"I feel that since October 7, humanity has been in a very delicate and dangerous transitional state. Everything I've been shouting and warning about for years has suddenly come out all at once for the whole world to see through the GoPro cameras of the Hamas terrorists," says Yasmine Mohammed, one of the world's leading activists for the rights of Muslim women and support for ex-Muslims.
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"If the West sobers up and realizes who it is up against and how the worst versions of Islam entered the most important Western institutions, and if it then proceeds to tackle it at the core, then there could remain a chance to correct course," she says, "but if Western liberals continue to play the role of useful idiots for Muslims who use them to promote their ideology, then things will get much worse. The massacre that took place in Israel may be just a prelude to what awaits the whole world."
She does not disclose her current place of residence, and even her exact age is confidential. These security measures, along with various other precautions she takes, stem from the fear that radical Muslims will try to harm her. Given the fate of not a few Muslims or ex-Muslims who dared to publicly criticize Islam, she certainly has something to fear. Just two years ago, the world was shocked when, during a conference in New York, a Lebanese-American stabbed and wounded author Salman Rushdie. In his 1989 bestseller "The Satanic Verses," Rushdie presented unflattering depictions of the Prophet Mohammed and Ayatollah Khomeini, leader of Iran's Islamic Revolution. Since then, he has become a target for radical Muslims worldwide.
Naturally, Mohammed does not want to enter these bloody statistics, "especially for the sake of my two daughters." Nevertheless, she gives interviews and acts with a sense of urgency, warning in harsh terms about the dangers posed by Muslim civilization. "The West is facing an obstacle called Islam," she states. "If we are afraid and do not say this truth, the price is that we will lose the free world. The risk is certainly worth it, even my personal risk."
For her, it is not a theoretical matter, but a personal life experience. Tears יסמי
The videos disseminated by Hamas of the massacre in the communities surrounding Gaza affected her on a very personal level. "The first thing I saw was a few seconds of the video of Shani Louk, how she lay on the truck of the Hamas terrorists who abducted her from the nature rave. I closed it immediately, I simply couldn't continue. I got flashbacks within seconds: the abuse I endured as a child from my stepfather because I didn't memorize verses from the Quran verbatim; Iranian women being raped and murdered because they refused to wear the hijab; and Algerian women murdered because in their husbands' opinion they did not behave modestly. I saw generation upon generation of women whom extremist Muslim men treated as subhuman. It made me realize that the voice I am raising is more important than ever."
Alongside the personal outrage, Mohammed demonstrates extensive knowledge of both Islamic scripture and research, as well as an understanding of the prevailing sentiments in Muslim countries around the world. As someone familiar with the Muslim world from the inside, she feels her testimony is of paramount importance. The organization she founded, called "Free Hearts, Free Minds," provides support and psychological assistance to "Muslims who dare to think freely" in Islamic countries and the West. She is interviewed by media outlets and forums around the world, unraveling her story of leaving the Muslim world, and criticizing the lack of understanding in the Western liberal world of the true intentions of Islamic leaders.
In 2019, Mohammed warned about the dangerous connection between the progressive Left and Islam, in a book she published called "Unveiled: How Western Liberals Empower Radical Islam." In addition to criticizing Western liberalism and its naivete in the face of Muslim ideologues who cunningly exploit it, she extensively recounts her personal story there.
The journey she had to go in order to publish the book also teaches a lot about the fear of what the message is trying to convey. "All the publishers refused to publish it for fear that its message against Islam would pose a security threat to them," she recounts. "Even Neil Blair, J.K. Rowling's agent, who thought the book was worthwhile and tried to convince publishing houses to publish it, couldn't help me." She decided to self-publish the book. The book sparked discussion in many forums, and to her surprise, it was translated into some 15 languages. "I wasn't prepared for that, because I didn't know how much people in places like Sweden and Germany would identify with my personal story and with my insights on Islam. I thought I was alone in this battle, and it turned out I clearly wasn't."
