How big is this movement? How can we combat this? How can
we change their minds? What must we do in order for them to accept us?
This was not an easy task to do, especially for me, an
X-Muslim who was also a Palestinian Terrorist. I changed my mind in 1993
and decided to fight against radical Islam.
You might ask – what changed your mind, how did this all
happen? I documented my reasons in a book called Why I Left Jihad.
Here, I will share my findings in tackling western misconceptions in
areas of psychology and motives of terrorists.
I should know this subject very well since I came out of
it. I have done many interviews with news media, and spoken at hundreds
of events in the west. Yet, the most questions I get is why? Why would
someone strap a bomb and destroy their body?
When I explain it, people get it. Yet the difficulty I
have the most is with western media.
So what did the Jews do to “tango” in Nazi Germany? I
asked my interviewers on the Jeremy Bowen show, Radio-5, on the BBC in
London. “Did it take two to tango in Nazi Germany?” One blurted out
immediately “yes.” Another panelist quickly concluded the interview,
grumbling, “the problem with today‘s world is fundamentalism, all
religious fundamentalists.” He was shocked when I looked straight into
his eyes and said, “Yes indeed, but with a slight difference: Christian
fundamentalists give people a headache, since they love to proselytize,
but a Muslim fundamentalists will take your head right off your
shoulders, sir”
He was silent. I was quickly thanked for stopping by at
the BBC.
Another interview with Peter Graph for Reuters in
England. I asked him if he can point to me the difference between
Al-Qaeda and Hamas. He stated that Hamas and Al-Qaeda were different.
Hamas, he said, “has a legitimate reason to fight for Palestinian
rights,” while Al-Qaeda “simply wants to kill everyone and anyone.”
With such distinction between the two, justifying one
that kills Jews, while condemning the other that kills Americans, I
asked him if he knew the name of the man who was the inspiration for the
Mujahideen that later became al-Qaeda. He responded like most, “Osama
bin Laden.”
“Wrong” I said It was Mustafa Azzam, a Palestinian from
Jenin, who was Osama bin Laden’s mentor and the inspiration for Al-Qaeda
(The Base.) I rarely find any Westerner who knows that.
So, if Usama was inspired by a Palestinian Jihadist, why
then do westerners see a difference between Hamas and Al-Qaeda?
We all live in some state of ignorance.
Before I enter into the meat of this subject on radical
Islam and the psychology behind the Jihadist mind, I must give a summary
as to how I was challenged to study the Bible, Judeo-Christian culture,
Jewish history, and such. After changing my mind. I spent ten years
attempting to reason with so many from my countrymen. I learned a lot. I
learned to analyze how we thought, how we can transform, and how we can
reach out to others. It was a difficult journey with very few converts.
Why such little success? Is it because I lacked the ability to argue my
views? Or was it something else?
Well, this is the purpose of this book.