The New Crusades

"The New Crusades examines Islamophobia as a global phenomenon, detailing how the American War on Terror has facilitated and intensified the network of anti-Muslim campaigns unfolding across the world. At a juncture when both democratic and authoritarian regimes across the world are vested to persecuting their host Muslim populations, The New Crusades interrogates--through trenchant analysis and direct testimony of Muslims on the ground--how Islamophobia stands as a unifying global thread of both state and societal bigotry. Whether imposed by way of Hijab Bans in democratic France or the network of concentration camps in communist China, The New Crusades reveals--lucidly and luridly--that Islamophobia is not only a global phenomenon, but one of the world's last bastions of acceptable hate"--

Not since the Crusades of the Middle Ages has Islam evoked the degree of fear, hostility, and ethnic and religious stereotyping that is evident throughout Western culture today. As conflicts continue to proliferate around the globe, the perception of a colossal, unyielding, and unavoidable struggle between Islam and the West has intensified. These numerous conflicts, both actual and ideological, have revived fears of an ongoing "clash of civilizations"—an intractable and irreconcilable conflict of values between Western cultures and an Islam that is portrayed as hostile and alien. The New Crusades takes head-on the idea of an emergent "Cold War" between Islam and the West. It explores the historical, political, and institutional forces that have raised the specter of a threatening and monolithic Muslim enemy and provides a nuanced critique of much received wisdom on the topic, particularly the "clash of civilizations" theory. Bringing together twelve of the most influential thinkers in Middle Eastern and religious studies—including Edward Said, Roy Mottahedeh, and Fatema Mernissi—this timely collection confronts such depictions of the Arab-Islamic world, showing their inner workings and how they both empower and shield from scrutiny Islamic radicals who operate from similar paradigms of inevitable and absolute conflict.

“I hope it was worth it!” challenged Spencer. Abqurah countered, “It was! It’s a better way to shoot things than with a Kalashnikov! I wish I could turn all guns in the world into cameras.” From what she showed them on the LCD panel, she did get some pretty pictures of the Arc de Triomphe by night, with yellow headlights beaming down on her from the oncoming traffic. Waldemar (Wally) Guenter wrote a murder mystery, entitled The New Crusades, about Aamir killing his older sister, Hazirah, in a fictional honour-killing at a real place, Ball’s Falls, Ontario, in October 2011. The parents are complicit in this crime because they help Aamir escape to ISIS. The younger sister, Abqurah, does not know about her family’s atrocious plan. Waldemar Guenter, a scenery photographer, discovers Hazirah’s body which prompts him to write the first novel as a kind of therapy. The sequel itself takes up the plot in October 2014 with the last two months of Wally’s life. He is dying of pancreatic cancer. Even as he lay dying, life goes on for his young friends who get engaged and get married with high hopes for their future. Alexander Kucharski the main writer of this sequel, reconnects with his old flame, Lena. Also Detective Ed Spencer, from the first novel, courts and marries, Abqurah, the youngest daughter of the Ibrahims who went to prison for their part in their daughter’s honor-killing. The Spencers become Christian and plan on a lovely honeymoon in Paris. They arrive on Wednesday morning, January 7th, 2014. This couldn’t be at a worse time. Saïd and Chérif Kouachi have just broken into the Charlie Hebdo magazine offices with assault rifles to seek revenge for the magazine’s satirization of their Prophet. By the time they are through, 12 people lie dead and the brothers escape putting Paris on high alert. Ed Spencer and Abqurah’s honeymoon turns into a nightmare...but not all is lost...

In these essays, twelve of the most influential thinkers in Middle Eastern and religious studies examine the idea of an emergent "Cold War" between Islam and the West and fears of an ongoing "clash of civilizations"--Cover 4.

In this sweeping yet crisp history, the author offers a brilliant and compelling narrative of the Crusades and their contemporary relevance.

This is the first comprehensive study of the use, abuse and development of the crusade image in popular and high culture in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Drawing upon a diverse range of sources, mainly from the British Isles, but with parallels from Western Europe and North America, the author shows the different approaches to the history of the crusading movement and crusade images taken by the historian, composer, artist and author.

This text aims to capture the essence of the conflict between some modern-day southern Baptists, who saw themselves as crusaders for truth as they sought to redeem a new Holy Land, from the control of other southern Baptists they viewed as liberals.