Jimmy Carter: Angel of Peace?

by Carlos

April 23, 2008 - "You don't make peace with your friends, but with your enemies." How often have we heard this slogan lately? If repeating a cliché often enough could make problems disappear, we would already have peace in the Middle East.

Unfortunately, reality has an annoying way of spoiling the pristine simplicity of even the best-crafted aphorism.

This may seem an uncharitable way to describe a Nobel laureate's mission for peace, but let's examine its implications.

Impatient with the lack of progress in the peace process, Jimmy Carter decided to do something about it - in defiance of the stated policy of the United States Government, which classifies Hamas as a terrorist organization.

So Carter went to the Middle East and met with Hamas top leadership, ostensibly to get the peace process moving. After all, the Israelis should be reminded, you make peace with your enemies, not your friends. So knowing what's best for Israel, he met in Damascus with Khaled Meshaal, the top official of Hamas. Carter described Meshaal as a clear thinker, who showed no signs of fanaticism.

Meshaal is a clear thinker, and a shrewd one as well. Here is what Carter got from Meshaal: "Hamas accepts the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital and with full and real sovereignty and full application of the right of the Palestinian refugees to return."

What does Israel get for this? A "conditional" ten-year cease-fire, but no recognition under any circumstances.

So Hamas can build its new state on the model of Hezbollah, fortifying batteries of rockets ready to use against Israel once the ten years are over.

But would Israel even get ten years of peace? The phrase "ten years" is significant to anyone who knows Islamic history. It evokes the famous treaty of Hudaybiyya (or Khudaibiya; there is no standardized English spelling) that Muhammad made with the Quraish tribe, which controlled Mecca at the time. Muhammad agreed to a hudna or "truce" that was to last for ten years. After two years Muhammad became strong enough to defeat the Quraish, so he broke the treaty on a pretext and conquered Mecca. Muhammad set the example, and since that time the language of a "ten year" hudna between Muslims and non-Muslims became code for a pause in the fighting that Muslims can use to build up their strength, then break at a strategic moment. Meshaal, of course, is counting on his Western audience not to know this.

We have heard this kind of language before. In an interview on Egyptian TV in 1998, during the Oslo years, Yasser Arafat reassured his Arabic audience that the Oslo treaty was an "inferior peace" on the model of Muhammad's Treaty of Hudaybiyya, a peace made to be broken.

In addition, Meshaal insists on an unrestricted right of return of Palestinian refugees into Israel, which he knows would mean the end of the Jewish state.

So in essence, what Carter extracted from Meshaal was nothing more than a pack of deceptive, empty words.

To those who may still not believe that this is what Meshaal really meant, a Hamas spokesman, Sami Abu Zuhri, said that even if Israel gives Hamas everything it wants, the agreement would be "transitional" only, with Hamas still free to seek to incorporate all of Israel as part of its state when the time is right. Another Hamas spokesman, Abu Jandal, promised even more aggressive attacks against Israel from the Gaza strip than the rocket strikes that still continue to terrorize the Israeli south.

So don't believe me. Believe the leaders of Hamas, and take seriously what they say.

It is clear that Carter got no real concessions for peace from Hamas. What he did get was to make Hamas look legitimate.

Hamas is implacably opposed to Israel's existence on religious grounds and considers Israel's destruction a divine command. Their Charter says so, and they have repeated it many times. Religious people do not compromise on what they believe to be their sacred duty. Therefore both the United States and the European Union have sought to marginalize Hamas and to strengthen the less extremist Palestinian faction led by Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas has problems of his own, but he is not an intractable religious fanatic.

Carter is effectively undoing the efforts of the US and the EU, and is undercutting Abbas and the more moderate Palestinian leaders. Hamas knows this, and is using Carter to gain international recognition and support for its message of religious hate. Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar stated that Carter's visit will elevate Hamas in the eyes of the world, and he proclaimed that "This meeting is a message to those who don't recognize Hamas' legitimacy as a movement," meaning not only Israel but Abbas, the US, and the other Western democracies.

By strengthening the most intransigent faction in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Carter is doing tremendous damage to the cause of peace. But Jimmy Carter, ex-President, humanitarian, and Nobel Peace Prize winner, feels he knows better than all the people here and in Europe who have worked so hard to establish that terrorism and religious hatred must never be rewarded or justified.

But hey, we make peace with our enemies, don't we?

Carlos

Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.

