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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group

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To: bela_ghoulashi who wrote (1929)9/30/2001 5:40:50 PM
From: E  Read Replies (2) of 281500
 
Speaking of Islam vs. western civilization, here's a piece from TNR with a catchy title:

DO FUNDAMENTALISTS FEAR OUR WOMEN?

Girl Power

thenewrepublic.com

A couple of paras:

Hundreds of years ago, Islamic civilization stood at the pinnacle of global achievement, politically and intellectually. Muslim empires ruled over the Middle East, stretched west to Spain and Portugal and east to India and the borderlands of China. Islam was deservedly reputed for its ecumenism, its ability to learn from and assimilate other societies. And then something went wrong...

...

And the oppression of women may not only help explain why Islamic societies have fallen behind the West. It may also help explain why they find the West so culturally threatening. Israel--where women don bikinis on the beach, attend university in large numbers, and are required to serve in the military--represents a deeply subversive example for many of its Middle Eastern neighbors. Osama bin Laden, in particular, has voiced outrage at the presence of American women soldiers on Saudi soil. Might he be worried that the women of the Gulf are watching them and taking note? For bin Laden and his followers, these are not mere cultural differences. They are evidence of Islam's purity and the West's corruption, and part of an apocalyptic struggle for universal salvation through Muslim dominion. The stakes are cosmic, ultimate; and the duty of all Muslims is not only to reject the adversary but also to destroy him....
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