Nonie Darwish was born in Cairo, and in the early 1950s moved with her family to Egyptian-occupied Gaza, where her father, Lt.-Gen. Mustafa Hafez, was appointed by president Gamal Abdel Nasser to command Egyptian army intelligence. Hafez founded Palestinian fedayeen units to launch terrorist raids across Israel's southern border. Between 1951 and 1956, the fedayeen killed some 400 Israelis. In July 1956, when Nonie was eight, her father became the IDF's first targeted assassination. He was immediately recognized as a shahid - a martyr for jihad. Nonie eventually graduated from the American University, and later worked as a journalist. In 1978 she moved to the US, where she has become a Christian.
Nonie Darwish
Photo: AP [file]
Nonie Darwish's book Now They Call Me Infidel fascinated me, and I remember thinking as I read it that I would love to meet this woman. The opportunity came during her recent visit to Jerusalem to speak at the Feast of Tabernacles.
We began our conversation by talking about her family background.
You attended elementary school in Gaza. What was that like?
In elementary school we learned hatred, vengeance and retaliation; peace was never an option, but a sign of defeat and weakness. Teachers filled our hearts with fear of Jews; that made hatred come easy and terrorism acceptable, even honorable. Looking back, I never heard a peace song in Arabic. All we heard were songs glorifying jihad, martyrdom and winning wars.
In Now They Call Me Infidel, you wrote about the difficulties your mother faced as a widow, even though your father was an Egyptian hero. What was life like for you and your family after he died?
After my father's death, my mother had to face life alone with five children in a culture that respects only families headed by a man. In the 1950s few women drove, and she was called names for buying a car to take us to school.
You've said that you gradually began to question the culture you lived in. Do any specific incidents come to mind that were turning points?
I remember visiting a Christian friend in Cairo during the Friday prayers, and we both heard the verbal attacks on Christians and Jews from the loudspeakers. We heard "May God destroy the infidels and the Jews, the enemies of God…" and believe it or not, if you grow up with cursing prayers, they can sound and feel normal. But my Christian friend looked scared, and I was ashamed. That was when I first realized something was wrong with the way my religion was taught and practiced.
You are very outspoken in your book about the grave consequences of polygamy on women in the Arab culture. Why?
Polygamy has a devastating effect on family dynamics, on the husband/wife relationship and on women's relationships with other women. Many Muslim men have only one wife, but the damage to the wife/husband relationship has already been done in the Muslim marriage contract, in which a man doesn't pledge loyalty to his wife. Besides the name of the bride, the marriage contract has three spaces left blank, to be filled with the names of any other women the man later wishes to marry. Yet in spite of this, a good Muslim woman must accept her destiny under Shari'a law...
How would you describe Shari'a law?
Under Islamic Shari'a law, punishments include flogging, stoning, beheading and amputation of limbs. These are cruel and unusual punishments by Western standards. Leaving Islam is punishable by death. Even if an Islamic state fails to kill an apostate, his death is guaranteed at the hands of a street mob. That makes Islam more than a religion; it's a state, with an elaborate legal system that can put you to death if you leave it. Shari'a guarantees that there is no crossing the "Berlin Wall" of the Muslim state... Amazingly, the majority of Muslim countries don't practice criminal Shari'a simply because they can't stomach it. But family Shari'a law is in every Muslim country. It allows only men the right to an easy divorce, permits up to four wives and allows wife beating. A woman is respected only when she hides her body, face and even her identity.
You've been to Israel several times. In your view, how does it differ from the rest of the Middle East?
Israel really brings hope to the region. Israel is the only country in the Middle East that allows religious freedom. Even though it is the tiniest country in the region, it is not afraid to allow Muslims to have mosques to pray in; it is not afraid to allow Christians all these freedoms. It is really a credit to Judaism that it doesn't have the possessiveness Islam has. You know, it's amazing, with all the land the Muslims have, and all the wealth from oil, and all the armies, that no Arab country is secure in its existence. Why else would 1.2 billion Muslims feel threatened by five million Jews? It says a lot. And I've learned that the fear and hate are by design - of Islam's religious educators, its political leadership and its intellectuals. Hatred for Israel is part of how the Arab world operates. They need an enemy. Because there is so much turmoil inside the Muslim world and no one can really name the reason. Why do we have so much turmoil? Why do we have so much anger? Why do we have such rage in our families? They don't dare say it's because of Shari'a.
You still have family members in Egypt. When did you last see them, and what were your thoughts about life there during your visit?
In August 2001 I visited my birthplace. I was stunned to see how radical Islam had taken over. The level of anger and hate speech was alarming. I saw extreme poverty, pollution, hazardous material and garbage along the Nile. There was high unemployment, inflation and widespread corruption. But when I read the Arab media, all I saw was the bashing of Israel and America. Citizens were unaware of Muslim-against-Muslim atrocities in Iraq, Algeria, Sudan and so forth. I was happy to return to the US on the evening of September 10, 2001.
So the next morning…?