In recent months, her message has been especially relevant in light of the strange spectacle that has become routine of young progressive leftists marching alongside radical pro-Palestinian Muslims at demonstrations across the West.
When I raise the possibility that in her book she predicted what is happening today, she demurs. "I'm no prophet. I just described what was happening from my perspective, as someone who was inside the Muslim world, for my Western liberal friends. Unfortunately, they suffer from severe blindness, which could end up costing Western culture dearly. Unfortunately, people who didn't listen to me at the time, or who dismissed me and saw me as 'crying wolf', are now forced to see hordes of pro-Palestinians marching through the streets of every Western capital. I took the risk of being Cassandra [a figure in Greek mythology that no one heeded; ] and I will continue to be one until my voice is heard."
Q: What do you think is the biggest knowledge gap in the West's understanding of Islam?
"First of all, I think that from a very young age in the West, we were taught to never criticize cultural phenomena whose origin is non-Western. We were accustomed to thinking that if we level criticism of other cultures, we are automatically guilty of 'xenophobia,' 'Islamophobia,' racism, white supremacy, and colonialism – all the bad things that in the West we tend to reflexively attribute to ourselves, and would never dare attribute these phenomena to other cultures. My Canadian friends have stopped celebrating Canada Day. I hear them make statements like 'What is there to celebrate? The guilt we bear for being white?' This atmosphere has taken over the West.
"Among Muslims, especially Arabs, it's exactly the opposite: There is only tremendous pride in the colonial past of Islam. Muslims are very proud of the way the empire founded by Mohammed's followers managed to conquer vast parts of the world with tremendous speed in the 7th century, and how many peoples in history lost their culture and language when they adopted Islam. Self-criticism is something that doesn't exist in this culture. So you could say that from both sides of my life, having grown up as a Muslim and now living in a liberal society, I've identified destructive social mechanisms: On the one hand, perpetual self-blame in the liberal sphere; on the other, the 'never at fault' attitude of the Muslim version."
Q: In Israel, many were surprised at the start of the war by the close connection between the global Left and radical Muslim supporters of the Palestinian narrative – two groups that at first glance seem the most different.
"Behind the superficial differences, there are some amazing points of resemblance. First, the 'cancel culture' that progressive discourse leads in Western societies – whereby if you don't toe the politically correct line, especially on gender issues, you are automatically thrown out of public discourse and subjected to public shaming – is very similar to Muslim discourse. In Islam, it is forbidden to think freely. From childhood, you are educated to accept the truths of the group, and if you challenge them you are in immediate mortal danger.
"These two groups are united not only in their antisemitism but also in their hatred of Western values. In both, you can find a poisonous mix of self-hatred, ingrained victimhood, and narcissism. Wearing the guise of distress and weakness, Islamist organizations have penetrated the most important universities in the West – with the help of money from Qatar and Saudi Arabia, but also by exploiting minority and oppressed rights rhetoric. The thing is that when we look back at history, this alliance always ends badly for the Left."
Q: For example?
"If we go back to 1979, the year of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, we recall how the socialist Left joined forces with Khomeini's Islamists. The sacred goal of both groups was to topple the Shah's regime. Young leftists saw Khomeini as a revolutionary figure and identified with him. But the moment the Islamists came to power, they murdered and jailed thousands of leftist students who had been their comrades in struggle just a day earlier. That's what Islamists will do this time around too: they will make use of useful idiots, and once they no longer need them they will toss them down every staircase. I see a real danger that this could also happen in America."
Q: Can you really envision something similar happening in America?
"Certainly, it's already happening. The city of Hamtramck in Michigan welcomed a large Muslim community, as many there felt that the Muslim minority in America was feeling threatened during Trump's presidency. Many Muslims responded to the call and came to settle there. Today there are so many Muslims there that they dominate the city council. One of the first steps they took upon gaining a majority on the council was declaring that LGBT flags would not be allowed to be flown in the city. Liberals reacted with shock and a sense of betrayal. That didn't help them. All I could think was 'What on earth did these liberals think in the first place.' What's toxic about this whole affair is that if Christian parent organizations, for example, spoke critically of LGBTs, it would be dreadful and terrible and condemnation would come from all sides. But while the radical Right struggles to thrive because it is under consistent surveillance and criticism, Muslims are held to a different standard.
