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There Is No Clash of Civilizations but a Clash between the Mentalities...
Middle East Media Research Institute ^ | 2/21/2006 | Arab-American psychologist Wafa Sultan

Posted on 03/05/2006 4:57:45 PM PST by Delta 21

Wafa Sultan: The clash we are witnessing around the world is not a clash of religions, or a clash of civilizations. It is a clash between two opposites, between two eras. It is a clash between a mentality that belongs to the Middle Ages and another mentality that belongs to the 21st century. It is a clash between civilization and backwardness, between the civilized and the primitive, between barbarity and rationality. It is a clash between freedom and oppression, between democracy and dictatorship. It is a clash between human rights, on the one hand, and the violation of these rights, on other hand. It is a clash between those who treat women like beasts, and those who treat them like human beings. What we see today is not a clash of civilizations. Civilizations do not clash, but compete.

[...]

Host: I understand from your words that what is happening today is a clash between the culture of the West, and the backwardness and ignorance of the Muslims?

Wafa Sultan: Yes, that is what I mean.

[...]

Host: Who came up with the concept of a clash of civilizations? Was it not Samuel Huntington? It was not Bin Laden. I would like to discuss this issue, if you don't mind...

Wafa Sultan: The Muslims are the ones who began using this expression......

(Excerpt) Read more at memritv.org ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Philosophy; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: clashofcivilizations; wafasultan
This is a trascript of THIS VIDEO exchange. She is telling like it is.

Large Video file. Dial-up users beware.

1 posted on 03/05/2006 4:57:47 PM PST by Delta 21
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To: Delta 21
Good post.


2 posted on 03/05/2006 4:59:30 PM PST by darkwing104 (Let's get dangerous)
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To: Delta 21; caryatid

I found the trascript for you.


3 posted on 03/05/2006 5:02:16 PM PST by Delta 21 ( Democrats -- a 40 year war on poverty and still no exit strategy)
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To: Delta 21
There Is No Clash of Civilizations but a Clash between the Mentalities...

I would take it a step further.
It is a clash between Good and Evil.

4 posted on 03/05/2006 5:07:06 PM PST by Tai_Chung
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To: Delta 21; jan in Colorado; Hill of Tara; USF; Former Dodger; AmericanArchConservative; Cornpone; ...
The Jews have come from the tragedy (of the Holocaust), and forced the world to respect them, with their knowledge, not with their terror, with their work, not their crying and yelling. Humanity owes most of the discoveries and science of the 19th and 20th centuries to Jewish scientists. 15 million people, scattered throughout the world, united and won their rights through work and knowledge. We have not seen a single Jew blow himself up in a German restaurant. We have not seen a single Jew destroy a church. We have not seen a single Jew protest by killing people. The Muslims have turned three Buddha statues into rubble. We have not seen a single Buddhist burn down a Mosque, kill a Muslim, or burn down an embassy. Only the Muslims defend their beliefs by burning down churches, killing people, and destroying embassies. This path will not yield any results. The Muslims must ask themselves what they can do for humankind, before they demand that humankind respect them.
5 posted on 03/05/2006 5:07:06 PM PST by Fred Nerks (Read the bio THE LIFE OF MUHAMMAD free! Click Fred Nerks for link to my Page.)
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To: Delta 21

But if this is the case, it wouldn't be much of a war if we chose to fight all-out, would it?

Maybe that's why we're not bothering to fight all that hard.


6 posted on 03/05/2006 5:08:58 PM PST by proxy_user
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To: Delta 21
"The clash we are witnessing around the world is not ... a clash of civilizations. ... It is a clash between a mentality that belongs to the Middle Ages and another mentality..."
But each civilization is charaterized by its typical mentality. Indeed, it is precisely the difference between these mentalities which allows one to distinguish between the civilizations. Civilization could be defined as a sufficiently numerous, compact and cohesive sets of people possessing more or less similar [at least in its salient points] mentality and centered around it, over the period [millenia] such a mentality exists and [locally] predominates. Thus typical mentality IS a legitimate shorthand for its civilization.
7 posted on 03/05/2006 5:09:15 PM PST by GSlob
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To: GSlob

sets=set. A typo.


8 posted on 03/05/2006 5:10:16 PM PST by GSlob
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To: Delta 21

Al Jezeera is the official news and propaganda medium of AlQueda and other terrorist organizations world wide.

It is foolish to entertain any notion that any scintilla of fair or honest discussion or information exchange might occur here.

All utterances are terrorist inspired hog wash and serve to further the Muslim extremists cause of all out murder of all infidels. This shameful, horrible presence should be eliminated immediately.


