I second that. Gabriel's remarks are perhaps understandable given her
experiences (I'm accepting that she's telling the truth about
those...but only barely) but cannot be accepted as reasoned responses to
the complexity of issues and motivations in the ME. She seems as much a
hate-monger as those she decries.
Ursula
Helen Wishart wrote:
I have now wasted the afternoon following Brigitte Gabriel’s texts around to some really weird websites.
I quit reading after I found her resounding support for torture – justified because “"Torture is accepted and expected in the Arabic world. A man's honor is defined by how he treats his enemy in order to win the war." The US is "being perceived as a big wuss in the Middle East ... "every time we debate amongst each other about how we are treating our enemy, our enemy is treating us as weak, as cowards, as wusses, as a country without a spine. We are known for our technological advancement but we are known as cowards and a pushover in the eyes of our enemy."
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=45028
She also supports Debbie Schlussel’s view that Most Americans in Lebanon Are Hezbollah Supporters; U.S. Taxes Shouldn't Fund Their Return <http://spengler.atimes.net/viewtopic.php?p=5081&sid=a907cf3019f4f99a94a31df1f95c7975> – a perspective also espoused by Rush Limbaugh on his radio show.
Good grief.
I also found this motion passed by the Queen's University Society of Graduate and Professional Students’ Council after her visit there. Yea Queens!
MOTION
19/04/05:10
Whereas on the 22nd of March Ms. Brigitte Gabriel gave a talk on the Queen’s campus titled "Lebanon, Israel and Democracy in the Middle East" hosted by Hillel and the Queen's Israeli Peace Initiative (QIPI); and
Whereas explicitly racist and sexist comments made during Ms. Gabriel’s talk have been condemned by members of the Arab and Islamic student community, including SPHR(Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights), QASA (Arab Students Association), QUMSA (Muslim Students
Association), as well as other Queen's students and organizations, such as the Queen's International Affairs Association; and
Whereas the refusal to acknowledge the responsibility of inviting Ms. Brigitte Gabriel’s comments is particularly disturbing in light of the recent and alarming rise in Islamophobia and the on-going targeting of Muslims and Arab peoples which too often goes unchallenged and unquestioned; and
Whereas, along with other student associations on campus, the SGPS strongly endorses freedom of speech on this campus, the SGPS also recognizes the importance of distinguishing between academic dialogue and the promotion of hate; and
Whereas the SPGS, as a member association of the Canadian Federation of Students, explicitly opposes the spreading of hate and the perpetuation of Islamophobia, Anti-Semitism, and Racism; and
Whereas even the most cursory examination of Ms. Gabriel's work online reveals ample evidence of her prejudice; indeed, besides the bigoted title of her CD "The Threat of Islam to Western Civilization" she has been credited with so many racist statements that one wonders what
organizers ever saw to justify an invitation to Queen's;
Moved Barker/___________ BIRT the SGPS condemn the comments made by Ms. Brigitte Gabriel and join with other groups on campus to call on the organizers of the aforementioned event to issue a public apology to the Arab student community at Queen’s University and write a
letter to this effect.
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