In the name of Allāh,
the Beneficent, the Merciful.
Peace and Blessings of Allāh on Mohammad.
DEDICATED TO
Allāh–the Glorious and the High,
Lord of the worlds
AND TO
Mohammad–who brought the world
to our feet and eternity to our arms.
* 

                                            BAT YE’OR
CONTENTS:
1. JEWS AND ARABS
2. JIZYA AND DHIMMIS/DHIMMITUDE
3. EURABIA

Bat Ye’or criticizes Islam’s teaching on “Dhimmis” and she coined the word/term “Eurabia.” She also laments Jews expelled from Egypt.  

1. JEWS AND ARABS: (In 1956 the Jewish state colluded with Britain and France and attacked Egypt so Britain could have control of Egypt’s Suez Canal). As noted on the Internet, Bat Ye’or described her experiences of “hardships” and “misery” and that of other Jews following their expulsion from Egypt.

   -What did Bat Ye’or have to say about the hundreds of thousands of the “peaceful population” of Palestinians, who had been living in Palestine for some four to six thousand years, long before the prophet “Jeremiah,” who were “terrorized” and kicked off their lands and out of their homes –“dispossessed and humiliated,” the “disintegration and flight” of their families and friends and acquaintances, destruction of their homes and mosques, uprooting of their cemeteries and tearing down of their gardens, the renaming of their cities;(2) and their “hardships of exile”– to facilitate Jewish statehood; and their continuing suffering and injustice for six torturous decades?  (As one personality on the Internet said, ‘If you have a heart you will cry for the Palestinians’).   

 -What did Bat Ye’or had to say, as Ilan Pappe, “Israeli historian,” notes in his revealing book, The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, about the methods Jews “employed” “to forcibly evict” the native Palestinians: “large-scale intimidation; laying siege to and bombarding villages and population centres; setting fire to homes, properties and goods; expulsion; demolition; and finally, planting mines among the rubble to prevent any of the expelled inhabitants from returning;” and that at the end of their “mission” which took “six months” to complete: “more than half of Palestine’s native population, close to 800,000 people, had been uprooted, 531 villages had been destroyed, and eleven urban neighborhoods emptied of their inhabitants.” (pp. xii, xiii).
(These are the people who project themselves to the world as “doves of peace and examples of injured innocence”–Ismail Zayid, Palestine–A Stolen Heritage, p. 19). 

 -What did Bat Ye’or have to say about, “as General Gur put it in May 1978, official Israeli military policy has been to attack Arab civilians en masse?”(3) And about Palestinians being provoked so Jews can smash them, as General Moshe Dayan declared:  “Our strategy was always to provoke the Arabs and get an appropriate response so we could attack and smash them.”(4)  

 -What did Bat Ye’or have to say about Jews forcing Arab prisoners “to urinate and excrete on one another and crawl on the ground while they call out “Long Live the State of Israel” or lick the earth; or on Holocaust day, to write numbers on their own hands “in memory of Jews in the extermination camps.””(5)
(Such disgusting practices from God’s chosen people” and the “only democracy” in the Middle-east). 

  -What did Bat Ye’or have to say about Jewish Father(s) declaring that that Jews is “The race of the Israeli people is the most superior of all races.”(6)
(And Hitler was pilloried for his view that Germans is the master race. A misshapen mentality unworthy not only of the enlightened Twentieth century but unworthy of all centuries; a misshapen mentality that may very well be said to be the nucleus of Apartheid –mental, physical, and spiritual
   If supremacy is based on race, residency, and knowledge; then Palestinians/Arabs are the “most superior of all races”; having resided in Palestine for six thousand years, is the best nation, as Allāh says in His Qur’an, and has given Muslims knowledge that brought light to the world –at a time when Jews and everyone else were running around with flint tools and torches).   

  -What did Bat Ye’or have to say about so-called “Israeli” Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon’s declaration: “Israel may have the right to put others on trial, but certainly no one has the right to put the Jewish people and the State of Israel on trial.”(8)
(Hitler and Germany should be so blessed. Lest we forget. Imagine the furor had such a declaration been made by a Muslim/Arab leader, say, Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, for example, the sky would have already caved in from henny-penny’s and her dutiful cluckers boisterous squawking. Those who want their virtues extolled and their vice suppressed need to cultivate dignity and maturity). 

