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Because They Hate: A Survivor of Islamic Terror Warns America | 
 enlarge | Author: Brigitte Gabriel
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Category: Book
List Price: $23.95
Buy Used: $6.49
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Rating:  348 reviews
Sales Rank: 16803
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 272
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.8 x 0.9
ISBN: 0312358377
Dewey Decimal Number: 956.92044092
EAN: 9780312358372
ASIN: 0312358377
Publication Date: September 5, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: VERY GOOD HARD COVER WITH DUSTJACKET. LIGHT WEAR AND SOME UNDERLINING IN BOOK. READY TO SHIP.
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Product Description
Brigitte Gabriel lost her childhood to militant Islam. In 1975 she was ten years old and living in Southern Lebanon when militant Muslims from throughout the Middle East poured into her country and declared jihad against the Lebanese Christians. Lebanon was the only Christian influenced country in the Middle East, and the Lebanese Civil War was the first front in what has become the worldwide jihad of fundamentalist Islam against non-Muslim peoples. For seven years, Brigitte and her parents lived in an underground bomb shelter. They had no running water or electricity and very little food; at times they were reduced to boiling grass to survive.
Because They Hate is a political wake-up call told through a very personal memoir frame. Brigitte warns that the US is threatened by fundamentalist Islamic theology in the same way Lebanon was— radical Islam will stop at nothing short of domination of all non-Muslim countries. Gabriel saw this mission start in Lebanon, and she refuses to stand silently by while it happens here. Gabriel sees in the West a lack of understanding and a blatant ignorance of the ways and thinking of the Middle East. She also points out mistakes the West has made in consistently underestimating the single-mindedness with which fundamentalist Islam has pursued its goals over the past thirty years. Fiercely articulate and passionately committed, Gabriel tells her own story as well as outlines the history, social movements, and religious divisions that have led to this critical historical conflict.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 343 more reviews...
 First hand account of Islamist Evil September 14, 2006
Kendra
381 out of 451 found this review helpful
I had the opportunity to see Brigitte Gabriel speak the other night. She is an amazing person. I bought her book and read it within the next day. She has an important story to share and a talent for telling it.
Brigitte was raised a Maronite Christian in Lebanon but spent her formative years hiding with her parents in a bomb shelter. She saw her country destroyed by Muslims intent on Jihad and intent of the triumph of dar-al Islam.
Brigitte's history is compelling. She was raised in a society that was mostly tolerant and westernized-- to the point of being too tolerant of those that are intolerant (Muslims). This openness and tolerance and multiculturalist ideal was Lebanon's ruin. And, the free and open society the Lebanese prided themselves for having is, in effect, gone now and taken over by Islamofascist leaders (currently Hezbollah).
Brigitte reminds us (and teaches those that don't know) that the culture of Islam is truly incompatible with Western culture and Western ideals. Islam glorifies death and destruction in the name of Islam, or submission (to Allah). I am well-aware of those in the U.S. who do NOT want to recognize the truth and who do NOT want to recognize the threat we are facing. These people continually choose to ignore all the evidence that confronts them and ignore and denigrate those that speak the truth and share their stories.
The author's words of warning should be heeded. It seems those in the West continually ignore the Islamists' continual shouts of hatred and unequivocal warnings to achieve their goals of Islamic rule in addition to ignoring their continual attacks of war. The Islamists continually state their aims and act on it while the West-- at the risk of our own demise-- continually ignores the evidence that proves the Islamists are doing exactly what they say they are doing and will continue to do until their goal is achieved.
Eye popping opening September 8, 2006
Kat Bakhu (Albuquerque, NM United States)
285 out of 334 found this review helpful
This is a really great book. As I read it, I became aware that what is wrong with so many Americans (including me) is we are so uninformed, so uneducated about other parts of the world. I had little understanding, for example, of what the Lebanon "civil war" was all about. This book brought me up to speed on that and taught me so much much more. Reading the events of some 30 years ago seems very much like a deja vu for today. It's all so familiar. What happened then is happening now in exact parallel. I did not know, for example, how Lebanon of the 70s was so similar culturally (and governmentally) to the US of today. And how we are making the same mistakes that led to Lebanon's descent from a pinnacle of culture to hellish chaos.
Gabriel's story is so illuminating, so educational, so human, so revealing, so insightful passionate caring. It provided me with a still deeper picture of the true face of radical Islam than almost anything else I've read on the subject. It should be mentioned that the book is well written indeed, gripping and movingly paced. My thanks to Gabriel for writing this book, and my hope that her efforts not be wasted. She really deserves to be listened to.
It is NOT a small world after all! September 14, 2006
F. Rosenzweig Lives
75 out of 90 found this review helpful
In Disneyland at Anaheim, California, there is a ride called "Its a Small World After All." Visitors get into a small boat which goes thru a meandering tunnel, with dolls of children from all over the world singing the catchy theme song in their native languages. Each national grouping is oh-so-cute-looking, dressed in native costumes. You leave the attraction with a warm, fuzzy feeling that people all over this planet are basically the same, and want the same things out of life that we do. To this Kumbayaesque worldview, Brigitte Gabriel's book says over and over, there are evil people all about this planet who do NOT want the same things out of life that we want, and they are dying to kill us, to boot. In fact, too many of them actually want to see their own children die as homicide bombers -- also known in Islam as holy martyrs ("shaheeds") -- in the same fashion that we Westerners would like to see our kids grow up to be successful professionals.
