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Editorial See other Editorial Articles Title: Crusade in a New Setting? Arab and Muslim countries are being subjected to savage attacks, which are reminiscent of the brutalities of the Tartars of the Middle Ages or Crusaders before that. The only difference is that Israel takes the place of Tartars and Crusaders. The Western threat is also looming over Syria and Iran whom the West blames for the present bloodshed in the region. The West also continues meddling in Iraq and Afghanistan apart from creating trouble in Darfur and threatening Sudan with sanctions. The Westerners are also upset because the Islamic Courts forces have succeeded in bringing back considerable amount of peace and security to Somalia. The American-supported Israeli terror acts have, paradoxically, been unleashed in Palestine and Lebanon under the pretext of fighting international terror. People in the Middle East still remember US President George Bush using the word “Crusade” in a speech following the 9/11 attacks alluding to the centuries-old unjust wars of the Christian kings against the people in the Arab and Muslim countries in the Middle East. Though the president retracted his words later explaining it as a mistake in translation, the later events make one wonder whether the present day attacks were not the forerunners of the approaching crusades under new names. European colonialist kings with the prompting and blessings of the 11th century Christian religious leaders had set out to finishing off the uncivilized Muslims in the Middle East. The Crusades began in 1097 and the campaigns ended with the fall of Acre in 1291. In the first Crusade (1097 to 1099), called by Pope Urban II, Arabs lost Jerusalem and other holy places besides a number of coastal cities in the ancient Sham. The campaign was led by Raymond Godfrey of Bouillon, Duke of Lower Lorraine. In 1099 they captured the small Egyptian garrison in Jerusalem after a five-week long siege around the city. They massacred 70,000 people in the holy city. The victorious crusaders then wrote to the pope congratulating him on the capture of Jerusalem and the brutal bloodbath. They boasted in a letter that they had slaughtered such a large number of people that they feared they would drown in the victims’ blood. Goaded by Saint Bernard, King of France Louis VII and German Emperor Conrad III started the second crusade in 1147. The Seljuks inflicted a crushing defeat on them. Arabs defeated the Europeans in the crusade (1189-1192) led by German King Frederic Barbarossa, French King Philip Augustus and the king of England Richard I. The fourth crusade during the years 1202 to 1204 also had the same fate. It was launched with the order of Innocent III. Only low-profile European kings participated in it. In one of the campaigns Louis IX was caught a prisoner by Egyptians. The Mamluks of Egypt drove away all the crusaders and wiped them out of the region excepting a few small pockets on the Mediterranean coast. This is what happened in the old times and the history is likely to repeat. Instead of Roman popes the US president has, seemingly, been receiving divine inspirations to fight against Afghanistan and Iraq and it is likely to be followed by assaults on Syria and Iran as Lebanon has already been destroyed. With the support of the American Congress, Israel has been attacking Palestine and Lebanon with the most advanced weapons. In other words, the descendents of the European crusaders are attacking the present-day Muslims and Arabs unjustly. Israel is also paving the way for the US to make a “new” Middle East as the US secretary of state said just days ago. All the death and destruction in Lebanon, according to Condoleezza Rice, is the birth pangs of a new Middle East. I don’t think the Christian Zionists will ever succeed in it.
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