  -What did Bat Ye’or have to say about American-led Allies aggression against Iraq over Iraq’s phantom Weapons of Mass Destruction (and sanctions which killed some half-a-million innocent and defenseless babies?)  

 -What did Bat Ye’or have to say about Serbia’s ethnic cleansing of Muslims in Bosnia-Hercegovina and some ten thousand (or more) females –women and girls– raped? 

 -What did Bat Ye’or have to say about France’s genocide of some one million Algerians so she can lord over them?  

 -What did Bat Ye’or had to say about: 

   (a) Theodor Herzl advocating that Jews would have to “spirit the penniless” Arabs out of Palestine “while denying” them “employment in our own country”(10) (??? our “own” country? How did Palestine become your country? Arrogance at its peak). 

   (b) Joseph Weitz wanted an Israel “without Arabs.”(11) 

   (c) Chaim Weizman promising that ““Palestine will be as Jewish as England is English.””(12)  

   (d) Israel Zangwill envisioning “a land without people for a people without land”(13)–in other words a land without Arabs for Jews without land. 

   (e) Theodor Herzl envisioning the Jewish state to stretch from Turkey to Egypt:  ““The northern frontier is to be the mountains facing Cappadocia (in Turkey), the southern, the Suez.””(14)  

   (f) Moshe Dayan, as Chief of Staff of the Jewish army stating in 1952: ““It lies upon the Israeli army to carry out the fight with the ultimate objective of erecting the Israeli empire.””(15). (And this was only a meager four years after their occupation of Palestine). And as Jewish general, Dayan boasted after their victory in the 1967 six-day war with Egypt and Syria: ““Our fathers had reached the frontiers which was recognised in the Partition Plan. Our generations reached the frontiers of 1949. Now the six-day generation have managed to reach Suez, Jordan and the Golan Heights. This is not the end. After the present ceasefire lines, there will be new ones. They will extend beyond Jordan – perhaps to Lebanon and perhaps to Central Syria as well.”(16)
(How is he so certain there will be new ceasefire lines? Seems like it is their plan to instigate wars and occupy more territory? Clearly, from their own declarations and actions Jews had no intention of having only a home-land; their ideal was/is to occupy/usurp all of Palestine).
(As stated, these are some of the declarations of the people who project themselves to the world as “doves of peace and examples of injured innocence.”(17)
   If Bat Ye’or did not know about the foregoing, she does now. What does she have to say about them?  

Here are a bit more for her to digest. In his booklet Palestine–A Stolen Heritage Ismail Zayid notes under the headings:

“The New Fascism: Zionism in its own words”
   -“If Hussein can’t accept our peace conditions, let the Jordanians look for a new king. And if the Jordanians can’t stand our peace conditions let them look for another country.” (17 July 1967).” 

   -“We have to prove to the Arabs not only that we can occupy Cairo and Damascus, but also that we can remain indefinitely in our present frontiers.” (L’Orient, 1 May 1969, AFP).” 

   -With one charge, we can reach Damascus and Amman.” (Daily Star, 13 May 1969, AP).”  

   -“We are not after more territory, it is just that we cannot stop,” (L’Express, 19-25 May 1969).” (p.34) 

 “THE NEW HERRENVOLK”(Master race) 
   -“The Achilles of the Arab coalition is the Lebanon. Muslim supremacy in this country is artificial and can easily be overthrown. A Christian State ought to be set up there, with its southern frontier on the river Litani, We would sign a treaty of alliance with this state. Thus when we have broken the strength of the Arab Legion and bombed Amman, we could wipe out Transjordan; after that Syria would fall. And if Egypt dared to make war with us, we would bomb Port Said, Alexandria and Cairo. We should thus end the war and would have put paid to Egypt, Assyria and Chaldea on behalf of our ancestors.” (Ben Gurion’s Diary 21.5.1947).”
(Notably, it is so-called “Israel” that provoked the civil war in Lebanon–see Prof. Noam Chomsky, Pirates And Emperors, International Terrorism In The Real World, pp. 46-47. Isn’t this a war crime?).  