"Add to that what is already known to all, how with Qatari money organizations that are mouthpieces for Islamist movements have become dominant in institutions of higher education in North America, or another group, which has a growing lobby within the American government – and you get the full picture. Many have warned that this is how Islam is strengthening its hold in the West. I warned some time ago that the barbarians are at the gates. This time they didn't have to fight over Rome: They came in through the main gate, and in the name of free speech we have all surrendered to them."
Q: How do you respond to claims that the West is responsible for the poor state of Muslim countries, from colonialism to the Bush administration's wars in the Middle East?
"Liberals in the West think they are responsible for everything that has ever happened in every corner of the world. As if the Arabs of the Middle East were just hanging out in the desert for fun and building sand castles before the white man came along and taught them how to be homophobic, antisemitic, and what terrorism is. What a joke. I tell liberals: How special and influential do you think you are? Historically, most of these phenomena occurred in the Middle East long before your countries even existed, hundreds and thousands of years before anyone called themselves American or English. I attribute it to the relentless navel-gazing and even sense of superiority of liberals."
Q: Beyond the liberal and progressive ideology, which in your words makes room for Islam, there also seem to be simple cultural gaps. Western liberals indeed do not know Islam.
"I agree that is part of it. Since October 7, you can see the 'Al-Quds marches' across Europe, where they chant in Arabic 'Khaybar Khaybar ya Yahud.' Most liberals don't understand the context. When a Muslim chants this call, he is expressing the aspiration that just like in those days, Muhammad's army will again commit genocide against the Jews. According to Muslim tradition, in Khaybar, there was a battle between Muslims and Jewish tribes, and the Muslims slaughtered all the Jewish men, took their women and children as sex slaves, and turned the young boys into soldiers in Islam's army.
"But it's not just gaps in understanding. Even when things are clearer, like when you see ISIS and Taliban flags at pro-Palestinian rallies, everyone stays silent. Here the liberals have no excuse, they know what it means. If we don't launch a radical correction process, it will be too late, and calls for genocide against Jews will become routine."
A society lacking in self-criticism
Q: What is the first step that needs to be taken in order to start correction processes?
"Right after October 7, an Arab-Muslim professor at the University of Montreal in Canada told a Jewish student to 'go back to Poland.' This is part of the culture now surrounding left-wing professors, and they are getting support and backing from organized groups of Muslim students and faculty. Part of the correction that needs to be done is to identify the people who have said things like this and kick them out of our institutions. This needs to be done not just in academia but in other bodies as well."
Q: I notice you tend to say "Islam", not "extreme Islam" or "Islamist ideology". Usually, especially academics and Middle East experts, are careful to separate Islam from extremist phenomena like Hamas or ISIS.
"You noticed correctly. This distinction is mostly intended to absolve Islam of responsibility. It's a denial of reality. Hamas, for example, is not an outlier group in the Muslim world, but just one of many including Hezbollah in Lebanon, ISIS in Iraq and Syria, Boko Haram in Nigeria, Al-Shabaab in Somalia, the Taliban ruling Afghanistan, and that's without detailing all of them and without talking about the Islamic regimes themselves. A distortion symbolizes something that is an aberration from the norm, but Hamas is not an aberration, groups like it are routine. The difference between academics and I is that I know not just the research but also the field, from the inside. It's a huge difference."
Q: And yet, you will be accused of overgeneralizing.
"Look, Islamists are people who want to spread Islam across the globe, and they are organized and committed. Some will do it through diplomatic and educational means, and some through the use of terrorism. Not all Muslims are Islamists, but all Islamists are Muslim. Islam is the root, and as unpleasant as it may be to know, the inspiration for Hamas' actions on October 7th is already found in the Quran, the Hadith, and Islamic scripture."