Sources:

"Arafat Invokes 1974 Phased Plan Calling for Israel's Destruction." Egyptian Orbit TV, April 18, 1998.

Bronner, Ethan. "Carter Says Hamas and Syria Are Open to Peace." New York Times, April 22, 2008.

Michael, Maggie, Associated Press. "Carter Hugs More Thugs." New York Post, April 18, 2008.

Soltis, Andy. "Jimmy's Ha-Mess." New York Post, April 22, 2008.

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THE PRE-MEDITATED MURDER OF ISRAEL?

by Emanuel A. Winston, Middle East Analyst & Commentator

Once again the Bush-Rice ream wants something from Israel which usually puts Israel at death's door. In this instance, they have accused an 84 year old Jewish war vet of WW2, commander of his Jewish War Vets Post who "supposedly" or "allegedly" gave Israel secret technology about the F15 and nuclear technology somewhere around the early 1980s or 25 years ago. Some have forgotten that several US Presidents quietly assisted Israel in attaining nuclear technology and heavy water (more to be investigated on this matter).

Why save up this tidbit and spring it on the news, using the full force of the U.S. State Department and White House Public Relations mechanism (aka Propaganda)? Considering Israel has been flying the F15 for years, what is the secret that was supposedly/allegedly conveyed to Israel by this 84 year old Jewish American hero in New Jersey?

Clearly, Israel must be acting stubborn about something that Rice and the Palestinians or Saudis want her to do.

The following is complicated so don't give up and ascribe the components to unlikely plots or conspiracy theory because - All of it happened:

It has been reported on the radio that Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has agreed in secret, back-channel meetings to surrender the entire Golan Heights for a "promise" of peace from Bashar Assad of Syria.

(Please note a piece from April 16^th, "PLANNING TO LOSE THE NEXT WAR?", in which I forecast that Olmert, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Tzippi Livni had been negotiating a pull-out of the Golan by losing a war with Syria.) Today April 23^rd, the radio and Jerusalem Post announced that Olmert told the President of Turkey that he would surrender the entire Golan to Syria.

Bush, Rice, James Baker III, among others, want Syria to pull away from Iran and believe gaining the Golan will achieve this. It won't work and Syria will have just acquired a mountainous firing position as well as access to Lake Kinneret while Israel will lose Mt Hermon and Mt. Dov (Sheba Farms) and all of their advanced electronic observation positions.

The cruel exposure of 84 year old Ben Ami Kadish for spying 25 years ago and blasting this heroic man across the Media is a well-planned exercise in pressure to get Israel to bend til she breaks on all issues demanded by President George W. Bush before he leaves office.

That includes abandoning the Golan, with most of Israel's fresh water resource, surrendering Judea and Samaria to the Muslim Arab Palestinians as their second Palestinian State - then cutting off more than half of Jerusalem, the ancient, eternal Capital only of the Jewish people as if Jerusalem was a human sacrifice - to become the capital of the Muslim state.

The players like Bush, Rice, Baker assisted by Olmert, Barak and Livni know that this will result in the pre-mediated murder of the Jewish State of Israel and her Holy Capital. The Israelis of the Left delude themselves that this will stop the plan by the Muslim world to destroy what the Muslims call the "infidel" State of the Jews and result in the dreamed-for peace. They believe that the Global Terror Base they allowed Hamas to create when Sharon and Olmert evacuated 10,000 Jewish men, women and children from 21 thriving Jewish communities in Gush Katif/Gaza plus 4 more from Northern Samaria - won't happen again. Are they blind?

In the meantime the Washingtonian Arabists of the German Bush dynasty, the black-hearted Condoleezza Rice, the Jew-Hating Baker (who said: "F..k the Jews; they didn't vote for us anyhow.") are all conspiring to finalize the demise the Jewish State.

All of this began long ago. It was planned and initiated by the Arabist State Department and the multi-national oil companies - wired to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Oil States.

Recall the hatred of then Secretary of Defense Casper Weinberger and Admiral Bobby Ray Inman. Remember how they cut off vital intelligence to Israel (without Presidential authority), including the acquisition by Saddam Hussein of Poison Gas factories and Saddam's plans to decimate Israel.

When Jonathan Pollard blew their cover and alerted Israel to Saddam's Poison Gas capabilities, Weinberger went ballistic. He then attacked all Jews working in the Defense Department in what we would call "black ops". He would have fired Albert Einstein. Casper and his cronies did everything possible to poison the warm relationship between America and Israel.

