Onward Christian Soldiers!!

I have for some time now been following the amusing ramblings of a middle aged 'scholar' by the name of Colin Meade. I had recently surprised a colleague of mine when I informed her that I didn't believe Israel as a Zionist state had the right to exist. Nor was I prepared to accept it as "there to stay" as some people put it. I had to see the other side to the story according to her, and was promptly then referred to an article by Meade entitled "Defend Israel, Defend sanity". That is where I stumbled across this gem of a blog and indeed felt myself obliged to then and there, respond to what has to be the most laughable and naive article I have come across yet on the subject. Perhaps even more so were the polite comments added on the bottom by some who believed themselves contributing to a perceived intelligent dialogue of some sort. Personally I don't know the man and hold nothing against him, though it is quite funny seeing how he accidentally and quite innocently discovers "the horrifying truth" about this or that subject and how, now he see's the light, he becomes an ardent fighter for the good guys (previously the bad guys, but they were just the victims of some conspiracy).

I've been seeing an increasing amount of articles on the net by these "Latter Day Knights Templars" who see a sinister conspiracy afoot. These gentlemen have very academic and "sometimes" well written articles which aim to provide a deeper insight into the insidious and wicked truth of Islam, the true black hearts of all Muslims and their existence as a 5th column in Western societies. Usually their blogs have ridiculous solidarity flags with incredibly corny catch phrases such as "Never forget", "No veil, no gag" and other such mediocre and artifical battle cries.


The articles themselves construct a fabulous argument for the most significant and current non-events that make up the lurid headlines of channels such as Fox News or quality papers they read such as "The Sun" in the UK. Some such as Daniel Pipes present formidable arguments and are extremely well read, though I completely disagree with the direction they take and I believe they have an interest in portraying Arabs in a negative light. Others such as our friend Meade above, might as well be getting their information on Islam and the Arab world through extensive readings of books such as "The Arab mind". What makes me sad is people like him might even reply back saying "So?"...well actually it doesn't make me sad, that is quite funny. Under the guise of attacking the "Left" and Muslims for their resistance to the concept of Israel or Anglo-American meddling in the Middle East, these self proclaimed "Christian soldiers" throw the rule book at their opponents. These accusations also come in waves, first a person who criticised Israel was anti-semitic (ridiculous as Arabs are semites themselves), then terrorists (till somebody must have pointed out that there is no difference between flying a jet into a building and killing 20 members of one family with a precision guided bomb) and now...Islamo-fascists...wow. What they can't seem to comprehend is that al Qaeda and it's ideology do not represent Islam or Muslims and yes believe it or not, there are also tensions and conflicts within Islamic or Arabic societies too. A lot as a matter of fact, but these are taken to be results of this "Islamic heritage".

These latter day "Knights Templars" are always keen to portray European civilization as "Civilization" with no need to qualify that remark. Interestingly the worst excesses and depravities of the last three hundred years are a result of this pretty civilization. Of course they make much of the links between Hajj Amin al Husseini in the Second World War and the Nazi Germans, ignoring their own very convenient alliance with Stalin, or the fact that some of their own rulers were sympathisers of the fascists before war broke out. Finally, you cannot ignore the Holocaust, perpetrated by those who referred to Jews in the same way that Muslims are increasingly portrayed now by these very same latter day"Knights Templars". My advice to them, read some proper history books, book a holiday to somewhere like Damascus, Amman or another city that your country hasn't bombed yet, and talk to the people there, ask them why they have the views they do. You might even run into Palestinians descended from the refugees your countries created. But that would be asking too much I guess...

If anything, at least order a humous and falafel sandwich. You'll discover it is actually quite good and that, if anything, Arab's are pretty damn good cooks. The crusaders of old brought back bathing, banking, concepts of hygiene and science to Europe, who knows what wonders you might return with.