Hamas War

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

ISIS for Dummies

I'm not quite sure when the ISIS hit the headlines, but suddenly I kept finding people referring to it, and I wasn't quite sure what ISIS is. Call me a dummy!

Lihavdil, to differentiate, it seemed like the rise of canola oil, an oil I never went for. In Israel there's the soy oil, which is the standard, like the old American innocuous "vegetable oil." I can see how Americans would go for an oil that has a specific sounding name, rather than the stuff squeezed out of reject vegetables and whatever. Sudenly "everyone" was buying canola but me.

Now for the past few weeks, starting sometime around this recent war, I began seeing frightening references to this ISIS, and this morning I decided that the time has come to find out what everyone is so scared of.

Here's a bit of what professor wiki has to say:
The Islamic State (IS)[4][6][45] (Arabicالدولة الإسلامية‎ ad-Dawlah al-ʾIslāmiyyah), formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and theIslamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS /ˈsɪs/),[a] is a jihadist group, widely regarded as a terrorist organisation. In its self-proclaimed status as acaliphate, it claims religious authority over all Muslims across the world[46] and aspires to bring much of the Muslim-inhabited regions of the world under its direct political control,[47] beginning with territory in the Levant region, which includes JordanIsraelPalestineLebanonCyprus, and an area in southernTurkey that includes Hatay.[48][49] The group has been officially designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia,[50][51][52][53][54][55] and has been described as a terrorist group by the United Nations[56] and Western and Middle Eastern media sources.[57][58][59][60][61]The group, in its original form, was composed of and supported by a variety of Sunni Arab terrorist insurgent groups, including its predecessor organizations, Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) (2003–2006), Mujahideen Shura Council (2006–2006) and the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) (2006–2013), other insurgent groups such asJeish al-Taiifa al-Mansoura, Jaysh al-Fatiheen, Jund al-Sahaba and Katbiyan Ansar Al-Tawhid wal Sunnah, and a number of Iraqi tribes that profess Sunni Islam...
As of 16 August 2014
     Areas controlled by the Islamic State     Areas claimed by the Islamic State
     Rest of Iraq and Syria

As I read it, I pictured a modern terrorizing version of the Moors, old-time Muslims who invaded Europe via the Iberian Peninsula.
The Moors invaded the Iberian Peninsula in 711 and called the territory Al-Andalus, an area which at different times comprised Gibraltar, most of Spain and Portugal, and parts of Southern France. There was also a Moorish presence in what is nowSouthern Italy, primarily in Sicily. They occupied Mazara on Sicily in 827[1] and in 1224 were expelled to the settlement of Lucera, which was destroyed in 1300. The religious difference of the Moorish Muslims led to a centuries-long conflict with theChristian kingdoms of Europe called the Reconquista. The Fall of Granada in 1492 saw the end of the Muslim rule in Iberia. (Wikipedia)
As I remember from my old History lessons, this was an attempt by Muslims to takeover the world. From "History of Spain:"
Possibly encouraged to invade Spain in the first place by Hispano-Romans unhappy with the Vigigoths, the Moors came and stayed for around 700 years, leaving a definite imprint on the country, particularly Andalucia
The Moors came from north Africa, Muslims,a mixture of Arab and Berbers (the latter from the mountains of Morocco - tribes with their own language that few Arabs would understand). The name "Moors" comes from the name Mauretania, which at the time referred to the part of north Africa roughly now represented by Algeria and Morocco. This was a huge change for Spain - a new language, religion, culture and a new name, for the part of the country under Moorish control was known as Al Andalus. 
The Moors had a vicious way of dealing with enemies and made sure that people knew about it. As a result there was little resistance at first and they took over Toledo, the capital, within a year. Within a few years, they controlled most of Spain (excluding Asturias). Although the Moors fought in Asturias, the remaining fighting locals took to the hills and were left alone. 
We live in very dangerous times. Nothing much is new. Today's Muslims are taking over Europe. Just look at the birth statistics there.

Nowadays, they are using brute force in the Middle East and creeping internal annexation in other parts of the world.

Should we be worried? Of course! Everyone in the world should be worried, because the larger they get the more impossible it will be to contain them.

6 comments:

goyisherebbe said...

According to David P. Goldman aka Spengler, in his book http://www.amazon.com/How-Civilizations-Die-Islam-Dying-ebook/dp/B005O2PMYI/ref=la_B005DON05U_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1408511170&sr=1-1 presents surprising statistics, namely that the Islamic birthrate is totally tanking, and doing it much faster than the western world. Israel is the only developed country whose birthrate is above replacement level. The thing that could undo us if we are not careful is being too tied to the dollar when the rest of the world drops it as a reserve currency. The handwriting is on the wall, and we have to uncouple from our dependence on the troubled and unfriendly US. But the Muslims are not going to take over Europe because they don't have the horses.

Batya said...

Yes goyish. Cristian europe will soon be history.

Mr. Cohen said...

Higher Standard or Double Standard? by Natan Sharansky
www.aish.com/jw/me/Higher-Standard-or-Double-Standard.htm

Sammy Finkelman said...

Netanyahu spoke about ISIS already in June.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4535964,00.html

It suddenly attracted a lot more attention when it captured Mosul, on June 10. (it came as such a surprise because reporters had been threatened out of the city.)

Iraq's higher ranking officers abandoned the troops. An earlier major gain in Iraq came in January, with the capture of Fallujah but it was thought to be limited and temporary.

Then they made another advamce a week or so ago and captured more territory in Iraq.

It all could have been prevented by a little bombing.

They are also advanacing in Syria (where they and Assad may squeeze the Free Syrian Army out its last remaininging important stronghold in Aleppo) and they have even gone to Lebanon.

Jordan is a likely target, because King Abdullah has a much better claim to the caliphate than the self-proclaimed Caliph Ibrahim.

Sammy Finkelman said...

The group formerly known as ISIS is a break-away faction of al Qaeda, now operating independently.

It used to be called Al Qeada in Iraq, and then the islamic state of Iraq and then the Islamic State of Iraq and al-sham (al--sham being Greater Syria) also translated as the Levant, making it ISIL.

Now it is simply the Islamic state.

It is also known by its Arabic acronym of Daesh by people speaking Arabic. It does not use or like that name itself.

Sammy Finkelman said...

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4535424,00.html

Report: US fears Israel would be dragged into war with ISIS

Obama administration concerned that jihadist group, that already seized control of parts of Iraq, Syria, will try to invade Jordan. Israeli diplomats say country prepared to take military action to save Hashemite Kingdom


I suppose this one reason that Netanyahu does not want to get dragged into a major war in Gaza.