“I was amazed that the Israelis were providing medical treatment to Palestinian and Muslim gunmen… These Palestinians and Muslims were sworn, mortal enemies, dedicated to the destruction of Israel and the slaughter of Jews. Yet, Israeli doctors and nurses worked feverishly to save their lives. Each patient was treated solely according to the nature of his or her injury. The doctor treated my mother before he treated an Israeli soldier lying next to her because her injury was more severe than his. The Israelis did not see religion, political affiliation, or nationality. They saw only people in need, and they helped.”
These words were uttered by Brigitte Gabriel, a Christian Lebanese, journalist, author, social commentator and activist. She is the founder and president of the American Congress For Truth (ACT), a leading national security expert, providing information and analysis on the rise of Islamic terrorism through her lectures worldwide. Ms. Gabriel has addressed the United Nations, the Australian prime minister, members of the British Parliament/House of Commons, members of the United States Congress, the Pentagon, the Joint Forces Staff College, the U.S. Special Operations Command, the U.S. Asymmetric Warfare group and the FBI – and has been a regular guest analyst on Fox News Channel, CNN, MSNBC, and various radio stations across America. If this were not enough for one young mother of two, she also serves on the board of advisers of the Intelligence Summit.
Ms. Gabriel’s words cited at the opening of this column made reference to an event she experienced as a child during the Lebanese Civil War. Born on October 21, 1964 in Marjayoun, Lebanon. Brigitte was a nine-year-old girl when Islamic militants launched an assault on a Lebanese military base and destroyed her home. Injured by shrapnel, young Brigitte and her parents had to live underground in a bomb shelter for the next seven years with barely any vital provisions. It was during this period that her mother was seriously injured and taken to an Israeli hospital, and Brigitte personally experienced the humanity shown by the Israelis, in shocking contrast to the constant propaganda she had been exposed to.
These life-changing events shaped the persona of the maturing Brigitte. She recalls: “I was betrayed by my country (who taught me to hate Israel) and rescued by ‘my enemy’ Israel, the Jewish state that teaches the values of love, the Jewish state that is under attack for its very existence…”
In reaction to these revelations she became a passionate activist against Islam and a fighter for Israel and its Jewish values of humanity. Brigitte’s activism takes various forms: besides lecturing in Arabic, French, English and Hebrew (she is named one of the top 50 most prominent speakers in America!) and heading organizations that promote her views, she has penned countless essays, and is the author of two New York Times bestsellers, Because They Hate: A Survivor of Islamic Terror Warns America and They Must Be Stopped: Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and How We Can Do It.
I hope America and the rest of the world listens to Brigitte Gabriel and, with the help of the Almighty, we will defeat our enemies.