An Arab Christian on Islamic Ideology, Religious Freedom and Israeli Politics

Nineteen seats for the Arab parties, and they all\ talk about Islamic ideology in politics, and there are Muslims who really don't understand why it scares us. So, as an Arab myself, I'll explain it to you.

First of all, I'm Christian. I know very well that Arab doesn't necessarily mean Muslim, and Muslim doesn't necessarily mean extremist, but listen to this for a moment.

Would you still happily kill me? Absolutely. One hundred percent.

They sat for an hour and a half on a podcast.

He said the interviewer was a respectful, decent person, and still, if he were gay or mocked the Prophet, he'd kill him, one hundred percent.

And he said this about anyone who leaves Islam.

I would torture them.\ I would make their death hell for them.

This is what my religion teaches. So I checked the sources myself.

In Bukhari,\ the most authoritative collection in Sunni Islam, it says that whoever changes their religion should be killed explicitly, and in the Quran, in Surah Nine, there is a command to fight the Jews and Christians until they pay They will be taxed and humiliated.

Again, there are plenty of Muslims who don't live like that, but it's written, and that's what extremists quote. Think about it.

Ra'am grew out of an Islamic religious movement.

The other branch of that movement was outlawed in 2015 because of its ties to Hamas, and when its leader, Raed Salah, went to prison for incitement to terrorism, Mansour Abbas was there to accompany him.

Abbas later said that Israel is the nation- state of the Jewish people and announced he was severing ties with the Muslim Brotherhood.

So wait, which of the two is true? Because that's exactly our concern, and that concern also has a history, by the way.

In 1994, a few days after signing an agreement with Israel, Arafat gave a speech at a mosque and explained that the agreement was like the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, a temporary truce Muhammad signed with his enemies, and two years later he conquered Mecca.

In front of the whole world, he spoke of peace, and to his own audience, of the first stage of the plan. And I'm not saying Abbas is Arafat.

I'm saying this is exactly what scares us, and that there are also citizens here who are Arabs and refuse to say “Israel,” and call it “Palestine,” who celebrate when they murder us and rejoice when missiles are fired at us.

Don't be surprised that people are afraid.

And lest we be mistaken, no, Christians too did horrific things. During the Crusades, for example, they massacred entire Jewish communities and I don't hide that. But when Simon Peter, a disciple of Jesus, drew a sword, Jesus told him, “Put your sword back in its place.”

Anyone who killed in Jesus' name broke his laws, and the guy in the clip didn't break any law.

He said himself, “This is what my religion teaches.”

Now, for Jews, that doesn't mean hating your neighbor It means understanding the idea and not being afraid to talk about it.

And to Muslims, you were created in the image of God, exactly like me, and I respect every one of you, but I'm not willing to lie about what is written, and I invite every believing Muslim who thinks I'm wrong to a filmed,

respectful discussion. So answer one question honestly for yourselves.

If you want to leave Islam tomorrow, will you be free?

And if this ideology doesn't even allow its believers to leave, how are we supposed to trust it to let us live alongside it in peace?