Brigitte Gabriel (born 1965) is a Lebanese American journalist, author and speaker on Islam and the Middle East. She claims to voice "what many in America are thinking but afraid to say out loud, for fear of being labeled a racist, bigot, Islamophobic, or intolerant." She frequently lectures to American conservative-leaning organizations such as The Heritage Foundation, Christians United for Israel, Evangelicals and Jewish groups.
Gabriel comments that "anyone who voices his or her opinion contrary to 'politically correct think' is immediately tagged" a "racist" or "bigot" and that this has resulted in a "social paranoia which discourages free thought and expression." Moreover, she states that societies and cultures must be held accountable for their actions and that "by not judging others... we have helped create the monsters we are dealing with today."
In order to promote such views, Gabriel founded the American Congress For Truth and ACT! for America so that citizens may "Fearlessly speak out in defense of America, Israel and Western civilization."
Early life
Brigitte Gabriel was born in 1965 in Lebanon to a Christian family.According to Gabriel, during the Lebanese Civil War, militants launched an assault on a Lebanese military base near her family's house and bombed her home during a national attempt to overrun the Lebanese government. In April 1975 and following the collapse of the Lebanese Army, many Lebanese Christian militiamen found themselves defending their own homes and were heavily engaged in street fights against the Palestinian militias and the Lebanese National Movement(Leftist). Just ten years old at the time, Brigitte was severely injured and spent 2 1/2 months in a hospital recovering.Gabriel was the only child of elderly parents. Their life savings were destroyed in the bombings, as well as their money, their restaurant and their rental rooms.
Gabriel reports that she and her parents were forced to live in an 8'x10' bomb shelter underground for seven years with only a small kerosene heater, no sanitary systems, no electricity or running water and little food.To get water she states that she had to crawl in a ditch alongside a road to a spring in order to evade Muslim snipers.
Later, in 1978, Gabriel's says a man warned her family of an impending attack on Christians by militias. She says that her life was saved that night when Israelis invaded Lebanon in Operation Litani. Later, her mother was seriously injured and was taken to an Israeli hospital where Gabriel noted the humanity of the Israelis in contrast to the propaganda against the Jews she says she saw as a child.
Career
Gabriel is a former news anchor for “World News”, the Arabic evening news broadcast for Middle East Television a Christian television station seen throughout Israel, Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. She covered the Israeli withdrawal from central Lebanon, the Israeli Security Zone and the Palestinian uprising in the West Bank and Gaza.Gabriel emigrated to the United States in 1989 and founded a television production, marketing and advertising agency.
Gabriel is the founder of the conservative ACT! (American Congress for Truth) for America, a non-profit issues advocacy organization. ACT! for America has hundreds of chapters across America and members in 20 countries outside of America.
Gabriel is a member of the Board of Advisors of the Intelligence Summit and lectures nationally and internationally on Global Terrorism. She has addressed former Prime Minister of Australia John Howard, Members of the U.S. Congress, The Joint Forces Staff College, The United States Special Operations Command, the FBI and members of the House of Commons in London.
She is the author of the New York Times Bestseller BECAUSE THEY HATE: A Survivor of Terror Warns America, and THEY MUST BE STOPPED: Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and How We Can Do It. She is a regular guest analyst on Fox News Channel, CNN, MSNBC and various radio stations daily across America.
"Because They Hate" was put on the reading list at the FBI Academy and was assigned as mandatory reading for Navy SEALs heading to the Middle East.
Criticisms of Islam
Gabriel is critical of Islam and believes that "the degraded state of Arab societies is caused by Islam. It kills self-expression, self-improvement, and empowerment because the religion demands that Islam be the center of one's life and existence, and it dictates how you should be, how you should live."She believes that Arab Muslims are "lagging behind" because of social and religious values. And as a result of these values, "they have an ingrained corruption that runs throughout their societies. They respect craftiness and deceit over honesty and virtue. They are consumed with hate for one another."
Furthermore, she points out that "Islamic terrorists the world over, whom we characterize as fanatics, are really just very devout followers of Muhammad. They are following his example and doing exactly what the Koran teaches and their mullahs exhort them to do with a daily diet of righteous jihad."
Since "Muslims consider the Koran the word of God and Muhammad the perfect model", she views Islamic terrorism as being borne out from Muhammad's behavior as a prophet and founder of Islam, who "was a warrior who preached violence and the slaughter of thousands in establishing and spreading Islam."
In stating these points, Gabriel warns non-believers that as "infidels" they should be utmostly concerned since "the prophet Mohammed, a successful military leader who led his Muslim army against non-Muslims, is an inspiration to almost a billion people around the world."In defense of America, Israel and Western civilization
Gabriel is critical of Americans who "find all sorts of things wrong with America", who "badmouth and put down our culture, government, and country", while having "never experienced life in an oppressive culture or under an oppressive leadership such as is found in the Middle East."
She believes that Americans should "acknowledge that our Western culture is.. better than others", and not "be afraid to stand up and lift your head and be proud of what America and Western culture stand for."
While "all men are created equal", Gabriel points out that "societies and cultures are not created and do not develop equally." "It is not politicallly correct to say that our Western societies are better than the Muslim Arab societies, but we are, we have been, and we always will be."