9 posted on 03/05/2006 5:10:48 PM PST by CBart95
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To: Delta 21

Thanks for the link to the video. This lady has a lot of courage.


10 posted on 03/05/2006 5:24:43 PM PST by BW2221
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To: Delta 21
I've been convinced of this and have believed it for years. This war is WWIV: Islam vs. civilization.

Not "Islamofascists". Not Islamic "extremists". Not "insurgents" Not Islamic "tribes". By sins of omission or commission our problem is Islam. Period. Islam vs. civilization.

And if our world leaders (starting with President Bush) don't come to this conclusion this war will eventually kill millions and drag on for decades.

And I'm not an "alarmist". :-)

11 posted on 03/05/2006 5:32:30 PM PST by manwiththehands
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To: proxy_user
But if this is the case, it wouldn't be much of a war if we chose to fight all-out, would it?

Most of the mohammedans having memory of falling off terrified camels as Allied and Axis forces slugged it out are dead. Their decendants, @sses blown full of smoke from their imams just don't understand.

12 posted on 03/05/2006 5:38:18 PM PST by fso301
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To: Delta 21
That was a good clip. While watching it I had come to the conclusion she was a very eloquent Muslim heretic,a few frames later the camera goes to the Muslim who asks her if she is a heretic and condemns her.

Nothing wrong with being a heretic. But like most Muslim and Christian heretics they seem to want to cling to the religion, and want it to change to suit their beliefs.

Can't people just get out of a religion without trying to design another one to suit the times, and their idea of what the rules should be?

She did a good job of pointing out the problems with Islam and how other religions didn't behave as irrationally as Islamists in the way the Muslims interact with other non- Muslims..

But then again the Muslims assignment from God (Allah) isn't the same as yours. You have a different God you have a diferent assignment. In the meantime be prepared to defend yourself, family and country from Muslims.- tom

13 posted on 03/05/2006 6:03:16 PM PST by Capt. Tom (Don't confuse the Bushies with the dumb Republicans - Capt. Tom)
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To: CBart95; BW2221
Al-Jazeera TV is one of many sources that are monitored by MEMRI TV.

MEMRI TV founded in February 1998 to inform the debate over U.S. policy in the Middle East, MEMRI is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit, 501 (c)3 organization. MEMRI's headquarters is located in Washington, DC with branch offices in Berlin, London, Jerusalem, and Baghdad, and has a project active in Sweden. MEMRI research is translated to English, German, Hebrew, Italian, French, Spanish, and occasionally Turkish and Russian.

This woman making these claims on Al-Jazeera TV is definatly stirring the pot.

14 posted on 03/05/2006 6:03:52 PM PST by Delta 21 ( Democrats -- a 40 year war on poverty and still no exit strategy)
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To: manwiththehands
I've been convinced of this and have believed it for years. This war is WWIV: Islam vs. civilization...... Not "Islamofascists". Not Islamic "extremists". Not "insurgents" Not Islamic "tribes". By sins of omission or commission our problem is Islam. Period. Islam vs. civilization.......And if our world leaders (starting with President Bush) don't come to this conclusion this war will eventually kill millions and drag on for decades.

Either you have a very short memory or you haven't been paying attention. Before we ever went into Afghanistan or Iraq, Bush said the same thing. He specifically said this war will last 30 years or longer.

All that may have gotten lost along the way with the media and the Democrats trying to obfuscate the issue but Bush said it from the beginning and he has conducted himself accordingly.

15 posted on 03/05/2006 8:18:35 PM PST by Mind-numbed Robot (Not all that needs to be done, needs to be done by the government.)
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To: Delta 21

Thank you for the information,Chief.

And your service to our country.

Only you know how tiny those little cutters are.

And how rough those seas can be.

Very reassuring that someone of your calibre is on watch with us.


16 posted on 03/05/2006 9:08:28 PM PST by CBart95
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To: Delta 21

Thank you so very much!


17 posted on 03/05/2006 9:13:32 PM PST by caryatid (Jolie Blonde, 'gardez donc, quoi t'as fait ...)
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To: Fred Nerks
The Muslims must ask themselves what they can do for humankind, before they demand that humankind respect them.

EVOLVE!

THE AGENDA OF ISLAM - A WAR BETWEEN CIVILIZATIONS

18 posted on 03/06/2006 5:35:21 AM PST by USF (I see your Jihad and raise you a Crusade ™ © ®)
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To: Delta 21
Bernard Lewis says the same thing in his book, What Went Wrong?: The Clash Between Islam and Modernity in the Middle East
19 posted on 03/06/2006 5:39:09 AM PST by kabar
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To: Mind-numbed Robot

I don't see our fight against Islam as being as effective as it could be as long as we are kissing up to likes of UAE and calling Islam an "honorable" and "peaceful" religion, which Bush has done more than once.