That doctrine has continued through the U.S. State Department which actually runs American foreign policy no matter who is President. Today it is painfully visible as exemplified by charging that Ben Ami Kadish spied on America 25 years ago. This is what is called a "Saver" or something known long ago but saved up and pulled when needed to make extravagant pressure on the intended victim.

Add to that the Bush-Rice "sting" operation against AIPAC (American-Israel Public Affairs Committee). That was a classic entrapment which Rice and the FBI used, manipulating the system wherein the Government passed information through journalists, embassies, consulates to other nations off-the-record. When such info was passed to Israel about Iran gaining nuclear weapons' capabilities, Rice's State Department and the FBI were waiting to pounce.

The concept was to pressure AIPAC to stop lobbying the American Congress who always appreciated the Jewish State of Israel, the only democracy and the only reliable ally America had in the Middle East. The State Department used the FBI to further pressure Congress on such vital security issues as selling certain American high-tech bombs to Saudi Arabia. They also used these issues of implied "dual loyalty" to pressure Israel to "go along" with whatever the Washington Arabists wanted for their clients like Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq under Saddam in his time, etc.

Long ago, I coined the phrase: "The "Shadow Government" to describe this conspiratorial manipulation of forces operating in Washington. This "Shadow Government" is no friend of Israel and no friend of the American people but, are in the manipulative conspiracy business for themselves - which is why we are now paying $119 per barrel of oil and gasoline is close to $4 per gallon.

At this moment, Bush, Rice and Baker (in the "Shadows") are using every dirty political trick to crush Israel into submission. And the weak Olmert has been too easily recruited, along with Bush and Livni - just as they did with Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres and Barak, pre-Oslo.

The war by the U.S. State Department against the Jewish State started in earnest on the day Israel declared she was an independent State 60 years ago, May 14, 1948.

Keep in mind that it's not the American people or the American Congress but the pro-Arab State Department in the "Shadow Government" that influences, drives and controls American foreign policy.

Emanuel A. Winston

Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.

U.S. State Department Undermines Jewish Rights and Defies International Law.

The Tale of a "U.S.-Palestinian Partnership"

By Eli E. Hertz

April 14, 2008

The U.S. State Department has recently released a video on its website displaying remarks on the current activities of the new "U.S.-Palestinian Partnership" headed by Mr. Walter Isaacson, President of the Aspen Institute, and one of the C0-Chairs and the Coordinator of this initiative who stated at that press conference:

"The Partnership will be "trying to get a [Arab] call center developed ... in East Jerusalem ..."

Mr. Walter continues:

"I certainly think that Minister [Ehud] Barak is very much in favor of this call center" [Is Barak giving-up on 'East Jerusalem'? Is Shass listening?]

Ziad Asali, President of the American Task Force on Palestine stated in the same press conference:

"And what is available to us [Arab Palestinians] at this point in time is what we can do in the West Bank and East Jerusalem ... The first call center that's being considered actually is [from all places] in East Jerusalem."

In the name of "business development and economic opportunities [For Palestinian Arabs]" the State Department is systematically ignoring and undermining Jewish rights to Judea and Samaria and the sovereignty over Israel's Capitol - Jerusalem.

Palestinian Arabs are encouraged by their success' at historical revisionism and global brainwashing (including the U.S. State Department), with the "Big Lie" of a 'Palestinian people.'

Historically, before the Arabs fabricated the concept of Palestinian peoplehood as an exclusively Arab phenomenon, no such group existed. This is substantiated in countless official British Mandate-vintage documents that speak of the Jews and the Arabs of Palestine-not Jews and Palestinians.

The State Department's use of fabricated and loaded terms such as 'Palestinian People' and 'East Jerusalem' is a perilous threat that will only continue to incite Palestinian Arabs - leading to war, not peace.

To Condoleezza Rice: You maintained that you are "a student of international history" and the Jewish people's history is well documented. Palestinian Arabs have nurtured a myth that historically there were two Jerusalems - an Arab 'East Jerusalem' and a Jewish 'West Jerusalem.'

Jerusalem was never an Arab city; Jews have held a majority in Jerusalem since 1870, and 'east-west' is a geographical, not political designation. It is no different than claiming Annapolis, the capital of Maryland should be a separate political entity from the rest of that state.

Jerusalem has served, and still serves, as the political capital of only one nation - the one belonging to the Jews.

Eli E. Hertz

Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.

