The Devil We Don't Know: The Dark Side of Revolutions in the Middle East

Nonie Darwish, a fierce critic of Islam, argues in her new book that the Arab Spring is doomed to fail in its supposed goals of achieving democracy and freedom. The main premise of the book is that revolutions are nothing new in the Arab world, and they have always failed, and will continue to fail until a fundamental change occurs in the culture and values of Islam. Darwish argues that Islam and the Sharia law in particular, which is the law of the land in varying degrees in the Arab world, are an obstacle to achieving true democracy and freedom, and until this obstacle is removed true freedom will never be obtained.Darwish points out that the Sharia law is inherently incompatible with true democracy. The Sharia law supports the subordination of females; it provides special privileges to Muslim over Non-Muslim, including the sexual enslavement of non-Muslim women. And the list goes on and on. In Darwish's own words "Islamic activists and reformers have a very difficult job on their hands, because the true cause of tyranny, dictatorships, and instability cannot be touched (referring to the Sharia law), and they are left with nothing to blame except their dictators, non-Muslim minorities, external influences, Israel, or the West. Anything is fair game, except to uncover the Islamic sacred cows that support tyrannical rule."The book starts well, however, it deteriorates as the writing continues. First, it's not so clear, that the Arab Spring was about democracy and freedom in the first place, at least not for the majority of people. But perhaps desperate people who just had enough of their daily struggles and want a better quality of life. Darwish never even discusses the possibility that the goal of the majority of the participants in the Arab Spring was not about obtaining democracy, but rather pure frustration about the soaring food prices, and the inability to find a decent job, etc.As the book moves on, Darwish loses sight of the main premise of the book, which is the opposing nature of the Sharia law and democracy, and the Arab Spring, and resorts to plain bashing Islam quite often, entirely unrelated to the argument. For example: "Muslim are told to go on the Haj, originally a pagan ritual that brought wealth to Mecca, to join the thousands of pilgrims and circle around and around the black stone inside the black square structure. If one person slows down, slips, or falls, however, a stampede is almost unavoidable, causing hundreds of deaths. It happens almost annually in the Haj." Such accidents are unnecessary and should be prevented. Even if an accident occurs during a ritual, even if it happens every year, what connection does that have with the premise of the book? It seems that the author has resorted to rhetoric in order to slam Islam, trying to make her point more appealing.When discussing the United States' attitude and tolerance toward the Muslim world, Darwish claims that the reason many American identify with the terrorist oppressors is some kind of a "mass Stockholm Syndrome, even toward a specific culture." She argues, that due to the shock of the 9/11 travesty, many people are suffering from a "mass Stockholm Syndrome", and therefore, are sympathetic to the Muslim world. She then goes on to say, "Could it be a mere coincidence that the American people have voted in, not only its first black president, but a president whose name rhymes with Osama?" In making a bold claim that the American people are suffering from some kind of "mass Stockholm Syndrome", a solid argument to back it up is called for. To write that the names rhyme is no proof of anything other than they do rhyme and is just poor scholarship. At the time of the 2008 election, the majority of people were mainly concerned with the state of the economy. Therefore, it's rather natural that people who felt frustrated with the Republican administration will elect a Democrat into office.As for her claims that the Koran and the Sharia law have inhumaneve laws incompatible with democracy and freedom, I can't agree more. There are serious contradictions between democracy and the Sharia laws that stand in the way of freedom. But as a Jewish person I know the Old Testament and the Mishnah have inhumane laws as well. The difference is that various rabbis revised and adapted them during the years. Furthermore, there is no country in the world in which the Halacha (Jewish law) rules.All in all, The Devil We Don't Know does raise some valid points. However, they get lost in poor scholarship and some absurd claims.

It is with sadness that I write this in the wake of the November 13, 2015 attacks in Paris, and the bombing of a Russian airliner by ISIS. I found this book very insightful for understanding the turmoil that seems to be the fate of the middle east from the seventh century to the present day. I also read the author’s “Cruel and Unusual Punishment” which I found valuable for her personal stories of living in Egypt. First of all, she is not anti-Muslim. Remember, 85% of the people killed by Islamic terrorists are Muslims, and that nearly all the people oppressed by Sharia law and its dictators are Muslims. So she is really standing up for an oppressed people. The book describes nicely what we have learned the hard way; that there is no “Arab Spring”. Well-meaning citizens of Islamic countries undoubtedly thought they were supporting democracy and freedom, but the Islamists always seem to take over. It is quite hard for people raised and indoctrinated from childhood in Islamic lands to understand that there is (or at least should be) a distinction between Islam as a religion, and Islamism as a repressive dictatorial political system. Until the people realize that Islamism is the enemy, they are doomed for endless cycles of revolution and violence. All the Islamic countries that refused to sign the UN declaration for human rights at the end of WW II, are Islamic States. The new governments in Iraq and Afghanistan are, like ISIS, Islamic states, as are Turkey, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. Such countries can adapt to modern democracy and freedom by deviating from strict Sharia law. They vary only in degree to which this is done, and when a country is too friendly with the West, makes peace with Israel, or denounces terrorism too loudly, it is at risk for an Islamic revolution. For me the book provided a framework for understanding what is going on in middle eastern countries.

Dear SirsI liked this as a chronicle of how =the West has allowed through complacency other cultures, particularly the islamic one, to be more intrusive than they originally intended. The dangers of losing the original culture of Christianity has been ignored in the willingness to embrace the stranger, in such a way as to be quite damaging to us, because of baggage that has not been taken into account.Yours sincerely

Find out for yourself about the evil, Nazi nature of Hamas and the ridiculous, often nasty views of "ordinary Muslims".

READ IT, BE WARNED BY IT, AND SPREAD THE MESSAGE NONIE GIVES. THE TRUTH SOMETIMES HURTS, BUT NEEDS TO BE TOLD.

This is a must read. Extremely informative, extremely well written.

Nonie is a very brave woman. Books like this should be obligatory for students. It's about time we all wake up and stand up against Islamism