  -“Our forefathers had reached the frontiers which were recognised in the Partition Plan. Our generation reached the frontiers of 1949. Now the Six-Day generation have managed to reach Suez, Jordan and the Golan Heights. This is not the end. After the present ceasefire lines, there will be new ones. They will extend beyond Jordan –perhaps to Lebanon and perhaps to Central Syria as well.” (General Dayan, quoted in The Times 25.6.1969).”     

    -“The Americans have given us weapons so that we should use them when necessary…in an extreme case it is permitted to the civilised world to take control, by force, of the oil sources.” (Gen. Yithak Rabin, in Ha’aretz 20.7.1973).”  

  -“Israel is now a military superpower…For the Americans there is nothing more important than a strong Israel. All the forces of European countries are weaker than we are. Israel can conquer in one week the area from Khartoum to Baghdad and Algeria.” (Gen Arik Sharon, quoted in Yediot Aharanot 26.7.1973).” (18) 
(The dainty little Jewish dove of 1948 has sprouted into a mighty rabid hawk with vicious talons).  

Surely as a “scholar” Bat Ye’or must know that the “root cause” of the Jewish-Arab(/Muslim) divide is grounded in the theft of Palestine. (And the Muslim-West divide is rooted in this theft of Palestine plus the West’s coveting of Muslim’s lands and oil/resources and their arrogance and hypocrisy –arrogance  at dictating what armaments Muslims are not to have and their one-sided application of U.N. Resolutions (against Muslims only); and their hypocrisy of trumpeting “democracy” yet when Muslims in Algeria and Hamas in Gaza were victorious in “democratic” elections they turned their backs to them.
Clearly, when the colonialists and imperialists speak of “democracy” what they mean is a government according to their dictates. 

At the time of Partition of Palestine Jews were 34% of the population and owned less than 6% of the land. Yet the Plan allotted Jews 56% of the land including the valuable coast-land, 42% for a Palestinian state and 1% as an international sector.  

   What would you do should your Government forcibly squeezes you and family into forty-four percent of your house and put a homeless family of fewer members into the remaining fifty-six percent; and give this homeless people title of ownership to this fifty-six percent of your property? And whereas members of your family do not have the right to come and live in your house, members of the homeless people born anywhere in the world has the right to live in your house–whereas a Jew born anywhere in the world has automatic citizenship to Palestine, a Palestinian born in Jaffa, his own country, is a refugee. This is the reality and injustice Palestinians face.  

No one in the world –no King or Queen or Prince or pauper or President or Prime Minister or immigration minister or doctor or lawyer or Rabbi or Reverend or teacher or writer or doctor or lawyer or student or peasant– would accept such an ignominious scheme and not challenge it in every way open to him and her. Yet Palestinians are forced to accept the fate that no one in the world would accept.  

Those who criticize and condemn the Palestinians (and their helpers) must put their dignity (if they have) where their mouths are: they must swallow this unpalatable bit of morsel the fearless and forbearing Palestinians are being force-fed for sixty-plus torturous years now –they must give half of their property to the homeless and half of their country to the natives or ethnic sector for their State; they must suffer what the Palestinians have suffered and endure what the Palestinians are enduring and accept what the Palestinians are forced to accept.
   Palestinians are not to suffer for Europe’s shame!
   Jews wanting a home is no legitimacy to deprive the Palestinians of theirs. Jews have a right to be there; not the state!  

2. JIZYA AND DHIMMIS/DHIMMITUDE: In her book The Trouble with Islam  Irshad Manji wrote: “There’s an Egyptian-born European scholar who dumps cold water on any dreamy view of how Muslims have historically dealt with the “other.” Bat Ye’or is her name.  Actually, it’s her pseudonym, adopted because what she argues drives a lot of Muslims into fits of fury.  Ye’or coined the word “dhimmitude” to describe Islam’s ideology of wholesale discrimination against Jews and Christians.  Why “dhimmitude”? It comes from al-dhimma, the Arabic term for those groups –our fellow Peoples of the Book– who are entitled to protection in Muslim societies. (All peoples in Muslim societies are entitled to protection).

   Protection? Let’s home in on the premise behind this principle. Why would Jews and Christians need special protection if they’re kindred People of the Book, deserving of rights and responsibilities equal to those of Muslims? ….. 