Let us hear the testimony of two other Arab leaders:

It is only for political reasons that we carefully underline our Palestinian identity... yes, the existence of a separate Palestinian identity serves only tactical purposes. The founding of a Palestinian state is a new tool in the continuing battle against Israel".

- Zuhair Muhsin, military commander of the PLO and member of the PLO Executive Council – Dutch daily Trow, March 31^st 1977

"You do not represent Palestine as much as we do. Never forget this one point: There is no such thing as a Palestinian people, there is no Palestinian entity, there is only Syria. You are an integral part of the Syrian people, Palestine is an integral part of Syria. Therefore it is we, the Syrian authorities, who are the true representatives of the Palestinian people".

- Syrian dictator Hafez Assad to the PLO leader Yassir Arafat

20 middle east policy questions to ask candidates running public office in the USA

By David Bedein

I have spent the past week covering Middle East policy issues during the

presidential primaries in Pennsylvania, in my capacity as the Middle East

correspondent for the Philadelphia Bulletin.

I find that people hesitate about which would be the appropriate questions to

ask candidates for president concerning their proposed Middle East polices.

The following twenty Middle East policy questions are the questions that

American voters may wish to pose to Senators Obama, Clinton and McCain...along with all candidates for the US Congress

1. Numerous declassified security reports confirm

that Saudi Arabia continues to fund groups defined by

the US government as terrorist organizations, while

Saudi Arabia maintains an active state of war against

the state of Israel since 1948. How would you, as President

relate to the security threat posed by Saudi Arabia?

2, The current administration offers major arms sales

to Saudi Arabia, despite its pro-terror posture. Would

you, as President, continue this policy of arming the

Saudis?

3, Successive US presidents have supported the idea

that Palestinian refugees should be reside in the squalor of UNRWA refugee

camps, under the premise and promise of the "right of return",

instead of being rehabilitated under the principles of UNHCR which

work to rehabilitate refugees in decent living permanent living conditions,

instead of perpetuation the unreal notion of the right

of return to villages and homes that no longer exist.

Would you, as President, call for an application of

UNHCR principles to alleviate the

plight of Palestinian refugees?

4. The Bush Administration has announced a program

to arm the Fatah, despite current terror activities of

the Fatah and despite the fact that Fatah remains on

the list of organizations defined by American law as

illegal terrorist organizations. Would you, as President,

continue to arm the Fatah?

.

5 The PA has used US AID funds to foster an Islamic

Sharia constitution which doe not provide juridical

status for any religion besides Islam. Does you, as President , approve of

this PA policy? Would you, as President, ask for a change in such

a constitution as a condition of future aid to the PA?

6. The Bush Administration has restrained Israel from

counterattacking in Gaza to put an end to the daily

missile attacks from Gaza. Would you, as President,

restrain the hand of Israel?

7. As a matter of policy, terrorists who fire missiles

at Israel from Gaza use Gaza civilians as human

shields. Would you, as President, recognize the fact

that casualties in Gaza remain a direct result of

this human shield policy?

8. The Palestinian Authority harbors terrorists

suspected of murder and refuses to hand them over for

trial. The Clinton and Bush Administrations turned a

blind eye to such a policy. Would you, as President,

allow such a policy to continue?

9. Palestinian Authority operates with no system of

civil liberties or human rights. Would you, as President,

condition for any future US assistance in a

human rights and civil liberties reform in the PA?

10. Christians are persecuted in the PA and are often

not allowed to practice their religion in the open in

the PA. The American consulate in Jerusalem has

refused to render assistance to Christians who are

persecuted by the PA. Would you, as President,

continue to ignore the plight of Christians who are persecuted in

the PA or will you, as President,

champion the cause of Christians to practice their religion freely in

the PA?

11, Syria continues to host and support a plethora of

terror groups. What would the policy to Syria, as

President, be to Syria in this regard?

12. Syria continues to orchestrate the export of

lethal narcotics to the world. Would you, as President,

support an effort to destroy the Syrian source of

lethal narcotics in the Bekka Valley?

14. Since the Golan Heights was used by Syria between

1949 and 1967 to attack Israeli communities in the

Galilee, would you, as President,

support an effort to

force Israel to withdraw from the Golan?

