Word-Strong

Over Shabbat dinner last Friday in Las Vegas, a sweet lady turned to me and said: "So Rawan, your mother tongue is Farsi, right?" I looked at her, speechless. Finally I said, "Why would it be? I'm half Syrian, half Lebanese. Arabic is my mother tongue." "Okay, so these are two different languages," she said. I would have thought that since 9/11, Americans knew Arabic is a language: the language of the Quran and of the Arab world. I didn't like my reaction. Jet-lagged or not, I told myself, I should find the patience to respond gracefully. Then another American Jew asked me to explain the difference between Sunni and Shia Muslims. I told him to ask the internet. I could be nicer, but I don't want to be. I am running low on patience. Political Islam destroyed the Middle East we escaped, and it intends to take over the West where we settled. Every once in a while, a horrific attack makes the news. We watch the culture transform. We watch our backs, and we watch what our children are taught. October 7 was a declaration of war on Western civilization. Yet most people still struggle to understand why the US attacked Iran. They can't connect the dots, not even between Hamas and the IRGC, or between Qatar and progressive students' support for the Palestinian cause. The masses are enchanted, and they are opening the doors to the enemy voluntarily. Across from the Bundestag, a German throws his flag on the ground and raises the Palestinian flag in its place. Across Europe, feminists side with the misogynistic regime in Iran. And in our bastion of freedom, the United States, Mamdani is mayor of New York and El-Sayed has just been elected the first Muslim senator in American history. Many Michigan Jews refused to vote for him. But nearly six in ten of those who voted early still did. Atheists are siding with jihadists. Since October 7, I have spent endless nights in dusty hotels around the world instead of in my comfortable home with my child. We are at war, and I owe him a fight for his future, and for the future of his children and their children. I am doing all I can to share my insights, raise awareness and say out loud what many won't. Including hundreds of hours on planes, in trains, on hair and make up. Trivialities, logistics, emails and comments. So help me, will you? Since we are at war, at least take the time to learn the basics, so you can understand what is happening around us, to us, and ultimately to future generations. Learn about political Islam and its history. Learn about the feud between Sunnis and Shia. Learn what happened in Iran in 1979. Learn about the Jews: their relationship with the Prophet Muhammad, their Temple, their Jerusalem. Learn about Al-Aqsa and why Islamists are obsessed with that mosque. If I couldn't be bothered to learn, I would have supported the Palestinian cause. It's simple, easy, convenient and popular. It's also dangerous, because in the name of the Palestinian cause we will be stripped of basic freedoms you take for granted. Sooner or later, you too will lose the luxury of ignorance. By then, lamenting won't help us much.