To Seek a Newer World

H/T New Media Journal

Mark Silverberg, Featured Writer
April 8, 2008

On September 11, 2001, this nation was attacked by an enemy whose vision of the future, whose culture and value system, and whose concepts of life and death are a universe apart from ours. In Gaza City earlier this month, an Israeli air strike killed two Hamas terrorists who were about to launch missiles at the Israeli cities of Sderot and Ashkelon. One of those killed was a son of senior Hamas leader Khalil al-Haya. At the funeral of his son, al-Haya said, "I thank God for this gift. This is the 10th member of my family to be martyred". And in Pakistan, a jihadist wrapped a baby in an explosive belt and detonated it killing scores of Muslims.

If it is not yet clear, the rules of war have changed. Until this enemy is vanquished, there can be no Islamic Renaissance. And unless this enemy is vanquished, the horrors of the 20th century will pale in the face of what lies ahead.

Whether we choose to believe it or not, we are engaged in the defining ideological war of the 21st century. But to defeat this enemy, we must first understand it, so let me begin with some history.

Historically, the enormous changes in the West that took place during and after the Renaissance in the 16th century barely made a ripple in the Arab world, and only with the dawn of the 20th century did the Arabs finally begin to realize the implications of their backwardness at which point, they chose to portray themselves as victims, searching for scapegoats and excuses rather than confront their own inadequacies.

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