Speaker challenges Islamic culture
Saturday, January 27, 2007
By Matt Vande Bunte
The Grand Rapids Press
mlive.com
WYOMING -- Nonie Darwish remembers being told as a child living in Gaza never to take candy from a stranger because it might be a Jew trying to poison her. Such was her education as the daughter of an Egyptian military leader who terrorized Israel before his martyrdom in 1956.
"We grew up with a lot of hatred. We grew up with a lot of fear," said Darwish, now a Christian living in the United States. "When you fill the heart of a child with fear like that, terrorism becomes acceptable. And not only acceptable, but heroic."
Darwish, 58, rejected the faith of her father, Lt. General Mustafa Hafez, and now is an outspoken critic of an Islamic culture that she claims fosters tyranny.
She is one of two featured speakers coming Tuesday to Grand Rapids for a one-day conference on the dynamics of the Middle East.
A group of local Jews, Catholics and Protestants is organizing the event at Resurrection Life Church with sponsorship from a trio of pro-Israel organizations.
"Everybody has questions concerning the Middle East," said Jennifer Franson, chairwoman of the local organizing committee. "There are foundational truths that will change the way you hear everything else.
"We're not agenda based. It's really just to give people a framework for filtering information on the Middle East."
Franson said she wants to give West Michigan a chance to hear a different perspective than what often gets communicated in news reports.
"One of the assumptions I get is if you're pro-Israel then you're anti-Arab," Franson said. "That's not the way it has to be. I am pro-Israel and pro-Arab."
Her father, the Rev. Jerry Kovacs, a northern Michigan businessman, will offer biblical lessons related to Israel.
The event also features Shimon Erem, a retired Israeli general who fought in several mid-20th-century wars.
Darwish will share some of her experiences as a Muslim living in Gaza before she came to the United States in 1978. She will talk about a deep-seated Islamic culture that puts the Arab world at opposition to Western ideals such as diversity and women's rights.
"Islam is not just a religion. It is a lifestyle imposed by force," said Darwish, who wrote the 2006 book "Now They Call Me Infidel: Why I Renounced Jihad for America, Israel and the War on Terror."
"No government is Muslim enough. In this dynamic, only tyrannical governments can survive." |
