The Rock and the Hard Place

by Eduardo del Buey

Hello dear readers, today I have the pleasure of welcoming Dennis Horak, Canada’s last Head of Mission in Iran and former Ambassador to Saudi Arabia. We will be discussing expansionist radical Islamism and how it may well prevent any resolution of the Middle East peace process.

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Many thanks and ciao for now!

The Rock and the Hard Place

Like many, I am caught between the rock of my support for Israel and its right to exist in peace and the hard place of the enormous loss of lives and destruction in Gaza.

Three Questions

There are three questions I ask myself.

Is there any possibility for a temporary cease-fire.

Is there any chance that a Palestinian state can be established along the 1967 borders?

Can the global explosion of radical Islamism be quelled to allow a peaceful coexistence of the global Islamic community and the rest of the world?

Sadly, my answer to all three questions is no.

A Bit of History

Prior to Hamas’s terrorist attack on Israel on October 7^th, there was a cease fire in place. The Hamas attack has demonstrated to Israel that Hamas cannot be trusted to respect a cease fire or to engage in serious talks to reduce tensions.

Since October 7^th, radical Islamism has unleashed a storm of antisemitic and anti-Israel demonstrations around the world.

Hamas’ leadership continues to state up to today that one of their goals is the disappearance of Israel and the annihilation of Jews around the world.

The other goal is the destruction of Western institutions and the implementation of sharia law globally.

Israel has learned from history to take these threats seriously and is acting accordingly.

Israel’s Reality

Contrary to most Islamic states where non-Muslims have few if any rights, Muslims living in Israel are full citizens. They enjoy all the protections of the legal system and full participation in political, economic, social, and military life.

There are Muslim political parties, military officers and parliamentarians, as well as a supreme court justice and other members of the judiciary.

In short, Muslims in Israel have far more rights than Muslims in any Islamic state.

Western Apathy

Western governments don’t seem to agree with Israel’s point of view with respect to the critical threat posed by radical Islamism.

They have allowed Islamists to run amok on their own streets and threaten local Jews and non-Jews alike. Along with Western sympathizers, protestors call for sharia law to be implemented and voice strong support for jihad and intifada. They call on Iran and Hamas to help liberate the West and its institutions from traditional Western liberalism and replace them with repressive Islam.

Their goal is to take the world back to the 7th century and eliminate any vestige of non-Islamic existence.

Some legislators in the West who are either Muslims or extreme leftists sympathize with the pro-Hamas protestors. Police forces in many cities apply a double standard in the application of the law: arresting those who demonstrate for their country while allowing Islamists and their supporters free reign.

Can Things Change?

Can radical Islamism be stopped in its tracks?

Can a climate conducive to discussions of peace between Muslims and Jews be created that curtails the power of this movement and reduces the risks to the world of a war between Islam and the West?

I am not hopeful.

Islamism’s Current Reality

Islamists are slaughtering tens of thousands of Christians in Africa and depriving non-Muslims of any political rights in countries where Islam predominates.

In many Muslim countries, Islam is regressing to the 7^th century, with all that this implies for their own development and for Western security and global peace.

Last week Iraq passed a law allowing girls as young as nine years old to marry.

Iran is jailing and murdering women and girls who remove their hijabs to liberate their hair and is also executing those who support them.

Afghanistan deprives girls and women of all their rights and forbids education for females beyond the 6th grade.

Women have no right to work, travel outside the home, or participate in normal daily life.

Over the past few weeks Islamist mobs and military personnel have slaughtered Hindus and Christians in Bangladesh as a result of a revolt.

It seems that no one anywhere is safe from militant Islamism.

Conclusions

The message is clear.

It is not possible for any sane observer to recommend to Israel or the West to negotiate with people whose only goal is to kill them and destroy their institutions.

The tragedy in Gaza is clear.

It could have been avoided if Hamas had not attacked Israel.

It could have been avoided had Hamas released the hostages and turned over the guilty parties to international legal authorities.

But Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Yemeni Houthis, supported and funded by Iran, prefer martyrdom to life, even if it leads thousands or millions of Muslims to pay the ultimate price.

Indeed, Hezbollah is raining down missiles on Israeli population centers, and are threatening to turn Lebanon into a bloodbath.

All in the name of radical Islam and all funded by Iran.

If anyone has an alternative view that will work, I am all ears.

But to date, I have heard or seen nothing that mellows my views.

And that is why I, and many like me, find ourselves between a rock and a hard place.  

Videocast: