Posted on 03/13/2006 3:41:11 AM PST by Hannah Senesh
Arab-American psychologist makes explosive TV appearance on Al-Jazeera, tells cleric: 'Clash is between those who treat woman like beasts and those who treat them like human beings'
An Arab-American psychologist, Wafa Sultan, has appeared live on the Al-Jazeera Arab satellite network, where she confronted an Egyptian Islamic cleric, and declared that "the clash we are witnessing around the world… is a clash between a mentality that belongs to the Middle Ages and another mentality that belongs to the 21st century."
The February TV appearance, which has been widely circulated around the internet, was made available by the Arabic translation service MEMRI.
"The clash we are witnessing around the world is not a clash of religions, or a clash of civilizations," said Sultan.
"It is a clash between civilization and backwardness, between the civilized and the primitive, between barbarity and rationality. It is a clash between freedom and oppression, between democracy and dictatorship. It is a clash between human rights, on the one hand, and the violation of these rights, on other hand. It is a clash between those who treat women like beasts, and those who treat them like human beings. What we see today is not a clash of civilizations. Civilizations do not clash, but compete," she stated.
Responding to the host's question, "Who came up with the concept of a clash of civilizations? Was it not Samuel Huntington? It was not Bin Laden," Sultan said: "The Muslims are the ones who began using this expression. The Muslims are the ones who began the clash of civilizations. The Prophet of Islam said: 'I was ordered to fight the people until they believe in Allah and His Messenger.' When the Muslims divided the people into Muslims and non-Muslims, and called to fight the others until they believe in what they themselves believe, they started this clash, and began this war. In order to start this war, they must reexamine their Islamic books and curricula, which are full of calls for takfir and fighting the infidels."
Sultan then turned to Dr. Ibrahim Al-Khouli, an Islamic cleric, and said: "My colleague has said that he never offends other people's beliefs. What civilization on the face of this earth allows him to call other people by names that they did not choose for themselves? Once, he calls them Ahl Al-Dhimma, another time he calls them the 'People of the Book,' and yet another time he compares them to apes and pigs, or he calls the Christians ‘those who incur Allah's wrath.’"
"Who told you that they are 'People of the Book'? They are not the People of the Book, they are people of many books. All the useful scientific books that you have today are theirs, the fruit of their free and creative thinking. What gives you the right to call them 'those who incur Allah's wrath,' or 'those who have gone astray,' and then come here and say that your religion commands you to refrain from offending the beliefs of others?"
'Jews forced world to respect them'
Al-Khouli asked Sultan whether she was "a heretic?" "You can say whatever you like. I am a secular human being who does not believe in the supernatural," replied Sultan.
"If you are a heretic, there is no point in rebuking you, since you have blasphemed against Islam, the Prophet, and the Koran," lambasted Al-Khouli.
"These are personal matters that do not concern you," replied Sultan, adding: "Brother, you can believe in stones, as long as you don't throw them at me. You are free to worship whoever you want, but other people's beliefs are not your concern, whether they believe that the Messiah is God, son of Mary, or that Satan is God, son of Mary. Let people have their beliefs."
Speaking about Jewish history, Sultan declared: "The Jews have come from the tragedy (of the Holocaust), and forced the world to respect them, with their knowledge, not with their terror, with their work, not their crying and yelling."
"Humanity owes most of the discoveries and science of the 19th and 20th centuries to Jewish scientists. 15 million people, scattered throughout the world, united and won their rights through work and knowledge. We have not seen a single Jew blow himself up in a German restaurant. We have not seen a single Jew destroy a church. We have not seen a single Jew protest by killing people. The Muslims have turned three Buddha statues into rubble.
“We have not seen a single Buddhist burn down a Mosque, kill a Muslim, or burn down an embassy. Only the Muslims defend their beliefs by burning down churches, killing people, and destroying embassies. This path will not yield any results. The Muslims must ask themselves what they can do for humankind, before they demand that humankind respect them," she added.
The New York Times has reported that since appearing on Al-Jazeera, Sultan has been condemned by Islamic clerics, and been subject to death threats left on her answering phone.
One message threatened: "Oh, you are still alive? Wait and see." An email in Arabic read: "If someone were to kill you, it would be me."
The Los Angeles Times quoted Sultan after the interview as saying: "I am not against Muslim people, they are my people. I am just trying to change their mentality and their behavior.
1 - Wafa Sultan - Two interviews (via Memri) - go to search and plug in her name:
http://www.memritv.org/Search.asp?ACT=S1#/
2 - Wafa Sultan interviewed by Israel National Radio (via Little Green Footballs):
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=19607_Wafa_Sultan_Interviewed&only
3 - Wafa Sultan profiled in New York Times
Great woman. Good post.
Wow! She took it right to them and laid it all on the line! And then the stupid bastards only reconfirm her points with their subsequent condemnations and death threats.
This is the bravest person on the planet.
Great post. Thanks for the additional links.
ping
It's all thanks to Little Green Footballs. All that stuff has been posted there.
I didn't need to go to college for 8 yrs. to decide this!
Beautiful mind. Thanks for posting.
I would like all the feminist supporters of Islam to study Female Genital Mutilation. Barbaric is hardly the word for it. Medieval? More like anti-human behavior.
Has a fatwha been issued yet?
"Brother, you can believe in stones, as long as you don't throw them at me."
That's brilliant. I also liked "They are the people of many books."
Well, her days are numbered.
She still came out a-head though.
Either that, or dead.
Hope she lives in a CCW state. I'd be happy to send her some good ammo.
They are the most backward thugs to lurch along in many a century.
"This is the bravest person on the planet."
Well, she and Oriana Fallaci.
But you're right. How many public figures today do you see evincing backbone, fortitude? They're all wimps.
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