In stating this point, Gabriel views Western culture as being "superior" to Muslim Arab ones, "not because of our wealth but because of the way we think and live, and the values we hold dear and pass on to our future generations."
In viewing America as "a powerful and great nation" possessing "superior.. culture and values", Gabriel sees the entitlements that American Western culture has bestowed through "the Judeo-Christian value system" and the ideals of the Founding Fathers, who "worked to establish rights for the individual, rights that did not exist under other forms of government at that time."
This disparity in Muslim Arab cultures imbued with "religious hatred, humiliation, and resentment are the driving factors behind the Arab–Israeli conflict", where "radical Islamic supremacism... has come to the surface, overshadowing the nationalist rationale and moving on, seeking bigger game in the West."
In seeking the destruction of the United States, the radical Islamists "know that if America, the keystone, falls, then the arch of Western civilization will collapse... of perhaps greater symbolic importance, is the destruction of the state of Israel."
Since the destruction of Israel is seen as "a parallel strategic objective", Gabriel views the survival of Israel as being of paramount importance as a vanguard of Western culture and as "the only Western-style nation in the Middle East, one that Arabs despise, feel threatened by, and vow to destroy."With the rise of Islamic terrorism in the West, Gabriel warns that "Israel and the United States are not separate targets of Islamic terrorism", but rather "Israel and the United States share the [same] bull's-eye."
Gabriel in the media
Gabriel has been accused of engaging in Islamophobia by journalist Pierre Tristam, a Lebanese Christian who accuses her of making "a career out vilifying Muslims".A 2008 interview with Ms. Gabriel in the New York Times Magazine described Ms. Gabriel as a "radical Islamophobe" in its table of contents. She has also been criticized for making blanket statements about Muslims such as "By today's standards, the 21st-century standards, Muslim people have less to contribute than their counterparts in civilised nations."
Gabriel supports an open and honest dialogue of the ideology of Islam and in a symposium held in January 2009 titled "Homegrown Jihadis" by FrontPage Magazine, she stated: "Moderate Muslims must organize and engage those enlightened, educated and westernized Muslims in the community to begin a dialogue to discuss the possibility of reform in Islam just as Christianity and Judaism have been reformed."
Books by Brigitte Gabriel
Because They HateBecause They Hate: A Survivor of Terror Warns America. St. Martin's Press. 2006-09-05. ISBN 0312358377.
In her first book Gabriel discusses her experiences as a Maronite Christian living in Lebanon during the civil war between Lebanese Christians and Muslims in the 1970s. She describes the story of her family and her childhood, hiding in a bomb shelter. She details her opinions that her country's inherent multicultural acceptance of all faiths and cultures including the then dominant Lebanese Christian phalangists, led to Lebanon's ruin by the continuous attacks from indigenous Muslims, other Christian groups and migrant Palestinians.
The book made the The New York Times hardcover best seller list
They Must Be Stopped
Gabriel, Brigitte (2008-08-19) (in English). They Must Be Stopped: Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and How We Can Do It. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 9780312383633. Radical Islamists are telling us exactly where they stand and what are their intentions. We are refusing to understand their simple words and how serious they are in their faith and its commandments.
Articles and speeches
* Appeasement Never Works* Because They Hate
* CBS Infinity Radio Uses 'Emotions' to Stifle Truth of Anti-Terror Conference
* Canada’s Unholy Alliance
* Exclusive: Al-Qaeda Decapitated in Iraq
* FrontpageMag articles by Brigitte Gabriel
* Freedom's Promise
* Family Security Matters
* I Believed the Lies about Israel
* Muslims Muzzling Memphis
* Speech delivered at the Duke University Counter Terrorism Speak-Out
* Speech at Columbia University : Environments of Hate: Indoctrination in the Arab World and Propaganda Advocacy in Americas University Classrooms
* Speech excerpts delivered at the Intelligence Summit in Washington DC
* Thank You Israel
* What the Arab World Thinks
Interviews and TV appearances
* Phyllis Chesler, "A Survivor of Palestinian Tyranny," FrontPageMag.com (phyllis-chesler.com), October 13, 2004.* Jamie Glazov, "Islam’s Torture of Lebanon," FrontPageMag.com, August 11, 2005. Interview with Gabriel.
* Transcript: "Crisis in the Middle East; Refugees Flood to Cyprus; Nashrallah's Popularity Rising," CNN American Morning, July 19, 2006.
* Jerry Gordon, "Listen to Brigitte Gabriel and Jerry Gordon of ACT," Israpundit, July 30, 2006.
* "The Atlas Interview: Brigitte Gabriel," Atlas Shrugs, July 31, 2006.
* "Watch Brigitte Gabriel on FoxNews Cashin’ In," Israpundit, August 4, 2006.
* "Recap of Saturday, August 12," Fox News, posted August 14, 2006: Gabriel: "The Russians are using the Arabs and letting them do the dirty work fighting America and Israel."
* "The Crusader, August 15, 2008" "The New York Times", August 15, 2008. "This is the way they are taking over the West. They are doing it culturally inch by inch. They don’t need to fire one bullet. Look what is happening in Europe. Do we want to become like “Eurabia”?"
* "Obsession" Movie
* Real Time with Bill Maher, HBO, February 20, 2009.
