Now Islamists who believe in a toxic combination of pro-Islam and anti-West have taken over.
Watch my full conversation with Florence Bergeaud-Blackler here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFW-...
It wasnât always like this. There was a time when you saw women in Muslim-majority countries wearing swimsuits on public beaches, going to university. There was a time where Islamic countries were embracing progressive ideals, moving forwards not backwards.
Itâs like being encased in cement, and sometimes thereâs a small crack, and a bit of light comes in. But then you return to the mosque or the ideological circle, and the cement covers you again.
Itâs happened in Syria, Gaza, and throughout the Muslim world. This surreal alliance is very old. As someone who was part of a cult herself, I can understand what it feels like when your mind is held captive by ideology, when facts, logic, and reality are outside your consciousness.
The Islamic revolution in Iran succeeded thanks to communist supporters (though of course the Iranian students who wanted to fight the monarchy and gain political freedom were later imprisoned and executed by their âliberatorsâ on the charge of atheism).
The alliance between the left and Islam isnât new.
People in the West fear being labeled âIslamophobicâ more than anything else.
People began policing each other: 'Why donât you eat halal? Why arenât you wearing a hijab?' The option of being a moderate Muslim disappeared.
Everyone suddenly became much more religious. Even in Western countries, mosques transformed from community spaces into places where they would feed you often violent and misogynistic religious and political indoctrination.
When my mother grew up in Egypt, you didnât see hijabs everywhere. Maybe in villages, on older women, but not in big cities or universities. Then, in the early 1980s, the idea of political Islam became popular.
I felt so vulnerable. I had to learn how to wear clothesâskirts, dresses, shorts, jeans, shirts. I discovered which colors I liked because until then, I only wore black. I learned how to care for my hair, how to apply makeup. It all felt so strange.
Reigniting my thoughtsâwow. That was the best partâremoving the mental chains.
Removing the physical chains was more difficult. Taking off the hijab, showing my face. At first, I felt everyone was staring at me.
When I left my former life married to an Al-Qaeda terrorist, I gained the freedom to think, to question. It was intoxicating. Learning, asking questionsâit was delightful. I couldnât stop. Iâm an incredibly curious person, and all my life, I had to suppress that trait to survive.
As a woman in Islam, if you dare to be noticed in any way, itâs considered shameful.
The ârationaleâ is that if your voice is beautiful, it could âdrive a man crazy,âwhich might lead him to assault you. But ultimately, the goal is to silence you so you donât ask questions. (3/3)
I remember once asking my mother what I should do in an emergency. She told me, 'Just say one word quickly.' Because letting a man hear your voice is like letting him see your legs or your breasts.
(2/3)
Growing up, another word I heard often was âAwrah,â which means shameful nakedness. Not just your body or hair, even your voice is Awrah. If youâre a woman, merely speaking out loud is shameful. Singing is especially immoral. In Iran, women are imprisoned for singing. (1/3)
When my dad died, I mourned mostly for what could have been in my relationship with him.âŻNow IâŻam mourning for what could have been for his homeland.
Mercifully, my dad died thinking that one day his dream of freeing his homeland from the clutches of Hamas so the Gazan people could breathe and flourish might be realized. He didnât have to endure the heartbreak of seeing the reality playing out today.
I will likely never set eyes on his beloved olive trees. They will return to the earth as he has.
It could have been so different. Ignorance and religious zealotry ripped away any chance that Gaza had.
I fear none of us will ever get to see Gaza as an independent state freed from the clutches of terrorists. I will never see my familyâs two buildings there that my father so desperately wanted me to visit. They probably wonât be left standing.
It is Gazans who will never recover. It is Gazans who will have to give up on their dream of a homeland forever.
Sadly, Hamas will likely continue its destruction. It is funding will still flow in from the Islamic regime of Iran, though perhaps it will need to rebrand under a different name. Like the mythic Hydra, it will grow two heads when this one is cut off.
I have spoken to hundreds of women who have had similar experiences across the Westâwho have been let down by law enforcement because of cultural relativism, the progressive ideal that we shouldnât hold other cultures to our own standards, even when those standards are the law.
This Saturday (February 1st), Iâll be joining Dawn Neesom on GB News (UK) to discuss No Hijab Day. Itâs about empowering women in oppressive Islamic societies and communities with the freedom to choose.
The interview is happening at 12:30 London time. Donât miss it!
We need to reclaim these terms â freedom, justice, freedom, resistance. We can no longer stand by while the minds of our young are corrupted with illiberal, evil, murderous ideas.
He was lauded by the mujaheddin, glorified in Afghanistan, praised by Bin Laden. But back then, the Western world wasnât celebrating him. Today you have so-called âsocial justiceâ activists on university campuses openly celebrating Hamas and supporting the Iranian-led âaxis of resistanceâ.
Things have regressed badly in the West. As many of you know, my ex-husband husband was a leading al-Qaida operative. He truly believed he was doing the right thing, doing Godâs work on earth. He didnât see killing innocent people as wrong, he saw it was something to be celebrated.
Today, Muslim boys are getting the same message east and west: be a âfreedom fighterâ, fight for the âresistanceâ, kill Jews â and donât worry, we have your back!