Americans, especially those whose parents were born in the U.S., for the most part have no concept of how Muslims in most parts of the world view us, our society, our values, and our aspirations. On this score, Brigitte Gabriel is our agent of reality without peer.
There is a Jewish saying that one who talks from the heart will reach the heart of another. This book speaks from the author's big heart. You can read many excellent recent books on radical Islam, Mohammed, Arabic history and culture, but none have the personal, experiential, human interest dimension of this riveting book. Many of the points the author makes have already been expressed by her colleagues, such as Steven Emerson and Robert Spencer, who contributed well-deserved encomiums on the back dust-jacket of Brigitte's book. Nonetheless, every reader will come away from this book with a deeper and broader understanding of what looks like a fifty-year-plus clash of civilizations, maybe even worse than the Cold War, which unfortunately our children and grandchildren will be living with.
When we rang in the new millenium in 2000 with gigantic New Year's Eve parties in all the great cities of the developed world, most of us were looking forward to a better and happier new century than the last one; unfortunately, on September 11, 2001, it began to dawn on us that maybe we were in for something else. As one wag put it, "Looks like we're in for a long, long century."
Yes, it looks more and more like a good part of this century will be dominated by the clash of Jihadist Islamofascism with the liberal, tolerant values of Western Civilization. We must therefore arm ourselves with knowledge of this ruthless, barbaric and dedicated enemy of our civilization. We must learn what religious war entails, because the Islamists have declared one against us, and, in point of fact, have for a quarter century been waging warfare upon us (the Iranian hostage crisis of 1979-1980 was the opening salvo).
Help save America from those who want to return the globe to the Dark Ages! Buy this book, read it, and pass it on.
And always remember that Walt Disney purposefully put "Its a Small World After All" in the section of his theme park appropriately called Fantasyland.
Compelling....chilling September 13, 2006
Frank Bunyard (Elk Grove, CA USA)
66 out of 79 found this review helpful
Anyone who has seen Brigitte Gabriel speak knows that she is strikingly attractive and charismatic. Her words convey deep conviction, emotional intensity, intelligence and learning. She writes in the same "up close and personal" manner.
Her account of her shattered childhood in war-torn Lebanon in the 1970's is one of the great depictions of the horrors of war. How she survived intact is nothing short of a miracle. Her harrowing experiences are not related in a self-pitying way, but to show what has led to her sense of "calling."
Ms. Gabriel was indoctrinated with anti-Semitism during her childhood schooling. When her mother was injured during the Israeli-Palestine fighting in the 70's she had to accompany her in an ambulance to an Israeli hospital. The young Ms. Gabriel was afraid of the Jews she had been taught to fear and despise. When she and her mother were treated with compassion and respect by the Israeli medical staff it was, as she describes it, a life-changing experience.
This first encounter with Western culture and its freedom, decency and respect for the individual completely turned her mind around. She had never experienced anything like it in Arab or Islamic culture. She fills in the details in her book, but to make a long story short Brigitte Gabriel eventually became an American citizen.
Her autobiography covers the first 100 pages of the book. The remaining 134 pages are a masterful polemic against Islam. Not just "radical Islam" but Islam "in toto." She argues persuasively that there is no such thing as "moderate Islam." She asks: "Where is their voice? Are they really there?" "The only liberal social thinkers in the Muslim Arab Islamo-fascist world are the dead ones."
It's amazing how much material Ms. Gabrial packs into these pages. She doesn't waste or mince words. She lists over 30 acts of terror from 1985 to 2001. Terrorist organizations and activities are described in Sudan, Nigeria, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Thailand and elsewhere. Demographics are shown which reveal that within a few generations Muslims will have population pluralities and majorities to change the laws and Constitutions of Western countries, including the United States. Her specifics make her arguments incontrovertible.
The final chapter of the book is titled: "What Must Be Done To Protect Our Country?" In these pages Ms. Gabriel lists numerous practical solutions to counter the insidious Islamic invasion of the West. She discusses a number of areas that can be strengthened and improved. To name but a few these include immigration reform, naturalization procedures, human intelligence, and profiling.
The appearance of this book is an important event. Brigitte Gabriel is going to leave her mark on America and the world. Her calling, as she describes it at the book's close, is to "protect America, the dream that became my address."
 A dubious, historically inaccurate screed with one valid, yet obvious, point. February 14, 2007
B. Fulton (Salt Lake City, Utah USA)
65 out of 135 found this review helpful
The drive to protect the West from Eastern invaders predates Islam by centuries. Beginning with Herodotus' history of the Greeks' campaign against Persian "barbarians," we could say this impulse is as old as history itself. Pouring more fuel on the fire is Gabriel, who twists Lebanon's multi-faceted 1975-1990 conflict into a simplistic religious confrontation between the benign West and bloodthirsty Islam.
