Standing Up at the Muslim March Against Terror

Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi, FrontPageMagazine.com:

Despotic Islamist regimes that brutally terrorize their own people today have no qualms about exporting their brand of terror to the West.

Iran serves as a clear example of this phenomenon: Both domestically and internationally, terrorism has become the main policy instrument of the mullahs, who have hijacked Iran’s natural resources to finance their culture of death. These Islamist tyrants recruit innocent and devoted believers who have been coerced into doing their dirty work for them. This was demonstrated only a few weeks ago when Palestinian women, known as the Daughters of Zeytoon, were corralled to Tehran for a “celebration” of their volunteering for suicide missions.

Terrorism is generally defined as the ideologically or politically motivated use, or threatened use, of force or violence against people, with the intent to intimidate or coerce. By this or any other accepted definition of terrorism, the Islamic Republic of Iran, since its inception, has been a terrorist regime.

European powers have tolerated regimes such as Iran in exchange for cheap oil and gas. Even more, the neo-colonialist Europeans have helped perpetuate the Islamist establishment, giving it an aura of international legitimacy in order to do lucrative business with the mullahs.

The people of Iran have not benefited from this economic interchange with the West: After 26 years of Islamist rule, the economy of the nation is ruined; the unemployment rate is close to 40 percent; and rampant inflation bodes ill for future growth. The clerical elites, on the other hand, by investing overseas in everything from drug running to legitimate businesses, have accumulated immense fortunes.

The events that have unfolded since January—the massive participation in the first free election in Iraq; the overturning of a fraudulent election in Ukraine, which brought true democracy to the Ukrainian people; and the popular protest in Lebanon against the de facto Syrian rulers—all show that people everywhere will participate in the democratic process if given the chance. Democracy is not a luxury for the few. It is the true aspiration of the majority. And this is especially true in the Middle East.

The mullahs of Iran know that their end is near. They will try everything in their power to postpone that end, using their traditional smoke-and-mirror games with the West as well as terrorist tactics. But this time they won’t hesitate to cross the line and resort to extreme expedients, such as nuclear bombs, to ensure their survival.

And once again, European powers are doing very little, if anything, to stop them. As the wonderful Amir Taheri wrote in one of his articles: “The EU is run by techno-bureaucrats masquerading as politicians. The techno-bureaucrats willfully refuse to conceive of an adversary that does not play the game by his rules. We are witnessing a clash of cultures.” Neither Europe’s appeasement of the mullahs, nor its willingness to turn a blind eye to the plight of the people of Iran and the hideous human rights abuses visited upon them by the regime, has contributed to increased security. Rather, it has contributed to the weakening of security not only in the Middle East, but also in the West, which is the ultimate target of the Mullahs’ Islamist fury. Iran’s Islamic regime is now an imminent threat to the citizens of Europe itself.

The Islamic regime’s rapid deployment of nuclear weapons has also become a huge and looming threat to the world. On May 13, the regime once again faked out the world, promising to stop enriching Uranium. And the Europeans once again believed this. Now they are essentially giving Iran more time to construct its doomsday machines on the sly. These weapons, whose technology and materials come from North Korea, China, Russia, Germany, Pakistan and Libya, will be inevitably used against the West and its’ allies. They will be used against anyone who dares stand in the Islamists’ way.

On June 17, another fake election will take place in Iran. Only the self-elected mullahs and their sycophants will be running for “presidency.” The people of Iran have made it more than clear that they will boycott this election, just as they did the February 2004 parliamentary elections that ousted the so-called “reformists.”

While the daily life goes on in the West, the terrorists find new and modern ways to establish their antiquated and diabolical schemes. Agents and spies of the terrorist regime mill about among us freely here in Washington, deceiving well-meaning and usually very under-informed Westerners with their lies. They infiltrate opposition movements active in the West; they bribe journalists and politicians to spin their lies. They systematically sabotage all genuine initiatives to expose the true nature of Islamism, using the freedom enjoyed by open societies to their advantage—and, ultimately, to undermine democracy. READ MORE

A suicide bomber who killers innocent civilians is indeed committing terrorism. But terrorism is also perpetrated in a more subtle way. For instance, by defending the status quo in the Middle East, and by advocating appeasement and engagement with tyrants, Western politicians and media are, in effect, condoning terrorism.

We are here today to denounce terrorism and its use by the Islamist establishment and their Cuban, Venezuelan, and North Korean allies to perpetuate hate and fear around the world. We ask our friends around the world who wish to live in peace, harmony and devotion to a kind and loving God to stand in solidarity with us today in confronting these assassins who refuse to celebrate diversity.

The Middle East has earned its freedom. We wish to impress upon the world that no ideology is worth the sacrifice of human rights and peace. Let’s hold them to this simple canon: Do unto others as you would have them do onto you!

The above is a speech by human rights activist Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi at the Muslim March Against Terror, hosted by Free Muslims Against Terror, at Washington D.C. this past weekend – The Editors.