Christian Arabs remain the best situated to combat the demonization of Islam

 The Arab American

By Raid KhouryFriday, 02.05.2010, 07:30pm

 

"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves…" Matthew 7:15.

According to Christian tradition the above quote is attributed to Jesus of Nazareth by Matthew as part of the famous Sermon on the Mount, a compilation of Jesus' sayings epitomizing his moral teachingindus. Speaking in the setting of his time, Jesus was understood to be discussing false prophets, but a more general and timeless understanding of this warning is vigilance against deception and false messages of all types.

Ameal Haddad, a local activist and  supporter of the "Christian Zionist" movement, is a pastor in Southern California. He has been traveling to Arab countries promoting a sinister agenda and appearing in Arabic-language media outlets. The activities of this virtually unknown Muslim basher first came to light with an appearance on Al-Arabiya's popular weekly, socio-economic talk show "Idaat". In a one-hour interview with Turki Al-Dakheel, Haddad deliberately misrepresented his theological beliefs, views, and agenda as he set out to take advantage of a prominent platform to pursue his efforts at scavenging for a niche on the fringe of the Muslim bashing industry.

Haddad remains a virtual unknown in the U.S. much as Wafa Sultan, another Southern California resident, was prior to her own infamous appearance on an Al Jazeera talk show where she publicly disintegrated with a hate-filled rant ensuring she will not be invited to participate in any public discussion and will no longer be taken seriously anywhere in the Arab world. Haddad seems to have learned from that vulgar appearance, dispensing with the invectives and opting for a more subdued approach. But for those of us who know Haddad the message remains the same. Islam is a terrorist religion and Muslims are backwards and terrorists.

Since 9-11, when Haddad and his fellow American Evangelical partner formed their misnamed outfit, the Arab and Muslim bashing industry has been thriving. An unrestrained virulent campaign against Islam and Arabs, along with the required propaganda in preparation for war on Afghanistan and Iraq, and the ongoing activities of a relentless pro-Israel lobby, has provided an opportunity for almost anyone to play a role in this effort and spew their venom.

This cottage industry has enlisted a motley crew of pseudo-academics, "democracy" and "human rights" activists, and religious bigots, all united in a single, determined effort to spread a campaign of incitement, lies, and hate against Islam and Arabs.

Among the most vociferous and vile of these groups is a segment of evangelical Christians with a theology that elevates support for the Zionist project in Palestine to a religious duty. This group proved to be a critical and convenient base of support for a U.S. administration that decided to invade Iraq to achieve a set of objectives among which is the re-shaping of the security environment in favor of Israel. For an evangelical, political movement that espouses a worldview where the gospel is identified with the ideology of empire, colonialism, and militarism, a neo-colonial endeavor in the heart of the Arab world dovetailed nicely with the post-Cold War concept of a clash of civilizations.

The politically inspired, academically flawed paradigm of Samuel Huntington provided a framework for a neo-conservative dominated administration by which to narrate their policies and rally the pre-disposed, political simpletons of the evangelical right to their cause. It is from this anachronistic world view that the ostensibly innocent alternative of a Christian-Muslim dialogue springs, as if military campaigns by the West and the resistance of occupied peoples is an inherent religious struggle unrelated to traditional geo-political imperialist designs and analysis.

A tactic favored by the evangelical movement is finding Christians from the Arab world who abandoned their traditional churches (usually as a result of previous proselytizing by Westerners from the English-speaking world) and adopted one form or another of Western Protestantism. They are assigned various tasks, such as playing the role of persecuted minority or offering "native insight" into the religion of Islam. These individuals are later paraded as indigenously credible sources affirming all the anti-Muslim lies and distortions promulgated by them. This is where people like Haddad can play a valuable role within the movement. An Arab who abandoned the earliest churches established, in both the history of Christianity and within the Arab world, and adopted the doctrines and agenda of this unusual and recent form of Protestant theology, is considered a prize among this group of American evangelicals.

In light of the current climate of hate and religious bigotry, Haddad's hitherto minor and local role in this campaign, and his recent travels and appearances in the Arab world, it is imperative the truth about this person and the agenda he represents be made known to the Southern California Arab and Muslim communities. It is particularly critical that such individuals, with their poisonous message of division and religious agitation, are not permitted to claim to represent the voice of Christian Arabs. In the past 20 years I have had numerous discussions with Haddad about Christianity, Islam, and theology. His primary objective has always been to convince me and anyone who will listen of the inherent evil and immorality of Islam. His consistent single minded determination to smear Islam, its history, and teachings constitute the very essence of his personal message and ideology. After his well publicized interview on Al-Arabiya, a major Arabic-language news channel, I would be surprised if he expected those of us who know him locally to remain silent in the face of a deceitful public performance diametrically opposed to all that he has stood for over the years.

In that interview Haddad made numerous and laughable references to peace, love, brotherhood, and mutual respect. Unless he has had a change of heart towards Islam and Muslims no less transformative than St Paul's experience on the road to Damascus, such proclamations are nothing more than a cynical attempt to advance a hidden agenda and promote the same message of hate Wafa Sultan was much more honest in conveying.

The salient moment in the interview came when the very effective host pressed Haddad for his own view on the belief among many evangelicals that the creation of the Zionist state in Palestine in 1948 is a fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. With a smile Wafa Sultan could never muster for her Arab audience, and one betraying a self-conscious deceit, Haddad adamantly refused to answer. However an answer to that question and an explanation for his refusal to answer it can be found in the doctrinal statement of the religious seminary where he received his evangelical training. That statement says "The nation of Israel, having been redeemed, will play a central role in bringing the blessings of salvation to all nations during the millennium in fulfillment of Biblical prophecies."

