terrorism."

What he doesn't suggest is the need to suppress Islam itself...

"To this end some innocent civilians might be harmed but, make no mistake, this is war and to fight it nations have to pool their resources. No nation can deal with the problem unilaterally. In the past, terrorism was regarded as a tactical rather than a strategic threat but it has become a permanent fixture and a challenge to the strategic interests of nations. In fact," said Alexander, "it represents the most threatening challenge to civilization in the 21st century. The question of survival will depend to a great extent on how civilized society tackles this threat."

There you have it, the ultimate question, "How will civilized society tackle this threat?"

Jews and especially Israel are on the front lines of this global war against Jihadist terror. Israel, in its battles with the "Palestinians" is showing leadership. The Muslims have a saying, "First they'll get the Saturday people (the Jews), and then they'll get the Sunday people (the Christians). Europe till now has sat relatively quiet, trying to wait it out, hoping it will go away. But America, who has been attacked, is fighting back also.

The Islamic barbarians are knocking at the gates of Jerusalem, the gates of Europe, and have attacked the towers of America...

Will we let them in?

Ariel Natan Pasko is an independent analyst & consultant. His articles can be read at: www.geocities.com/ariel_natan_pasko.

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