Now They Call Me Infidel: Why I Renounced Jihad for America, Israel, and the War on Terror (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "When I hear a train whistle, I need only to close my eyes to transport myself to a special time and place-to the mid-1950s in..." (more)
Key Phrases: Middle East, United States, Saudi Arabia (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Nonie Darwish is a woman of great courage with an amazing story to tell.”
—David Horowitz

“A book of great humanity, intelligence, and courage.”
—David Pryce-Jones, senior editor, National Review

“Indispensable insight into the world of Islamic radicalism and jihad.”
—Former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania

“Anyone who wants to understand the real meaning of the clash of civilizations between radical Islam and the West should read this book.”
—Congressman Tom Tancredo of Colorado --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Description

One woman’s story of why she left the culture of Islamic Jihad to support American liberty and tolerance

Why are so many Muslims embracing jihad and cheering for al-Qaeda and Hamas? Why are even the modern, secularized Arab states such as Egypt producing a generation of angry young extremists?

Nonie Darwish knows why. When she was eight, her father died while leading Fedayeen raids into Israel. Her family moved from Gaza back to Cairo, where they were honored as survivors of a "shahid"—a martyr for jihad. She grew up learning the same lessons as millions of Muslim children: to hate Jews, destroy Israel, oppose America, and submit to dictatorship.

But Darwish became increasingly appalled by the anger and hatred in her culture, and in 1978 she emigrated to America. Since 9/11 she has been lecturing and writing on behalf of moderate Arabs and Arab-Americans. Extremists have denounced her as an infidel and threatened her life.

In this fascinating book, she speaks out against the dark side of her native culture—women abused by Islamic traditions; the poor and uneducated mistreated by the elites; bribery and corruption as a way of life. Her former friends and neighbors blamed all the their troubles on Jews and Americans, but Darwish rejects their bigotry and calls for the Arab world to make peace with the West.

The only hope for the future, she writes, is for America to continue waging its War on Terror, seeding the Middle East with the values of democracy, respect for women, and tolerance for all religions.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Sentinel HC (November 16, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1595230319
• ISBN-13: 978-1595230317
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (85 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #167,812 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

243 of 266 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Call Her Courageous, November 17, 2006

By	P. Cooke "trying to learn something every day" (Oceanside, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

"Now They Call Me Infidel - Why I Renounced Jihad for America, Israel and the War on Terror" by Nonie Darwish, A Muslim Shahid's Daughter

Nonie Darwish's entrancing and frightening account of her childhood and upbringing in the 50's, 60's and 70's Middle East gives the reader an opportunity to see the build up of jihad and the perpetuation of hatred towards Israel and America at a very personal level. Her status as a Shahid's (Martyr's) daughter and being of the upper class in Egyptian Society allowed her access to the media and therefore information from the outside world that most did not share. Her early years were spent in Gaza where her father was a high ranking member of Nasser's Egyptian Army. She was taught hatred and prejudice towards the Jews and Israel and the passion for jihad as early as elementary school. She was told not to accept candy from strangers on the street because it could be a Jew who wants to poison Arab children. She was told that Jews love to kill Arab children and use their blood in their cookies. Nonie did not buy in to the hate speech and ugliness of the propaganda that is spread throughout Muslim countries. After her father was killed by a package bomb from Israel, her mother, Nonie and four siblings moved to Egypt. She couldn't understand, even at a young age, why President Nasser asked of her and her siblings, "Which of you will kill Jews in retaliation of your father's death?" She did not want to kill Jews. She speaks of Egypt, her country of origin, as being more westernized than other countries in the Middle East. When she was growing up, most women did not wear the veil. There was still polygamy and she had heard tales of female circumcision. But, her mother sent them to private, Christian schools to get the best education and she was able to purchase a car and obtain a driver's license to get them to school. Ms. Darwish's education at the American University of Cairo introduced her to diversity and open discussion. She was amazed that the average Egyptian thought that Egypt had always been Muslim, even when the pyramids were built. They never knew that Israel was inhabited by Jews for centuries before Muhammad was born. The Arab media and Dictators had been lying to their people for generations now. She was able to "escape" to the U.S. where her personality finally found a home. She took several years to raise a family and settle in Los Angeles. Nonie tells of a time she took a visiting family friend to a mosque in her neighborhood. She was embarrassed by the hate speech in the mosques even then. According to Ms. Darwish many Muslims in America do not attend mosques because the local Imams are spreading anti-American propaganda and encourage jihad. She felt the Jihad was coming to America. Most of the Mosques in America are built and supported by Saudi Arabia. When the Jihadists flew into the World Trade Center and into the Pentagon and that field in Pennsylvania Nonie called her family and friends in Egypt. All of them denied it was Islamic Terrorists. They said it was an Israeli plot. She was even admonished for not being a good Muslim and blaming the attacks on Muslim Terrorists. She pointed out to them that Mohammed Atta was Egyptian and they responded with anger that Nonie would not defend her culture of origin. After 9/11 Nonie felt compelled to speak out against the Jihadist movement. Now she speaks around the world and on college campuses to refute the hate coming out of the Muslim world towards Israel and the West. She has organized a group, Arabs for Israel, to open a venue for Arabs who do support Israel's democracy in the Middle East. This book is one brave woman's story of life in a repressed society and her escape to the freedom loving United States. Her insight into Arab culture is invaluable. There needs to be more voices, women's voices coming from these cultures so we can shine a light on the injustice and persecution still being applied to people in these countries today.
Her writing style is not aggressive or combative. Her love of the Egyptian people and the beauty that the diverse Arab culture has given the world is evident in her chapters. She simply deplores the hateful rhetoric and violent methods Islamists are endorsing. She hopes for peace for everyone in this life. Ms. Darwish was able to write her life story because she has been living in the United States for over 25 years now. She is a U.S. citizen; she has the courage of her convictions and the freedom of speech behind her now.