15. The Bush Administration asks that Israel abide by

the road map for peace. Which road map would you, as President,

endorse- the road map of April 30th

2003 or the road map of May 25th 2003? [The second

road map contains the reservations of Israel, which

include detailed Israeli directives to disband terror

groups as a precondition to continued negotiations]

16. The Bush Administration characterizes the Fatah

terror organization as a "moderate" factor. Would you, as President,

share in that characterization.

17. The Clinton and Bush Administrations overlooked

the fact that the PLO never ratified the Oslo accord

"declaration of principles" which required the PLO and

Fatah to recognize Israel, denounce terror and cancel

the PLO/Fatah charter which calls for Israel's

obliteration. It will be recalled that the PLO signed

the Oslo accords on the White House lawn on September

13th, 1993 and would not ratify these accords when

the PLO executive convened on October 6th, 1993 in

Tunis and would not cancel the PLO charter when the

PNC convened on April 24th. 1996. Would you, as President,

continue the Clinton/Bush policy of ignoring

the fact that the PLO never ratified the Oslo accord

and never cancelled the PLO charter?

18. The Clinton and Bush administration instituted a

policy of ignoring the message communicated by the

newly constituted Palestinian Authority in the Arabic

language which communicates a clear language of

continued war on Israel. Would you, as President,

insist on a change in that policy and issue a+

directive that any aid to the PA require a cessation

of calls to terrorism by the official media outlets of

the PA?

.

19. The Clinton and Bush administrations have

consistently ignored the fact that the new Palestinian

Authority curriculum introduced by the PA inculcates

the next generation to continue the war to liberate

all of Palestine. Would you, as President,

ask for a

cancellation of such a curriculum?

20. Since the Gaza withdrawal demonstrates that

Palestinians will use areas under their control to

launch missile attacks against Israel, would you, as President,

insist on future Israeli withdrawals?

David Bedein

Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.

My Visit to Egypt

By Jesse Petrilla

I have recently returned to the United States from Egypt where I was on a fact-finding mission to see what life is like for non-Muslims who live under Islam. What I saw was a dire situation of oppression and discrimination that many in America and the West have all but ignored.

I went to Egypt because I wanted to learn what life would be like if our enemies and their allies succeeded in getting their way. What I saw was an example of the harsh life in store for future American generations in Islamic-dominated regions of the U.S. if we do not work to bring attention to Islamic oppression now at this critical time in history.

My journey began on an EgyptAir flight out of JFK. I was a bit surprised, to say the least, when the in-flight video came on prior to departure and instead of the usual safety video, a picture of a mosque flickered on and a deep-toned recorded voice came on reciting Islamic prayers out of the Koran. I've flown on Israeli airline El Al a number of times as well as hundreds of other global and U.S. airline companies, and I have never experienced a Christian prayer or a Jewish prayer on a flight, and could only imagine the reaction of Americans if an airline carrier were to try. Regardless of the policies and logic of other airlines, apparently a Muslim-owned airline feels it fit to assume that all its passengers desire to hear a Muslim prayer, regardless of their faith. The safety video followed and my journey had begun. I was on my way to Cairo and Alexandria to get a feeling of what life was like there for non-Muslims.

The first day, I visited old Cairo. Walking through the alleyways, I visited the many ancient churches there. As I rounded a corner I came upon an old synagogue. Excited to find and learn the experiences of Jews who live there, I entered only to be greatly disappointed and utterly disgusted when I saw the synagogue was filled with hijab-clad Muslim women selling trinkets and postcards inside. It's a museum that I can only assume the government uses to show its "tolerance." I overheard the tour guides speaking of how there "were once Jews here," and I was told that there is only one other synagogue in the city. It makes you wonder if someday there will be regions of America with a museum of the last or second to last synagogue or church. Irritatingly, the Egyptian police refuse to allow anyone to take any photos or video at all of the synagogue either inside or out, and they threatened to take my camera if I questioned their rule.

As I continued through the streets, the afternoon call to prayer began to broadcast from a local mosque, then another mosque, then a third, until the deafening sound of thousands of loudspeakers from mosques all over the city pierced through the air with the call of "Allah akbar" followed by Koranic verses.

I recalled how in several American cities including Dearborn, Michigan, sound ordinances have begun to be overturned to allow this to occur in America. I made my way to meet with a friend who is an activist for human rights in Egypt. He showed me the Egyptian constitution which in article II states that Sharia (Islamic) law shall be "the principal source of legislation.". This clause goes for everyone in the nation regardless of faith. My friend told me the stories and showed me photos of young Christian girls who had been kidnapped and forced to convert to Islam, and threatened with death, and their families threatened if they ever convert back. After several days in Cairo, my journey continued to Alexandria where I would visit several churches which had been attacked in recent years.

