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Posted by Mladen Andrijasevic, Be'er Sheva, Israel
Two recent events regarding Iran show the strange situation we are witnessing. The first has to do with Ahmadinejad's letter to President Bush, the second with the Iranian dress code.
Apart from Robert Spencer in jihadwatch.com, Amil Imani in faithfreedom.org, Amir Taheri in the New York Post, Caroline Glick in the Jerusalem Post and Hillel Fradkin in the Weekly Standard, the rest of the world media totally misunderstood what Ahmadinejad meant. The letter was, according to Robert Spencer, an invitation to convert to Islam, a da'wa, an Islamic requirement before waging war against the unbelievers.
What is more, Ahmadinejad himself confirmed this interpretation in Indonesia: "The letter was an invitation to monotheism and justice, which are common to all divine prophets. If the call is responded positively, there will be no more problems to be solved." In traditional Muslim belief, it is only Islam that guarantees "monotheism, worship of God, justice, respect for the dignity of man, belief in the Last Day."
In the second instance, the news about the new law in Iran, which according to Amir Taheri "has been passed by the Islamic Majlis and will now be submitted to the Council of Guardians," and which envisages separate dress codes for religious minorities, Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians, generated considerable attention. Iran has denied the news, but Amir Taheri stood by his comments, and the final version of events has still not been established. However, most commentators found the Nazi yellow star that the Jews were forced to wear under Nazi rule as the prime point of comparison. Few, apart from Amir Taheri, Robert Spencer, Andrew Bostom and Melanie Phillips took note that this dress code predates Nazi Germany and that Jews and all non-Muslims living under Islam were obliged to dress in a prescribed by the authorities way so that they would be differentiated from Muslims.
In both cases, we have an example that the West has no clue (at least as presented in most main-stream media) how the Iranians think. To be more precise, they have no clue how Muslims think and what they stand for.
Why is that? Why is it so difficult for the media and politicians in the western world to sit down and, through Amazon, order three books after which the picture would become clear: "Why I Am Not A Muslim" by Ibn Warraq, "Islam and Dhimmitude" by Bat Ye'or and "The Sword of the Prophet" by Serge Trifkovic? (The Koran is available online.)
During the Cold War, hundreds of books were available that tackled the subject of the USSR, from Helene Carrere d'Encausse's " Decline of an Empire" to Nikita Khruschev's "Khruschev Remembers." There is little doubt that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, as a Soviet specialist, had read many of them. Why not read Warraq, Bat Ye'or and Trifkovic?
JPost.com welcomes your blog entry on Iran. Please make sure to include your name and location in your entry.
Previous blog entries: The propaganda war A ticking bomb Misunderstood motives The true threat Missing answers Playing along In the light of history Bullying Israel
JPost.com welcomes your blog entry on Iran. Please make sure to include your name and location in your entry.
Previous blog entries: The propaganda war A ticking bomb Misunderstood motives The true threat Missing answers Playing along In the light of history Bullying Israel
