Op-Ed: Italy is capitulating to Islamic autocrats
Rome is on the crosshairs of ISIS and thinks that grovelling will keep it safe.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/18511#.VtylV9D0SFq Published: Saturday, March 05, 2016 11:35 PM
Giulio Meotti
Of the four capitals of the ancient Roman Empire (Rome, Carthage, Alexandria, Antioch), only the first still belongs to the West. Islam has canceled out all the rest.
That is why in Jihadist published material, Italy is still a target for conversion.
In Isis propaganda, the black flag of the Caliphate waves over the Vatican, and the Colosseum is in flames. In 2004, Osama Bin Laden gave a speech on “The new Rome,” and in the footsteps of the brave Pope Benedict’s Islamic speech at Regensburg University Al Qaeda proclaimed: “Muslims will conquer Rome as they conquered Constantinople”.
Yusuf al Qaradawi, the guru of the Muslim Brotherhood, said: “Constantinople was conquered, but there remains the second part of the prophecy, that is the conquest of Rome”.
These days, Italian leaders are giving reasons for Islamic fanaticism to hope that day is now closer than ever. “In April I will be in Teheran”, announced Italian PM Matteo Renzi. A month after the visit of Hassan Rohani in Rome, the first for the Iranian president to Europe after the end of sanctions, PM Renzi returned the courtesy and announced the visit to Iran. There is an explanation for this new liason: Italy and Iran just signed 7 institutional and 10 industrial agreements valued at 17 billion euros.
Meanwhile, Italy is bowing to Islamic regimes. See the photos taken in Rome’s Capitoline Museums, a famous repository of Western antiquities. After the government of Italy called for “respect” for the sensibilities of Rouhani, the museum placed large boxes over several nude sculptures.
After Rouhani came the turn of the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, who landed in Rome on his first visit to Italy. According to latest data of the Ministry of Economic Development, the volume of trade relations between Italy and Qatar totaled 1,785 billion euro, an increase of 10% over last year.
A few weeks before that, PM Renzi went to Saudi Arabia to sign important contracts even with that Islamic regime. He didn’t denounce the Saudi imprisonment of Raif Badawi, the blogger condemned to flogging for his criticism of Islam.
To understand Italy’s capitulation to Islamic rules we have to follow three powerful Italian politicians: Laura Boldrini, Federica Mogherini and Debora Serracchiani. All of them have been seen wearing a traditional Islamic veil, one after another, in chronological order.
The president of Italian Parliament, Laura Boldrini, visited the Grand Mosque of Rome without hiding her joy. “I hope that the Italians know how to distinguish between Islam and ISIS”, said Boldrini wearing a hijab. A veiled Federica Mogherini, the High Representative of the European Union’s foreign policy, went to Tehran to meet the Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif. The deputy secretary of the Democratic Party, Debora Serracchiani, did the same during her institutional mission to Tehran.
Mrs. Boldrini recently invited the Grand Imam of Al Azhar, Sayed al Tayeb, for a lecture in Italy’s Parliament about “Islam: Religion of Peace”. After my articles in an Italian newspaper denounced Tayeb’s views on women and Israel (Tayeb praised suicide attacks against Israeli civilians), Boldrini was obliged to cancel the event.
Former Italian MPs are also very busy in Europe lobbying for a “European Islam”. A few days ago, Italy’s former foreign minister, Massimo D’Alema, coauthored an article with Tariq Ramadan in Belgium’s daily newspaper Le Soir. In the article, D’Alema compared “Islamophobia” with “Islamic extremism” and called for a more multicultural Europe. Both defined Islam as “a European religion”.
After my articles in an Italian newspaper denounced Tayeb’s views on women and Israel (Tayeb praised suicide attacks against Israeli civilians), Boldrini was obliged to cancel the event [at which he was to lecture].
Italy’s government is also running away from its political and military responsibility against the Islamic State. Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti ruled out Italy partaking in action against ISIS. Pinotti’s comments came after EU defence ministers unanimously backed a French request for help in defeating ISIS after the Paris’ attacks which killed 129 people.
In 2003, Italy was one of the very few countries, along with Spain and UK, which stood with the American people in their noble war in Iraq. The Italians paid a high price in terms of military and civilian casualties. Defeatism, however, is now driving Italy’s government.
Today, Italy is the soft underbelly of Europe. Next time that Iranian and Arab leaders visit Rome, maybe my government, again out of “respect their culture and sensitivity”, will withdraw all the copies of “Satanic Verses” by Salman Rushdie from the bookshops. It could be an unberarable sight for the Iranian ayatollahs, who condemned the author to death and just raised the bounty over his head.
Rome is now experiencing the most ridiculous and grotesque subjugation. When will Italy’s government will issue an apology to the Talibans for having condemned their demolition of the great Buddhas of Bamyan?
