The Muslim "culture of hate"

Nonie Darwish has written an extraordinary opinion piece exploring the roots of the rage and violence that have erupted over the publication of the Muhammed cartoons. Like Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Amir Taheri, Darwish is a critic of Islam who comes from within Islam. Her essay was published in the Telegraph a week ago, but I missed it, and perhaps others did as well, so here it is.

A brief excerpt:

As a young woman, I visited a Christian friend in Cairo during Friday prayers, and we both heard the verbal attacks on Christians and Jews from the loudspeakers outside the mosque. They said: 'May God destroy the infidels and the Jews, the enemies of God. We are not to befriend them or make treaties with them.' We heard worshippers respond 'Amen'. My friend looked scared; I was ashamed. That was when I first realised that something was very wrong in the way my religion was taught and practised. Sadly, the way I was raised was not unique. Hundreds of millions of other Muslims also have been raised with the same hatred of the West and Israel as a way to distract from the failings of their leaders.

Read the whole thing: We Were Brought Up to Hate--And We Do.