I ask her whether in her view a devout Muslim can ever be in an adversarial position to the Western society he lives in. "Islam is at odds with Western values," Muhammad replies. "Few Muslims who forgo core parts of their religion can live peacefully in the West, but those who put the religion first – and those are most Muslims – will never respect Western values or laws above those of Islam. It's a hard truth, but sadly we must grapple with it."
Q: Western thinkers like René Girard, for example, point out that one of the secrets of the West's success lies in its ability to criticize itself. Do you think that the lack of self-criticism is one of the reasons for the dire state of Muslim civilization over the past few centuries?
"Absolutely. When in the West we notice social phenomena such as pay inequality between men and women, we will seek to ponder the reasons for this, and if necessary, also to correct it. When critical thinking is not part of the DNA of your culture, you doom yourself to stagnation. And when we lack criticism vis-à-vis Islam, especially the kind growing in the West, it allows it to thrive among us. When I talk about the severe abuse that women undergo just because they were born into a Muslim society, it's seen as Islamophobia. I want these women to thrive just like Western women do," Mohammed raises her voice, clearly speaking from the heart. "Why can we criticize our own culture, and see different waves of feminism over decades, but cannot speak up for women in Afghanistan, Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, and Sudan? Why can't they advance? Why don't they deserve the same rights that are granted to women born on the other side of the globe? When we are careful to see Islam as the religion of a minority that needs protection from the majority, something very sad happens: Many groups – women in particular – whose only sin is having been born into Muslim civilization, are left to their own devices and get discriminated against, and not only in Muslim societies but also in the heart of the West. We simply abandon them."
The judge didn't stop the abuse
Yasmine Mohammed was born in Vancouver, Canada to an Egyptian mother and a Palestinian father, a Gazan native. Her family led a secular lifestyle, but when she was two years old her father left home after her mother began undergoing a process of religious radicalization. Later, her mother became the second wife of a local Muslim man, who remained married to his first wife. Her abusive stepfather tortured her and her brother. In her book, Mohammed describes this abuse, and it's painful reading. At age nine she was forced to cover her hair and maintain a rigid, stringent lifestyle that included five daily prayers and adherence to Sharia law. "I was scared all the time," recounts Mohammed. "They made me understand that I would truly and genuinely burn in hellfire if I did not fulfill all the precepts."
Q: You grew up as a Muslim but lived in a free country like Canada. What can you say about the cultural difference between the way you grew up in Vancouver and the life of a Canadian girl in the adjacent building?
"There was every conceivable cultural difference: I was not allowed to be friends with non-Muslims, which is a huge cultural difference when you live in such a multicultural country. My choice of friends was monitored. I was not allowed to swim, ride a bike, or do any sports. I was not allowed to listen to music, celebrate my birthday, or participate in any cultural activities because they told me that it wasn't my culture. I was raised to see myself as fundamentally superior to the people around me and to see them as infidels."
Q: Is what you describe typical for most Muslims worldwide, or was the home you grew up in more extreme?
"This is a typical way of life for religious families, especially in the West: In order to preserve the 'pure Muslimness' of the children, a clear mentality of 'us versus them' is instilled, which makes integration into society almost impossible. There is a verse in the Quran that teaches Muslims not to associate with Christians or Jews – and we lived accordingly."
The Muslim education she received, recounts Mohammed, was also steeped in great antisemitism. "The worst insult in Muslim society is to call someone 'Jewish'. Jews are considered manipulative, dishonest, opportunistic, disloyal, and unfair. The Jewish people are blamed for every atrocity, every problem, and all evil in the world. We are taught that Allah hates Jews, and therefore we, too, must hate them. It is well known that the Quran refers to Jews as 'monkeys and pigs.' When my aunt was at the market and saw small cucumbers, she taught me that the Jews inject cancer into vegetables to make them small. Jews are portrayed as capable of doing anything. Against this background, you can also understand the fanatical hostility towards Israel, which is portrayed in the Muslim world as a satanic state capable of every dark and cunning scheme."
