Why Peace between Israel and any Muslim Regime is Impossible

By Prof. Paul Eidelberg

A candid review of Islam and democracy reveals basic and insurmountable contradictions between Israel and any Islamic regime:

(1) Whereas, freedom, including freedom of speech, is one of the two cardinal principles of democracy, Islam is strictly authoritarian, which is why Islamic media are state-controlled.

(2) Unlike democracy, whose other cardinal principle is equality, Islam is strictly hierarchical. Top-down leadership is a fundamental principle of Islamic theology. Authority runs down from Allah to Muhammad and from Muhammad to the imam, the ruler of the regime.

(3) Democracy is based on the primacy of consent or persuasion. This adorns democratic societies with a certain easy-goingness and civility. Not only are past grievances readily swept aside, but political opponents can be friends despite their differences. Differences are resolved by mutual concessions, and agreements are usually lasting. In contrast, Islamic culture is based on the primacy of coercion. Agreements between rival factions do not really terminate animosities, which is why such agreements are so short-lived.

(4) Because democracy is based on the primacy of consent, the pursuit of peace is the norm of democratic regimes. In contrast, because Islamic culture is based on the primacy of coercion, the foreign policy norm of Islamic regimes is intimidation and conquest. Jihad (holy war) is a basic Islamic principle, which is why Muslim violence will be found throughout the world.

(5) Whereas democracy is based on the primacy of the individual, Islamic culture is based on the primacy of the group—be it the village, or the extended family. The individual Muslim has no identity outside the group; it is to the group that he owes all his loyalty. This is one reason why internecine conflict has been endemic among Muslims throughout history.

(6) Contemporary democracy is regarded as a process by which individuals pursue their private interests and have diverse values or “lifestyles.” This is not the case of Islam, which binds everyone to the set of substantive values prescribed in the Quran and in Islamic law (the shariah).

(7) Whereas contemporary democracy is inclined toward moral relativism, Islam is based on absolutism. When moral relativism does not degenerate into moral reversal, contemporary democracy conduces to tolerance, whereas Islam conduces to intolerance. Admittedly, Islamic regimes tolerate non-Islamic minorities, but only as dhimmis–virtual pariahs.

(8) Democratic societies are preoccupied with the present (the Now). Conversely, Islamic culture exists under the aspect of eternity. Islamic mentality is dominated by the past, which is why revenge for past injuries is a dominant motif of the Islamic world. And given their group loyalty, Muslims are religiously bound to wreak vengeance against those who have slighted the honor of any Muslim.

(9) The openness or publicity found in democracy stands in striking contrast to the hiddeness, secrecy, and dissimulation (taqiyya) characteristic of Islam. As one intellectually liberated Muslim sociologist writes about Arabs: “Lying is a widespread habit among the Arabs, and they have a low idea of truth.”

(10) Whereas contemporary democracy is rooted in a mild secularism, Islamic culture is rooted in a harsh religion. Even Arab leaders who are not devout Muslims identify with the basic goals of Islam. The radical separation of religion and politics found in democracy is foreign to Islam.

(11) Whereas democracy–before its corruption by skepticism—is rooted in the Judeo-Christian concept of man’s creation in the image of God (Genesis 1:26), Islamic theology rejects that concept as blasphemous.

(12) Whereas democracy, consistent with Genesis 1:26, affirms the moral unity of mankind, Islam reduces non-Muslims to apes and dogs.

(13) Whereas democracy–before its corruption by moral relativism–extols the primacy of reason, Islamic theology exalts the primacy of will. Hence, it was not inconsistent with the unqualified or absolute omnipotence which Islam attributes to Allah that the Taliban should proclaim: “Throw reason to the dogs–it stinks of corruption.”

The preceding facts demonstrate that Islam and democracy are absolutely incompatible. This is why genuine peace between the “Palestinians” (i.e.) Muslims in the misnamed West Bank (i.e., Judea and Samaria), is impossible. This reduces PM Netanyahu’s “two state solution” to mere rhetoric or intellectual dishonesty.?