20 posted on 03/06/2006 9:19:55 AM PST by manwiththehands
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To: manwiththehands

It is difficult to know which countries are friends and which are enemies. Your argument with Bush probably boils down to your opinion of Islam, whether all Muslims are evil and want to kill all non Muslims or whether those are just fringe Muslims. He has said he thinks they are the fringe.


21 posted on 03/06/2006 9:40:40 AM PST by Mind-numbed Robot (Not all that needs to be done, needs to be done by the government.)
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To: Mind-numbed Robot
We don't "tolerate" our own "religious" extremists here very well, do we? We don't tolerate "patriotic" extremists very well, either. I think we made that point with David Koresh and the Branch Davidians. And we were not very tolerant of Tim McVeigh.

There are over one billion Muslims in the world and I hear nothing from "mainstream Islam" condemning the "extremists" and doing more to keep their own side of the street cleaned. That leads me to believe that "mainstream Islam" is tolerant because they believe "extremism" is a legitimate part of their belief system.

I can't accept that.

22 posted on 03/06/2006 10:02:22 AM PST by manwiththehands
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To: manwiththehands
There have been a few post here on FR of Muslims condemning the extremists.

However, you don't see much dissent in Russia, China, Zimbabwe, or other non Muslim countries either. The governments of those countries encourage those who will beat and kill the dissenters so the government doesn't have to do it itself. In neighborhoods controlled by the Mafia you don't see much complaint either.

Bottom line, when you are dealing with people who will kill dissenter, usually after torturing them, then dissent is hard to find.
23 posted on 03/06/2006 11:55:08 AM PST by Mind-numbed Robot (Not all that needs to be done, needs to be done by the government.)
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To: manwiththehands

I've come to the place where I believe that Bush's labeling Islam "a religion of peace", is simply a diplomatic artifice that allows him to piss the Islamic nations off one-at-a-time rather than all at once. That way, he can engage a strategy that plays the not-pissed against the pissed; using that contrast as a tool to show on the world stage that the pissed are antiquated, barbaric and uncivilized countries that deserve, at best, to be scorned and marginalized in world affairs.

In that environment, then, we see the place of something like this proposed port deal, where we posture ourselves alongside the "good muslims who are behaving themselves nicely and deserve, therefore, to be rewarded". That whole deal becomes a bargaining chip with the entire muslim world that screams, "Get over yourselves and fall in line with the 21st Century and you, too, can become a porsperous and productive people." Yeah, the deal gives me the heebee-jeebees, and I want full visibility to a documented hierarchy of accountability before I'll rest easy with it, but it's a tool of global diplomacy, nonetheless. Further, Bush knows that there will be those muslim countries that won't rise to that kind of bait, and he'll just add them to the list somewhere below Iran and Syria.

The principle thing to keep central in mind, here, is that the WOT is less of an armed conflict and mroe of a global diplomatic chess match. The side that thinks out the most moves, the farthest ahead will eventually declare "Checkmate", regardless of whether any given move seems wise or foolish at a given moment.

__________________________

This has been an unapologetic expression of opinion to which any response may be made via FReepmail.

We now return you to your irregularly unscheduled Undead Thread, already in-progress.


24 posted on 03/06/2006 1:06:13 PM PST by HKMk23 (Tengo una remera del Che y no se por que.)
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To: HKMk23
Excellent points. Every single one. I agree.

Thanks for helping to expand my tunnel vision. That's why I'm here. :-)

25 posted on 03/06/2006 1:39:06 PM PST by manwiththehands
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To: Fred Nerks

"The Muslims must ask themselves what they can do for humankind, before they demand that humankind respect them."

You're absolutely right. I don't expect it to happen any time soon though.

The only invention the Muzzies ever made was the suicide bombing belt.


26 posted on 03/06/2006 4:57:12 PM PST by Hill of Tara
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To: Hill of Tara

"The only invention the Muzzies ever made was the suicide bombing belt."

I certainly can't think of anything else!


27 posted on 03/06/2006 5:13:40 PM PST by Fred Nerks (Read the bio THE LIFE OF MUHAMMAD free! Click Fred Nerks for link to my Page.)
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To: dennisw; Cachelot; Nix 2; veronica; Catspaw; knighthawk; Alouette; Optimist; weikel; Lent; GregB; ..
If you'd like to be on this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.

Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking on the Topic or Keyword Israel.

..................