   An illustration:  Under Muslim rule, Jews and Christians have historically bought their protection –in essence, paid for their lives– by handing over a poll tax. It’s known as the jizya, and the Koran permits this tax in order to maintain the general peace.  Not exactly a dignity-stoking practice, is it? Yes, Prophet Muhammad proved you can exercise free will here. When the general peace didn’t appear to be jeopardized, he didn’t impose the jizya. Still, the sheer option to levy such a tax screams “blackmail” to me.” (pp. 67-68).   

RESPONSE:
(While Muslims may be guilty of discrimination, to say that Islam discriminates against Jews and Christians or any other people is to say that Allāh God, discriminates against His own creation). 

   Jizya is NOT a religious tax.  Tributes and taxes were in vogue long before the advent of Islam, and are levied even today. And they have nothing to do with religion.  The Muslim states also require finances for their operation. Able-bodied non-Muslims pay the jizya in lieu of military service –the annual charge of “half a guinea or a dinar” is certainly a cheap cost for being exempt from military service and enjoying the benefits of a country.  Muslims not only had to do military service but paid zakaat, a greater tax.  Jizyah is mentioned in only one place in the Qur’an–(Qur’an 9:29). Muhammad Ali on jizyah, from his comprehensive work The Religion of Islam: 

“All that happened in the time of the Prophet was that certain small non-Muslim states were, when subjugated, given the right to administer their own affairs, but only if they would pay a small sum by way of tribute towards the maintenance of the central government at Madinah. It was an act of great magnanimity on the part of the Prophet to confer complete autonomy on a people after conquering them, and a paltry sum of tribute (jizyah) in such conditions was not hardship but a boon. There was no military occupation of their territories, no interference at all with their administration, their laws, their customs and usages, or their religion; and, for the tribute paid, the Muslim state undertook the responsibility protecting these small states against all enemies. In the later con-quests of Islam, while it became necessary for the Muslims to establish their own administration in the conquer-ed territories, there was still as little interference with the usages and religion of the conquered people as was possible, and for enjoying complete protection and the benefits of a settled rule they had to pay a very mild tax, the jizyah.” (pp. 560-561).     

(Jizya) “was a tax levied on non-Muslim subjects under the rule of Islam, so called because it was a tax for the protection of life and property which that rule guaran-teed them. Muslim subjects were exempt from this tax in consideration of military service, which for them was compulsory. As a matter of fact, they too were made to pay for that protection, but in different form. They bore the hardships of a military life, they fought the country’s battles, they laid down their lives in defence of the country. Non-Muslims were exempt from all this, and in lieu of this they contributed their share in the shape of money. It is obvious which of the two alternatives is the easier. In countries where conscription is the law today, there would certainly be many who would be glad to buy their exemption from military service so cheaply, paying a small amount as tax. It must be remembered, further-more, that the tax was not indiscriminately charged to every non-Muslim subject. Males under twenty and above fifty, all females, those suffering from some chronic disease, the blind and the poor were all exempt. As a matter of fact, the Muslims had also to pay a tax in addition under the name of zakaat, and this was much heavier than jizyah as it was levied at the rate of 2 1/2 percent, on all savings annually.”(19)  

Payment of “half a guinea or a dinar a year” is a cheap price than suffering the hardship of military life and for putting one’s life on the line for the welfare of the country.  Muhammad Ali notes:  

“…jizyah, which was originally a tribute paid by a subject state, took the form of a poll-tax later on in the time of ‘Umar; and the word was also applied to the land-tax which was levied on Muslim owners of agricultural land. The jurists, however, made a distinction between the poll-tax and the land tax by giving the name of kharaj to the latter. Both together formed one of the two chief sources of the revenue of the Muslim state, the zakat paid by the Muslims being the other source.”(20)   

    Thus, Muslims also had to pay not only kharaj but zakat as well, (and do military service). This disparity clearly shows that there is no basis that the kharaj and jizya are discriminatory taxes.
   All governments levy taxes to raise revenues. If Muslim rulers of later times discriminated against non-Muslim subjects Islam is not to be blamed for this. Islam forbids discrimination.  

