EVENTS & ACTIVITIES

President Aznar, interviewed by Daniel Pipes, explained why he is strongly engaged with Israel and the steps and activities carried out by the Friends of Israel Initiative in its defense. In his own words, Israel is a nation in the Middle East but it is not a Middle Eastern country. Through its history and roots of Judeo-Christian civilization- its values, institutions, and procedures are similar to any other liberal Western democracy. This makes Israel a vital part of the Western world with its scientific, technical, cultural, and security related contributions. So the West cannot be explained without the role and impact of Israel to what and who we are spiritually, morally and materially linked.

The Chairman of Friends of Israel Initiative made some remarks on the challenges Israel is currently facing. Israel is today at the forefront of a civilizational struggle. The whole region is on fire because of the confrontation from several forces: Sunnis versus Shiites versus non-Muslims versus state and non-state actors. We see populist Sunni groups, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, against traditional regimes, like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait or the Emirates; radical Sunni jihadists fighting against established regimes, like in Syria; and finally Al Qaeda and affiliated groups pursuing the establishment of the Caliphate almost everywhere, from Iraq to North Africa.

Summarizing, those who tend to believe that we can let Israel go down in an attempt to appease our adversaries, are simply wrong. Exchanging the fate of 7 million Jews for peace will only bring dishonor, disgrace and violence in our homeland.

Finally, President Aznar sincerely congratulated Daniel Pipes not only for his presence specializing in a vital field, but also for creating MEF, whose work is really invaluable for presenting a balanced, sophisticated, and encompassing vision about not only the risks but also opportunities that Islam presents to all of us. In a time when extremist’s views are on the rise- to have a positive, rational and realistic view like his is a real asset for a better future. He emphasized that MEF was doing an excellent job with its special programs like its Campus Watch, Legal Project and Islamist Watch shining a light on more radical jihad and we encouraged him to keep doing so.