Bat Ye'or's 'Understanding Dhimmitude' reviewed

The person who popularised the term 'dhimmitude' to describe the submissive attitude of non-Muslims, is a slight, fragile, shy Jewish refugee from Cairo calling herself 'the Daughter of the Nile'. Mordechai Nisan reviews Bat Ye'or's latest work in Front Page Magazine: Understanding Dhimmitude, a compilation of 21 talks and lectures.  

With her five major books in hand, and a growing reputation as a woman of courage and truth, with a call for justice for the defenseless dhimmi victims of Islam, Bat Ye’or lectured in a variety of forums in Europe, America, Canada, and Israel. She was consistently forthright  and precise, teaching and warning. The major themes that Bat Ye’or expresses and explains in her lectures can be summarized as follows:

1. Islam in its religious doctrine and civilizational aspirations demands a superior status in replacing and superseding Judaism and Christianity, its ancient forerunners;
2. Islam has from its origins constructed a “regime of dhimmitude [over the inferior and tolerated non-Muslims], the laws of dhimmitude…the mentality of dhimmitude” (p. 118) that has imposed insecurity and oppression on the native peoples of the Orient/Middle East;
3. Islam succeeded to bring about a situation such that “the whole of Oriental Christendom was destroyed” (p. 40), a kind of “religious cleansing” rolling on to this very day;
4. There is no validity to “the myth of a marvelous Muslim-Christian symbiosis” or a “Middle East Golden Age” (p. 161), not in the past nor to its present formulations and offshoots, like the Euro-Arab Dialogue and the Alliance of Civilizations, which are deceptive plots for Muslim conquest;
5. The Islamic jihad mentality of conquest overwhelmed Eastern Christianity and now targets “the Christian West” (p. 83) – with the goal “to force us all to live in the shadow of dhimmitude in Europe” (p. 52).
6.  In the face of Islamic jihad, “Israel represents the national liberation of a dhimmi people” (p.55), as the Jews have risen up in rebellion against the forces of Muslim repression and degradation to secure their political independence in their ancient homeland.

While historian Georges Bensoussan refers to a history of “conviviality and contempt” to describe the fantasy and reality of Muslim relations with non-Muslims over 14 centuries, Bat Ye’or shows a canny insight into the intricacies and interconnections touching this complex subject.

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