Let's Give "Giving Up On Peace" a Chance

I was reading an article by Barry Rubin called A Middle East Strategy for the West, when I read this sentence: "The problem is not just that cynical rulers (in the Middle East) mislead the masses through demagoguery — though that's true; it's that the masses embrace extremist world views." I had to do a double take. If the masses are embracing it, then it's not extremist, right? It's mainstream.

By the term, "extremist world views" he is really saying "following classic, mainstream Islamic teachings." But what a politically-correct, double-talk way of saying it! Rubin did say something worthwhile in the article, however. He wrote:

Obtaining Israel-Palestinian or Arab-Israeli peace is a useless strategy, distracting from real issues. It isn't going to happen; Islamists would use any such peace to portray those signing it as traitors; and even many Arab nationalists would denounce it to raise their credibility as tough, unyielding fighters. Violence and unrest would increase, not lessen, as a result.

Absolutely. All this talk of "peace in the Middle East" is ridiculous. It's not going to happen. EVER! Get over it. Orthodox Muslims will not ever give up trying to "drive the Jews into the sea," and the Israelis will not ever give up trying to survive.

The world needs to embrace this reality and aim for something actually attainable: An Israeli population that is relatively safe from Jihadis. I'm not a Jew, by the way. I don't have any special attachment to the Jewish religion or Israel, except that it's a democracy, and by far the best democracy in the Middle East. As Glen Reinsford wrote in his article Understanding the Arab-Israeli Conflict, "Perhaps the greatest of all ironies in the present-day Middle East, as David Horowitz has pointed out, is that Arab Israelis enjoy more social, legal and political freedom than do Arabs in any one of the fifty-three Muslim countries." Ironic because so many Arabs are hell-bent on destroying Israel.

But Israel needs to embrace this reality too and quit bending over backwards to "make peace." They keep being lured into making deals with the ruling Jihadis of the day in order to finally have "peace." They should be able to look at their own history in the Middle East, or look at easily-obtained Islamic teachings and see that "peace agreements" with Jihadis are worse than a waste of time (for example, Qur'an 9:1-17).

One particular Islamic principle the Israelis might discover within fifteen minutes of perusing Islamic texts would immediately disabuse them of any desire to make peace agreements. As Robert Spencer says in the DVD, Islam: What the West Needs to Know:

"It's unfortunate, but there's no negotiating with the Jihadists. There is no striking a deal with them. Islamic law is very clear on that...Islamic law does not allow for treaties. It does not allow for negotiated settlements between Muslim states and non-Muslim states. "All it allows for is a temporary period of up to ten years of 'hudna' or what is commonly translated as 'truce' to allow the Islamic forces to gather their strength. But that's not the same as peace as we know it. That's not the same as the absence of a state of war. That's only a temporary lull in a war that the Jihadists consider has gone on for 14 centuries, and are willing to fight for 14 more."

Another very basic Islamic principle nobody in Israel or the U.N. seems to be aware of is the principle of taqiyya. That is, the allowance and even encouragement by Islamic teachings for Muslims to deceive non-Muslims in order to further the political goal of Islam, which is dominance over all other governments and religions.

These are very basic Islamic teachings anyone can discover with very little effort. They are not obscure, hard-to-decipher teachings. But here is Israel, having been duped and tricked and lied to again and again by people who are quite open about their dedication to fundamental Islamic teachings, making more "peace agreements" with Jihadis! It's absolutely crazy. They should give "giving up on peace" a chance. It's not that peace isn't a worthy goal, of course. But the idea of peace as in "living together in harmony" is something to throw out the window when it comes to Israel and the Muslim world. It's kind of like having breast cancer and saying, "Okay, cancer, I'll give you one breast, and then we can live in peace together." No, you can't. If you don't stop it, the cancer will metastasize. That's its nature. That's what it does. And the orthodox Muslim world will continue to undermine, fight, and try to destroy Israel. That's its nature. That's what it does. Which means if Israel wants to survive, it had better quit trying to appease Muslims and accommodate Islam's demands and concede to the Muslims' wishes and start drawing the line, and saying "no further."

And not just Israel. The U.N. has pressured Israel to appease and accommodate and concede. Why? Because there are lots of Muslim countries in the U.N. who have used taqiyya successfully. What the world has been doing about the Israeli-Palistian conflict has not worked. Let's try something different.

We could change what we mean by "peace." Peace might mean "the good guys have the upper hand." It might mean the good guys have enough power to hold Islam's relentless encroachment at bay so the rest of us can live in harmony with each other.

How do we decide who is the "good guy?" Whoever is promoting liberty and equality, not just in words but in fact. And anyone promoting Shari'a or jihad does not promote liberty and equality.

Kafir911," an occasional commenter on Citizen Warrior, once said: "I think it's sad but telling that the man who started that whole movement (the 'let's give peace a chance' movement), John Lennon, with his Make Love Not War and his love-ins with Yoko Ono, got shot by an idiot with a gun. So apparently its not true that 'all you need is love.' You need protection as well."

Let's just give up on the idea of peace. Let's give up on the idea that somehow everyone can just get along. And let's aim at international security. There is no "getting along" with an organized, relentless group of people who spend their every waking moment seeking your destruction. But it is possible to contain them and limit them and weaken them. Let's be realistic and aim for those. Let's aim for the protection of liberty and equality.

Citizen Warrior is the author of the book, Getting Through: How to Talk to Non-Muslims About the Disturbing Nature of Islam and also writes for Inquiry Into Islam, History is Fascinating, and Foundation for Coexistence. Subscribe to Citizen Warrior updates here. You can send an email to CW here.