  Muhammad Ali has noted in his The Early Caliphate that when a Muslim government could no longer provide the protection for which jizya was taken, this amount was returned to the people. He gave the example of Abu ‘Ubaidah when he  

“gave up his position at Hims and returned towards Damascus. On leaving Hims, however, he ordered that the whole amount of jizyah realised from the people of Hims should be returned to them. Jizyah, he said, was a tax in return for protection. When they could no longer give that protection, they had no right to keep the money. The whole amount was consequently withdrawn from the treasury and made over to the people…who were all either Christians or Jews. In vain will the critic ransack the dusty pages of history for another such brilliant spot, such scrupulous regard for the rights of citizenship in time of war.  The treatment by Muslims of the inhabitants was such that, at their departure, Christians as well as Jews actually shed tears and prayed God to bring them back. Muir, after admiring the leniency of the Arab conquerors towards the conquered and their justice and integrity, quotes a Nestorian Bishop of the time:  “These Arabs to whom God has accorded in our days the dominion are become our masters; but they do not combat the Christian religion; much rather they protect our faith; they respect our priests and our holy men, and make gifts to our churches and our convents” (p. 128 [The Caliphate]).””(p. 86). 

   Muhammad Ali notes that during the reign of ‘Umar when the whole of Persia “came completely under the rule of Islam” that while “jizya was imposed in some parts, there were other adjacent parts where the people neither embraced Islam nor paid jizya.  They only agreed to render military assistance in time of need.” “In affairs of state, non-Muslims were duly consulted.” ‘Umar also ordered “that old-age pensions must be granted to all the old people among non-Muslim subjects, who must also be exempt from jizya.  Poor-houses for the weak and the disabled were open to Christians just as to Muslims.” (Ibid. pp. 101, 118, resp.)
    To say that jizya is a “discriminatory” tax is, in the words of Muhammad Ali, “to betray ignorance.”    

Dhimmi does not refer to Jews and Christians only, but to all non-Muslims under Muslim rule. Again, Muhammad Ali:
“The very name ahl al-dhimmah (lit., people under protection) given to the non-Muslim subjects of a Muslims state, or to a non-Muslim state under the protection of Muslim rule, shows that the jizyah was paid as a compensation for the protection afforded; in other words, it was a contribution of the non-Muslim towards the military organisation of the Muslim state. There are cases on record in which the Muslim state returned the jizyah, when it was unable to afford protection to the people under its care.”   

“The following classes were exempt from jizyah: all females, males who had not attained majority, old people, people whom disease had crippled (zamin), the paralyzed, the blind, the poor (faqir) who could not work for themselves (ghair mu’tamil) the slaves, slaves who were working for their freedom (mudbir) and the monks…..”  

   “Caliph ‘Umar once saw a blind Dhimmi (non-Muslim) begging, and finding on enquiry that he had to pay jizyah, he not only exempted him but, in addition, ordered that he paid a stipend from the state-treasury, issuing further orders at the same time that all Dhimmis in similar circumstances should be paid stipends.”–(The Religion Of Islam, pp. 561, 562, 564).  

   Contrary to the charge of it being “discrimination,” facts reveal that Jews and other non-Muslims benefited tremendously under Muslim’s “dhimmitude.” Prevailing social conditions have nothing to do with jizya. As noted, Jizya was a tax in lieu of military service.  Prophet Mohammad did not impose the jizya, Allah did.     To charge that jizya is “blackmail” is to accuse Allah as being guilty of “blackmail.”  This is blasphemy!   

   Those who are jaundiced against jizya and “dhimmitude” must turn their sights to the Biblical Fathers and the Defenders of the Faith –David and Joshua and the Christian conquerors of Jerusalem and Spain– whose victims were shrouded in blood, expelled or forced to convert. Not to mention the 800-year Inquisitions –Medieval, Roman and Spanish–from 1000-1834.
Praise be to Islam’s mercy and tolerance –to jizya and “dhimmitude”!  Allaho Akbar! 

 

3. EURABIA: (Noted on the Internet). Bat Ye’or is said to have “explored” the history and relationship between European nations and Arab states which, according to her, is a connection between “radical Arabs and Muslims” and “fascists, socialists and Nazis” which she recognized to be a “growing influence of Islam over European culture and politics.” Eurabia is said to be “a geo-political reality” between the “European Community” and “Mediterranean Arab” states.