28 posted on 03/07/2006 6:42:51 AM PST by SJackson (There is but one language which can be held to these people, and this is terror, William Eaton)
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To: Delta 21
I still believe this is a clash of civilizations and religion the mentality thing comes along with the other two.
29 posted on 03/07/2006 6:53:40 AM PST by Americanexpat (A strong democracy through citizen oversight.)
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2/21/2006 Clip No. 1050
Arab-American Psychologist Wafa Sultan: There Is No Clash of Civilizations but a Clash between the Mentality of the Middle Ages and That of the 21st Century

Following are excerpts from an interview with Arab-American psychologist Wafa Sultan. The interview was aired on Al-Jazeera TV on February 21, 2006
.

Wafa Sultan: The clash we are witnessing around the world is not a clash of religions, or a clash of civilizations. It is a clash between two opposites, between two eras. It is a clash between a mentality that belongs to the Middle Ages and another mentality that belongs to the 21st century. It is a clash between civilization and backwardness, between the civilized and the primitive, between barbarity and rationality. It is a clash between freedom and oppression, between democracy and dictatorship. It is a clash between human rights, on the one hand, and the violation of these rights, on other hand. It is a clash between those who treat women like beasts, and those who treat them like human beings. What we see today is not a clash of civilizations. Civilizations do not clash, but compete.

[...]

Host: I understand from your words that what is happening today is a clash between the culture of the West, and the backwardness and ignorance of the Muslims?

Wafa Sultan: Yes, that is what I mean.

[...]

Host: Who came up with the concept of a clash of civilizations? Was it not Samuel Huntington? It was not Bin Laden. I would like to discuss this issue, if you don't mind...

Wafa Sultan: The Muslims are the ones who began using this expression. The Muslims are the ones who began the clash of civilizations. The Prophet of Islam said: "I was ordered to fight the people until they believe in Allah and His Messenger." When the Muslims divided the people into Muslims and non-Muslims, and called to fight the others until they believe in what they themselves believe, they started this clash, and began this war. In order to start this war, they must reexamine their Islamic books and curricula, which are full of calls for takfir and fighting the infidels.

My colleague has said that he never offends other people's beliefs. What civilization on the face of this earth allows him to call other people by names that they did not choose for themselves? Once, he calls them Ahl Al-Dhimma, another time he calls them the "People of the Book," and yet another time he compares them to apes and pigs, or he calls the Christians "those who incur Allah's wrath." Who told you that they are "People of the Book"? They are not the People of the Book, they are people of many books. All the useful scientific books that you have today are theirs, the fruit of their free and creative thinking. What gives you the right to call them "those who incur Allah's wrath," or "those who have gone astray," and then come here and say that your religion commands you to refrain from offending the beliefs of others?

I am not a Christian, a Muslim, or a Jew. I am a secular human being. I do not believe in the supernatural, but I respect others' right to believe in it.

Dr. Ibrahim Al-Khouli: Are you a heretic?

Wafa Sultan: You can say whatever you like. I am a secular human being who does not believe in the supernatural...

Dr. Ibrahim Al-Khouli: If you are a heretic, there is no point in rebuking you, since you have blasphemed against Islam, the Prophet, and the Koran...

Wafa Sultan: These are personal matters that do not concern you.

[...]

Wafa Sultan: Brother, you can believe in stones, as long as you don't throw them at me. You are free to worship whoever you want, but other people's beliefs are not your concern, whether they believe that the Messiah is God, son of Mary, or that Satan is God, son of Mary. Let people have their beliefs.

[...]

Wafa Sultan: The Jews have come from the tragedy (of the Holocaust), and forced the world to respect them, with their knowledge, not with their terror, with their work, not their crying and yelling. Humanity owes most of the discoveries and science of the 19th and 20th centuries to Jewish scientists. 15 million people, scattered throughout the world, united and won their rights through work and knowledge. We have not seen a single Jew blow himself up in a German restaurant. We have not seen a single Jew destroy a church. We have not seen a single Jew protest by killing people. The Muslims have turned three Buddha statues into rubble. We have not seen a single Buddhist burn down a Mosque, kill a Muslim, or burn down an embassy. Only the Muslims defend their beliefs by burning down churches, killing people, and destroying embassies. This path will not yield any results. The Muslims must ask themselves what they can do for humankind, before they demand that humankind respect them.


30 posted on 03/27/2006 12:38:43 PM PST by Calpernia (Breederville.com)
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To: Delta 21

It's pessimists taking on optimists. The pessimists figure they won't win anyway and are as good as lost already, so what the heck.


31 posted on 03/27/2006 12:41:16 PM PST by RightWhale (pas de lieu, Rhone que nous)
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