Already at age 13, Mohammed personally felt how hard it is to change the liberals' lenient attitude towards Muslim culture. "I had an amazing teacher who felt I was sadder and quieter than usual. It was because the day before my mother had told me she would take me out of public school and return me to an Islamic school. The teacher asked me what happened, and I said to myself 'This is your chance.' I told him about the abuse at home." Following this, police investigators arrived at their home, and later the family was summoned to a court hearing.
"Ultimately the judge stood before me and said, 'This is your culture, it's the way your family chooses to discipline you, and it's their right. We have no ability to intervene.' With that the story ended, and I returned to abuse at home. I learned then for the first time that there are institutions that will do anything so as not to accuse them of 'Islamophobia.'"
Q: Is it possible that Canada's attitude towards abusive Muslim families has changed since your childhood?
"Unfortunately, the situation today is much worse. I constantly receive letters from Muslim girls suffering from abuse. Recently a Muslim girl from Canada wrote to me and described how her white teacher 'caught her' without her hijab on her head. She humiliated her and said it was a disrespectful step towards her parents and her culture and forced her to put the hijab back on. Teachers are afraid not to cooperate. They don't understand the context of the hijab and have no idea about the women who are murdered or jailed for not wearing it.
"When I was young, I looked with envy at free and liberated Western women who could speak their minds freely and fulfill themselves. Girls today look at models walking around with hijabs. Islam is marketed today to progressive youth as a cool and exotic phenomenon. That's the background to the bizarre phenomenon of transgender people converting to Islam. They don't understand that they will be dead before finishing saying the Shahada [Muslim declaration of faith] and that in 15 Muslim countries, they can legally be put to death. They are utterly clueless about basic Islam."
At age 19, Mohammed was introduced to her future husband. She was coerced into marrying him and started wearing the niqab [full face and body covering garment]. Before long she realized that her husband, Essam Marzouk, was in fact an Al-Qaida operative, and would later be designated as "most wanted" by the US. He was eventually captured in Azerbaijan in a Mossad operation. The two have a daughter together. "At that point, I suffered greatly from him, but I still wanted to be a Muslim to please my mother. When I realized this was not the kind of life I would want for my daughter, especially as she herself faced the threat of 'female circumcision,' I decided to leave it all behind." She changed both their names and moved to another city, for fear her daughter would be kidnapped and raised as a Muslim.
Religion trumps humanity
The September 11 attacks shook her to the core and served as a turning point. "At that time I was an undergraduate student in education at the University of British Columbia, and the dean called me into his office. A few hours after the attack, he started asking me if anyone had harassed me for being Muslim, or if there were any 'Islamophobic' manifestations towards me. They hadn't even retrieved all the bodies from ground zero, and what interested him was whether someone had made an unpleasant remark. This was the biggest attack on Western culture, and all of his energy should have been invested in his own country and the values it represents. I felt terrible. It just wasn't the time to ask a Muslim if he "felt offended" by a classmate. It's like an hour after Hamas' murderous attack on October 7, someone in Israel would ask Muslims "Are you okay? We hope no one hurt your feelings because the Gaza terrorists killed Israelis."
Q: Was that a significant moment in your decision to leave Islam?
"Absolutely. At this point, I was mature enough to understand that my culture was part of this. I realized that I belonged to the religion that led to 9/11. I was married to an al-Qaida operative, and I had no illusions that 'it had nothing to do with Islam,' as Muslim leaders immediately tried to frame the event. There were Muslims who actually celebrated the Twin Tower attacks. The ability to celebrate such an event stems from the fact that your loyalty to the Muslim "nation" prevails over your humanity. In my book, I try to explain the results of indoctrination. Killing your own child goes against human nature, but it is very common for Muslim families to kill their daughters who they think do not behave "Islamically" enough. Their love and loyalty to Allah and Mohammed prevail over any humanity that might prevent them from committing these atrocities. This is also how one can understand the celebrations in the Muslim world after October 7."