43 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ALL Non Believers in Radical Islam are Infidels, December 10, 2006

By	Martin Asiner "Adjunct College Instructor" (Jersey City, NJ) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The war currently waged by radical Islam on the rest of the world is very nearly unique in the history of warfare in that the victims of this war are doing their level best to deny the war even exists. In NOW THEY CALL ME INFIDEL, Nonie Darwish explains how the west has decided to play the political ostrich and what can be done to drag those collective heads out of the cultural sand to confront the most ruthless foe of humanism since the demise of Nazism.

Darwish wishes to confront not only the Islamic population of the world to convince them that their current approach for world dominion is debasing the very religion that it espouses as the reason for lopping off the heads of nonbelievers on Al-Jazeera. She also wants to shake the political correctness cobwebs out of the naive brains of the political left that insists Islam has every right to use our legal system while at the same time undermining this nation's security. Darwish finds it difficult to comprehend how the west simply refuses to acknowledge a danger that she has seen with crystal clarity since she was eight years old. Her book is her attempt to answer her own question.

Darwish's father was a shaheed, or martyr for radical Islam. When he died, his name became hallowed and enshrined in the pantheon of Islamic demi-gods who died while spitting in the face of the demon Jew. But to her, he was simply Daddy and his loss was the first step in her evolution as a rational creature who dared to question the Way of Things. As she grew older, her questioning expanded to encompass the entire spectrum of Islamic givens: the natural inferiority of women, the absolute necessity for the destruction of Israel, the demonization of the Jew, and the inner meaning of Islamic honor. When she was old enough, she managed to emigrate to the United States where, to her horror, she saw the same vile and bile pour forth from the transplanted mosques that she thought she had forever left behind in Egypt. Each time Darwish saw and heard young American-born Moslem women in college wear the hajib and demand that the United States convert to Sharia, she tells them that if they truly get their wish, the first thing that these women will learn is that they will no longer be permitted to attend school. The second is that they will quickly find themselves married off to strangers whom their parents will choose for them.

NOW THEY CALL ME INFIDEL is one of several recent books that warn the west that the "moderate" image of Islam as a religion of tolerance seen on the major media and in liberal bastions of higher education like Columbia University is a carefully crafted attempt by Islamic Imams funded by the petrodollars of our "friends" in Saudi Arabia to softpedal the true intent of radical Islam. Darwish has done her very best to counter this propaganda. Now it is time for us to heed her words.

PS: As I write this, I hear on Fox News that President Aminidinijab of Iran has called for a conference to question whether the Holocaust in Europe ever happened. Nonie Darwish, I am sure, can easily grasp how Islam might question the reality of the Holocaust. We must join Nonie Darwish in questioning the questioners.

35 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, January 26, 2007

By	E. Abramson "victry1" (NJ) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I can't praise this book highly enough! It is written in a personal style, so it is very readable - I finished it quite quickly. She relates her life story from living in the Middle East to now, an American citizen. She describes life in aa Muslim state, the pain of polygamy, the repression of women's rights in the Middle East and why "moderate" Muslims do not speak out against radical, violent Islamist leaders. She explains why there is no Palestinian state yet (no, it's not because Israel stole the land) and why there is so much rhetoric toward
Israel, why Arab states say one thing to the West and something else to their own people.

She also chronicles something of her journey in America and what I particularly loved is that - she LOVES America! & she is grateful to live in a free country. That alone enhanced my pleasure in reading the book.

I highly recommend this book.