Video Review: Farewell Israel: Bush, Iran, and the Revolt of Islam
Farewell
Israel: Bush Iran, and the Revolt of Islam is a largely unbiased
examination of Islamic history and theology. Using Islamic art and an original
score, the 2 1/2 hour video condenses 15 centuries of history into an
information-packed documentary. Despite the title and DVD cover, this video is
not a hit-piece on Islam. The history of Islam is presented from the early days
of Mohammad, as he organized and conquered the Arabian peninsula through the
expansion of the empire in the Middle Ages, until it reached from Spain and
northern Africa to South Asia at the height of the Ottoman Empire. During this
time, conquered peoples were allowed to practice their own religions, although
they were subject to the jizya, a tax on non-Moslems, and generally given little
or no political power nor allowed to proselytize Moslems. According to Islam,
all other religions have some truth, although most have been corrupted.
Therefore, Islam is the only true religion and represents God's path. Defeats or
setbacks in Moslem conquests were attributed to drifting away from the straight
path, and were always followed by introspection and a call to faithfulness.
During the history of Islamic conquest, leaders (including Mohammad)
occasionally used treaties to buy time to gain a strategic advantage. The Arabic
word translated "peace" really has the meaning of "lack of conflict" and does
not have the meaning of another Arabic word that means "reconciliation."
Therefore, the Western concept of peace and harmony does not really apply to
what Moslem negotiators are really asking for.
Fast-forwarding to the present, the video makes the case that current Islamic strategy is to buy time with treaties in order to gain the upper hand militarily. The formation of a Jewish homeland in Israel is seen as an unacceptable intrusion into Palestine and a serious setback in the ultimate conquest of the world by Islam. Using file footage from current and past Islamic and U.S. leaders, the video builds the case that the current "peace" proposals are merely delaying strategies that play into the hands of Islamic leadership in their ultimate goal of the conquest of the Jews. This case is fairly well established. However, the video goes on to claim that Iran intends to develop an extensive ballistic capability to take out any Israeli capability to respond to an overwhelming missile attack. George Bush gets into the title because he is the latest U.S. president to encourage the adoption of "land for peace" proposals.
Farewell Israel is highly recommended as an unbiased crash course in the history of Islam. The last ten minutes of the video are somewhat more controversial, although the case that Islamists intend to wipe out Israel is fairly well documented through footage showing their own words. The video is broken up into chapters, so can be used in a short "Bible study" or Sunday School class. The video is not rated, but if it were, it would probably receive a PG or PG-13 rating due to limited graphic violence.
Farewell Israel: Bush Iran, and the Revolt of Islam
http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/farewell_israel.html
Last Modified March 10, 2008
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