Few deny violent Islamic groups exist. The West and its modern values must be defended. I'm neither Christian, Jew nor Muslim, but a proud American concerned about our nation's "war on terror." I've read the book.
It's amazing to see five-star reviews from readers who believe, wrongly, that their understanding of the Middle East and current conflicts have been deepened by this 255-page book. Get real.
Gabriel takes astounding, irresponsible, liberties with Lebabon's history, leaves vast holes of cause and effect regarding ME history unmentioned, then unleashes enough vitriol to make her spittle jump off every page. Her sole redeeming point is her condemnation of Saudi-sponsored Wahhabi Islam, made possible by our reliance on Saudi oil--hardly big news. Elsewhere, she unfairly vilifies the entire Muslim world and hints broadly that U.S. freedoms and the First Amendment--ironically lauded as the "freedom" making her book possible--must be curtailed. On p. 220 she advocates treason charges against Democratic leadership and anyone in the press who disagrees with her dubious, nebulous strategy of all-out war on Muslims.
And you thought it was terrorists who hated our freedoms! Hers are the recommendations of a demagogue, and toxic to democracy. Gabriel states hundreds of Muslims have been convicted on U.S. soil, but that's not good enough. She wants "wide presidential powers," warning that Muslims "are using our laws, Bill of Rights, Constitution and fair-mindedness to plot our destruction." Sorry, but the day we abandon freedom in favor of her war is the day terrorists may declare authentic victory. She's fallen into their hands most unwittingly. Her curt dismissal of Abu Ghraib, resulting in the conviction of 12 U.S. servicemen, reveals she has no interest in the United States' moral reputation, much less ethics.
Her personal experience during the Lebanese war--bunkered down as bombs fall, eating weeds, using liquor as medicine--adds narrative punch, but can't support her thesis that all Muslims, "will unite in a hideous mass to achieve their common goal of imposing Islam on the world." Right. Harrowing accounts of the same war could be written by thousands of Lebanese be they Sunni, Shia, Druze or Maronite. As for her thesis, anyone who knows the Middle East, Islam, or even watches the news knows Arab unity, not to mention the unity of Islam's "umma," is a pipe dream.
Gabriel employs the term "political correctness" to malign anyone granting Muslims or the Arab world "grievances." Well, people should argue from events and history, or go home. Gabriel's no historian. Many of her footnotes--I've checked and read them all--can't support her assertions, or reveal a biased choice of information. Disparaging Palestinians, she asserts the long-debunked myth that they left their land and homes at the broadcast urging of Arab leaders during the 1948 war. Wrong.
If Gabriel was interested in truth, she'd have given a brief synopsis of Lebanon's history. Here's a short version:
Just as Britain carved Iraq out of the Ottoman Empire to disastrous effect, France carved Lebanon out of Syria to fortify its position with Maronite Christians. Problem was, just as France consolidated its power in Syria through the installation of minority Alawites against the Sunnis, it quelled Lebanese Sunni interests by partnering with Maronites. However, France added only enough Muslims to Lebanon's population to make Maronites dependent on its outside assistance. Many in Lebanon longed for ties to Syria as the Maronites enjoyed French patronage. Meanwhile, Shias in the south languished in poverty. Following Israel's 1948 founding Palestinian refugees poured into Lebanon. Christian Palestinians were largely absorbed, leaving Palestinian Muslims in refugee camps. Outnumbered by Muslims, many Maronites resisted calls for a new census that would realign power, but even among Maronites there was debate about how much freedom should be granted Palestinian refugees. Some were pro-Palestinian. Due to Palestinian attacks from Lebanon into Israel, Israeli military incursions became common, resulting in large numbers of displaced people. Finally, Israel in 1982 mounted a full-scale invasion of Lebanon resulting in widespread death and destruction.
Maronites and Palestinians fought and killed each other. Lebanese Shias fought and killed Sunni Palestinians. Maronite Phalange united with Israelis to kill Palestinians. The Shias fought one another. The Maronite factions of General Aoun and Harawi fought each other. Maronite Phalange decimated Chamoun's Maronite Tigers militia, and Maronite Habib Tanious Shartouni assassinated Maronite President Bashir Gemayel. The Druze formed the LNM against the Maronites. Brutalized at the hands of the Israeli and Lebanese Army, the Shias later united under Hizbullah with assistance from Iran's Islamic revolution, itself spawned by the UK/US-led 1953 overthrow of Iran's *democratically* elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadeq. As Ehud Barak commented July 2006 during Israel's latest confrontation, "When we entered Lebanon ... there was no Hizbullah. We were accepted with perfumed rice and flowers by the Shia in the south. It was our presence there that created Hizbollah."
Lebanon's tragic situation was finding itself in the crossfire of Israel, the PLO, and Palestinian refugees, even as it struggled internally. France manipulated rival religious groups to its colonial advantage. Israel created the Palestinian refugee problem. Palestinian fedayeen committed their share of atrocities, yet Gabriel lays ALL blame at Muslim feet.
It's simply galling she recasts this complicated scenario into such simplistic, opportunistic terms as "Jihad vs. the West."
Her book cannot point the way forward in the war on terror. That's because it does not acknowledge true events of the past.
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