Let me be clear, I am not a religious person and would describe myself as a secular humanist. Yet my primary conflict with Haddad has always been my assertion that despite doctrinal differences, both Christianity and Islam share a common set of moral teachings and universal human values which include a message of peace and non-violence. I found Haddad immovable in his insistence that Islam is not only a false religion (presumably he has a monopoly on absolute truth), but that it also commands its adherents to commit acts of violence, a centuries old Western cliché to which many Evangelical Christians openly subscribe. Each time I pointed out to Haddad that Christians have also committed acts of violence he would respond by telling me "that is because they were not real Christians" and were not following the peaceful teachings of Jesus Christ. In other words, acts of violence by Muslims are carried out as part of their faithful adherence to a violent religion, but acts of violence carried out by Christians are committed because they did not faithfully pursue the peaceful, non-violent teaching of Christianity. While I immediately took notice of the fallacious nature of this circular argument, I could never really determine with certainty what motivated such ludicrous statements.

Over time it became clear his views are a product of something far more malevolent than simple ignorance. In the late 1990s Haddad invited better known Baptist Minister Anis Shorrosh to his church in the Los Angeles suburb of Bellflower. Shorrosh is the unabashed Muslim-basher who gained notoriety with a buffoonish performance in which he donned traditional Arab garb in a debate with the late Ahmad Deedat. Unlike Haddad, Shorrosh does not publicly deny his "Christian Zionist" beliefs. His hate-filled rants have been financed and printed in book form by evangelical organizations and he's been a frequent guest on Pat Robertson's 700 Club program. Shorrosh is the person peddling the "True Furqan" and claims Islam has a twenty-year plan to take over America. This writer interviewed two persons who attended Haddad's church and learned Shorrosh had been invited by Haddad to conduct a one-week workshop designed to train evangelicals in proselytizing among Muslims. His literature, videos, and audio recordings were made available free of charge to all who attended. Not content with two first-hand accounts I took advantage of my next encounter with Haddad and asked him if it's true this preacher of hate was invited to his church as a guest preacher. Haddad informed me directly that Shorrosh was indeed invited to his church to conduct a workshop, that he (Shorrosh) "specializes" in preaching to Muslims, and that he (Haddad) shares his views and was proud to call him a friend.

The target of this aberrant and fringe element of Christian Arabs and other American evangelicals of this variety has always been Islam. An example of this mindset can be found in this interview in which Haddad, while discussing the U.S. invasion of Iraq through the false prism of the official American narrative states, "It is encouraging that so many Muslims have signed the declaration, because it says that they are willing to stop the killing and sit down and talk…", and then goes on to add "only 10 to 15 percent of Muslims believe in violence. The rest are open to discussion." He continues by expressing his "hope" that Muslims "will end the violence and very soon…they have the most to gain." Apparently unaware of the condescending and racist nature of his own words, he may actually believe he was being generous. We can only wonder about the methodology employed by this American evangelical in reaching the conclusion only 10-15 percent of one and a half billion Muslims are violent, or how after one and a half Million Iraqis were killed in an immoral war launched by the U.S., of which his fellow evangelicals were the most enthusiastic supporters, he has the audacity and arrogance to lecture Muslims about non-violence.

Haddad's true message and agenda which he was visibly straining to hide in his Al-Arabiya interview has been remarkably consistent all along. It includes three main components: Islam is an evil religion and the root cause of violence in the world; Muslims must be converted and saved from their own teachings; and the creation of Israel in Palestine is a fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. According to this twisted version of Western Protestantism, which inspires the activities of Haddad, Shorrosh, and others within this strand of the U.S. evangelical movement, Israel is locked in a divinely pre-ordained, existential struggle for survival against a hostile Arab and Islamic enemy which will herald the return of Jesus.

To that end these preachers of hate seek the "right" to proselytize in the Arab world among both Muslims and Christians. Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states "Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion…" The Holy Qur'an recognized this same principle sixteen hundred years before the drafting of the UDHR in 1948 in the verse "let their be no compulsion in religion," (Al-Baqarah: 256). According to the UDHR itself, and consistent with Islamic teachings, such a right applies to individuals. Such a right does not extend to non-human entities such as organizations and institutions seeking to proselytize in the country of their choosing. This is where Haddad's propaganda brochure, which he referred to 15 times as a "document" (wathiqa in Arabic) during his interview, becomes very revealing. The poorly drafted, jumbled sections of Haddad's "wathiqa" is not as he described "a call for love and peace", but an attempt to claim a "right" for any organization to enter any country for the purpose of proselytizing and other endeavors of which we may not be aware. No such right exists. For those preachers who are genuinely interested in spreading a message of non-violence, peace, and love they would be well advised to spend their time and energy here in the U..S among their fellow evangelicals where such a message is desperately needed.

Arabs — both Muslims and Christians — have been the target of a ferocious propaganda campaign in this country. Responding to this onslaught is more than enough to keep them busy without having to contend with a contingent of self-hating Arabs and religious agitators in their midst. As an Arab who happened to be born into a Christian family, I cannot remain silent as individuals on the margins of the Arab American community are enlisted in this demonization campaign as representatives of Christian Arabs. For Christian Arabs their Christianity is an indigenous religion, and Islam is their indigenous civilization. Christian Arabs have lived for centuries in harmony with Muslim Arabs. They form an integral part of the Arab world and Islamic civilization. They share with their Muslim Arab blood-brothers a common Semitic Arab origin, language, culture, and history. Attacks on Islam also constitute an attack on the civilization, culture, and identity of Christian Arabs, whose continued presence in the Arab world is a living testament to the tolerant and peaceful history of Islam, belying the vicious distortions of this great religion and civilization, and making them ideally situated to set the record straight.
Raid Khoury is an Arab American activist in Los Angeles. He can be reached at raidkhoury@yahoo.com.

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