Can you still do what you have been doing, now that people know who you are?
Of course! The lawsuit brought against me, I believe, is an attempt to shut me up and slow down my investigations. It will achieve the exact opposite. I am more enthusiastic now about my fight against terror than ever before. I will certainly continue with my work, I will continue to consult with the government on counter terrorism investigations, and I will continue to provide information on terrorists and their supporters and financiers to the media and to anyone who might need it to stop terrorists from attacking us again. My message to the bad guys is that nothing will stop me from monitoring them, preventing them from attacking us, and helping to bring them to justice.
It must be downright frightening, sometimes, going to work. In one point in your book, you are pregnant, wired with a recorder, at a jihadist conference (where you hear, among other things, the usual calls for ”Death to Jews”) and someone else, possibly a journalist, gets into a confrontation for doing what you were doing — recording, taking notes. Did you ever think, ”No, I can’t do this anymore?”
Frightening is an understatement. During certain times, such as the widely televised lynching of two Israeli soldiers in the West Bank, attending some of these meetings, particularly the smaller ones, was terrifying. Being a Jewish woman among inflamed Muslims calling for jihad against Jews and death to Jews, I knew that I would face grave consequences if I were exposed. Other difficult experiences I had were actually in open, public rallies, where various people told sob stories about how they were abused because they were Muslims or Arabs. Some of these stories were really heartbreaking. But then came the leaders of the Muslim community and expressed their views, and that put me back on track. One such example was with Abdurahman al-Amoudi, who was considered by many a moderate Muslim leader and, as such, was a regular visitor to the White House. In a public rally he stated his support for Hamas and Hizbullah, two designated terrorist organizations. I recorded him, gave the videotape to the media, and this in fact brought an end to his lobbying career with the administration. But in spite of the danger, I never had a point where I wanted to quit….
What do your kids and the rest of your family think of what you are doing?
For quite some time, my kids knew very little about what I do. But there’s only so much you can hide from your kids. So now that they know exactly what their mom is doing, they — as well as my husband — do their best to support me. They all believe in what I do, they believe in me, and I think that they are very proud.
You grew up a Jew in Iraq. What was that like?
I grew up in a rich family, surrounded by love and by servants who took care of all my needs. We lived in a huge mansion and went to a private school. We were happy. I had no idea that we were sitting on a ticking time bomb until my father was suddenly taken by Saddam’s people and accused of spying for Israel. Since that day, our world fell apart. We suffered terrible abuse, all of us, until we were able to leave Iraq.
When and why did you leave Iraq?
My father was tried in one of Saddam’s kangaroo courts and hanged in broad daylight, in Baghdad’s central square, to the cheers of a half a million spectators. My family and I we were held under house arrest in a small hut in Baghdad, and we suffered additional abuse and other tragedies, until my mother was finally able to orchestrate a daring escape. My father was hanged in 1969, and we escaped two years later, through Iran, to Israel.