On the train to Alexandria, we passed through rural villages where I noticed vast amounts of hay on the roofs of many village homes. Our guide told us that the livestock sleep in the house with the people at night. Jokingly I asked if the women sleep out in the stable, but I didn't receive a definitive answer on that one. It was about this time that I realized the majority of the men everywhere I went had a small round bruise on their forehead reminiscent of something out of the book of Revelation. My guide told me that it was from hitting their head on the floor when praying. He also told me that in Egypt specifically, and perhaps elsewhere, some men heat up a metal spoon in a fire and stick it on their forehead to accentuate the bruise. It seems you aren't cool unless you have the mark.

As we stepped off the train in Alexandria, a police officer approached and told my Egyptian Coptic friend that he did not have a license to be my guide, desiring a bribe before he would leave us alone. This had not been the first time in the trip that a cop came up looking for money. It seemed every time I took out my camera, a police officer would show up to tell me I couldn't take any pictures and I would have to pay him a nominal fine. Usually the officer would not be looking for a bribe of more than ten or twenty dollars, and thankfully our guide was able to talk officers out of it the majority of the time.

We went to a local hotel where I turned on the television to see the Statue of Liberty in flames. I changed the channel only to see a video clip of a small child crying with her arms in the air, spliced in with images of U.S. soldiers. The video cut to a bleeding boy lying on the ground -- an obvious piece of anti-American propaganda. Interestingly enough, to the right of the boy in the video you could see a U.S. medic helping the injured child, no doubt hurt by Jihadist terrorists, but you certainly wouldn't know that from the theme of the video.

Our first stop in Alexandria was the Church of St. George, the site of a brutal attack in 2005 where a Muslim in his early 20s entered as a prayer service was finishing. He shouted "Allah akbar" and stabbed a nun in the chest with a knife. Several days after the stabbing, an angry Muslim mob also attacked the church, brandishing sticks and throwing rocks at the Christians. Numerous cars and Christian-owned businesses in the area were torched, and in the end, three people were dead from the violence, all of it being sparked by unsubstantiated reports about a theatrical production that occurred at the church which was rumored to have offended Islam.

I attended a prayer service there, and every 15 seconds over loudspeakers aimed at the church from the mosque next door, the Muslims were yelling at the Christians. "Allah akbar! Allah akbar!" they would yell among other things in an attempt to disrupt the prayer. This was entirely outside of the five daily calls to prayer which come over the same loudspeaker. It was intimidation designed entirely to disrupt Christian prayer, and stopped as soon as everyone left after the service was over. I took a short video of the incident, and posted it on YouTube.

My next stop was the Church of All Saints. When I arrived, I saw a large mosque directly across the street and another on the other block. This was the same case with the previous church I had visited, and my guide explained that as soon as they built the church, mosques went up all around it. Yet today it has become nearly impossible to get a permit in the country to construct a new church anywhere. The Church of All Saints was another site of an attack which occurred in 2006 where a Jihadist entered and began stabbing church-goers while yelling the familiar phrase "Allah akbar". In all, he attacked three churches that day, critically wounding many and killing a 78-year-old man. Yet the government dismissed him as only an isolated mentally ill madman.

I met with many people during my trip, and I learned a great deal about what it is like to live as a minority under Islam. I spoke with a priest who told me how he can see the younger generation of Christians there becoming more and more Islamized. I spoke with a man who told me how his young Christian children are taught in public schools there that they are going to hell if they do not become Muslims. I saw brutal intimidation and oppression, and a life dictated by Islamic law that many Americans don't realize but are slowly beginning to see. Before we left, our guide showed us his ID card which had a glaring number 2 in the corner. He told me that Christians are required to have that number on their IDs. I asked if Muslims were required to have a number as well. "Yes," he responded. "Number 1."

In my visit to Egypt I saw a place rampant with police brutality and corruption, where non-Muslims are second-class citizens at best, who are brutally victimized on a daily basis. All this in a nation which is a popular U.S. tourist spot, and has been the recipient of American aid in excess of $28 billion in the last three decades.

Jesse Petrilla

Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.

Jesse Petrilla is the founder of The United American Committee (UAC), a federation of concerned Americans promoting awareness of threats to Homeland Security, primarily focusing on Islamic extremism in America.