Given the sweeping generalizations she makes about Muslim culture, Mohammed is surprising when we talk about Gaza. "The main argument I make to pro-Palestinians is that Hamas destroyed Gaza and hurt the Palestinians who wanted to live in peace with Israel. My father was born and raised in Gaza, and he has been an activist for peace with Israel all his life. What frustrated him the most was that Hamas was presented as the face of the Palestinians to the world. He was in Gaza when it was under Egyptian rule, and then under Israel. He described those periods as times of prosperity. This ended when the Muslim Brotherhood rose and Hamas took over the strip. He was never religious but secular and pragmatic. Gaza had functioning schools and hospitals, low unemployment rates, a functioning society with civil rights. Under Hamas, all of these disappeared completely. I saw this side of the world through his perspective: Here is a person who actually lived in Gaza, unlike people who shout; from the river to the sea; and can't point on a map to what river and sea they're talking about. His perspective was authentic. He worked with politicians in Israel on a vision for peace in Gaza. It was very sad for me to see how Hamas destroyed Gaza and his dream."
Q: In the ex-Muslim community, do you pay a price for your positive attitude towards Israel and your criticism of Hamas?
"I cannot explain how heavy a price I have paid for this. It is amazing how even ex-Muslims and Arab Christians I am in touch with are captive to Hamas propaganda. I have friends who dehumanized Israel, which shocked me. How can they support the evil of Hamas? To me it's unbelievable. It almost makes me question their own humanity. These are some of the things I discovered about some of my acquaintances after October 7."
Q: You paint a bleak picture of Islam. The implications are particularly dire for us as Israelis living in the Middle East surrounded by millions of Muslims. Can you imagine a reform in Islam in the near future?
"That's a big question that I'm afraid to ask myself. I'm afraid to find out how pessimistic I can be about the direction things might go. I can say that I support Muslim reformists, but it's not an effort I choose to invest my energy in. I think the religion itself is false and dangerous, and I think the cultures and traditions it arouses are misogynistic, violent, and autocratic. A cursory glance at the state of 57 Muslim countries around the world is enough evidence."
Q: Do you see a difference between religions, between Islam and Judaism for example, or do you think all progress must come through atheism? Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a well-known ex-Muslim who fought against Islam, recently concluded that atheism is not enough, and realized that in order to defeat Islam and the progressive Left, the West needs to return to its own religion – Christianity.
"I believe people should be free to believe whatever they want, whether it's Islam, Judaism, Christianity or anything else. The problem occurs when people are ostracized, imprisoned, or killed because of their beliefs. Unfortunately, Islam requires the execution of people who think freely, like me. Jews who choose to become atheists are usually still loved and accepted by their families and communities. In fact, most Jews in the world are atheists."
Q: As the years go by, do you feel voices like yours are making more of an impact in the world?
"I think so. Ultimately I need to be filled with faith that good will prevail over evil. One of my favorite writers, F. Scott Fitzgerald, once wrote that when you look at the ships as they navigate the water, they sometimes seem to be going backward, but they are really advancing. In the history of humankind, as a whole, we are moving forward. Since October 7 there is no doubt we are experiencing a significant setback, and no one knows where this will go from here. I have to be filled with faith that things will get better because I will be leaving two daughters on this earth when I depart."
"The truth is that one of the things that fills me with faith is actually the story of the Jews," Mohammad surprises me. "You've gone through pogroms like this over and over. You've always been a relatively tiny population, yet the intellect, art, literature, science, and gifts you've brought to the world are disproportionate to your numbers. All this happened despite the fact that you've experienced hatred from all parts of human society, consistently in every period of history, with each of your generations experiencing tremendous trauma. I have no doubt that you will emerge even stronger from this current crisis as well. I hope the whole free world will too, because what awaits us around the corner does not look bright.
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