RESPONSE:
If Europe should be influenced by Muslims/Islam, Muslims/Islam would be doing the “European Community” an invaluable service. It would rid Europe (and the world) of its dead-weight of Alcohol & Gambling; drunkenness; prostitution; thievery; usury, sexually transmitted diseases, pornography and kiddie-porn; rapists –women in Europe and around the world would not have to march to take back their streets– etc. It is doubtful that honest people and people of dignity and morality would not welcome a society of sobriety, chastity, freedom from fear of rape and murder and thievery and mugging, etc; as offered by Islam!   

That Eurabia is a conspiracy to “make life impossible for Israel.” Reflectively, it was this same Europe that is responsible for the monumental and grotesque obscenity against the fearless and forbearing Palestinians, and perhaps, is trying to atone –to erase this indelible stain of shame and disgrace from their history – for their wrong against the Palestinians and their more than six torturous decades of humiliation and suffering. 

If Bat Ye’or is looking for a cause on which to immortalize her name, demonizing Allāh/Islam will not accomplish it for her; she will fail miserably. Allāh –the God Who creates out of love; has inscribed mercy on Himself; Whose mercy precedes His anger; Who forgives all sins altogether; invites us in loving, compassionate terms to forgive us our sins; Who exalts man not by his nationality but by his faith in Him and good deeds and rewards each good deed up to seven-hundred fold and requites evil with just its like; Who admonishes against corruption, mischief, aggression, treachery and transgression; allows defensive fighting only to stem aggression and persecution; gives man freedom of conscience; counsels forgiveness rather than retaliation; to make peace even in the face of possible deception by the enemy; admonishes us to let not hatred incite us to transgress; and requires the administering of justice even if it be against one’s own self– is demon-proof.  

In the annals of modern history there is no people who have suffered more and for so long as the fearless and forbearing Palestinians. have suffered –which no King or Queen or Prime Minister or President or Immigration minister or MP or MPP or peasant or critic or columnist or author would accept for himself and herself.
If there is any cause on which to immortalize our names it is the cause of the Palestinians.
*************************************************** 

 NOTES 

2. Read Prof. Edward Said, The Question of Palestine. 

3. Edward Said The Question of Palestine, 224.

4. The Islamic Post, International Edition, January 2007; article      Zionism, The Media, and World Control ( A3, 7).

5. Noam Chomsky, Pirates and Emperors, Old And New, Inter-national Terrorism in the Real World, p. 9.

6. Zayid, Ismail, Palestine, A Stolen Heritage, p. 33; (From a  letter written by a student) Published in “Haolam Haze,” an Israeli newspaper, (issue 1594) and quoted in “Israel Imperial News,” October, 1968. Italics/emphasis added.
  The entire material states:  “I am a pupil in a college in Be’er Sheva. I don’t want trouble. The director of the office of education will not like my letter; therefore I am not signing my full name. The problem: KHUZARI BOOK, which is approved by the office of education. In the introduction to the book Dr. Tzifroni writes:
“The nation of Israel is a chosen nation because of its race, its education and the climate of the land in which it was brought up. The race of the Israeli people is the most superior of all races”. I think that these sentences require no explanation.
   Mira, Be’er Sheva.”   

8. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, 25 March, 2001 quoted in     BBC News Online.” Noted in The Islamic Post, International          Edition, January 2007; article, Zionism, The Media, and World        Control (pp. A3, 7).

10. Edward W. Said, The Question Of Palestine, p. 13.

11. Ibid; 100.

12. Ismail Zayid, Palestine, A Stolen Heritage, p. 11.

13. Edward W. Said, The Question Of Palestine, p. 9.

14. Ismail Zayid, Palestine, A Stolen Heritage, p. 18.

15. Ibid;19. Italics/emphasis added.

16. Ibid; outside back-cover. Italics/emphasis added.

17. Ibid; 19.

18. Ibid; outside back cover. 

19. Ali, Muhammad, The Early Caliphate, 41.

20. Ali, Muhammad, The Religion of Islam, p. 559.