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Intimidating the "Infidel" |
The Fifth Column
Howard Linett
October 19, 2006 |
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Actually it is the “Infidel” that should be
intimidating. Infidel is the name given to an automatic knife
manufactured by my good friends at the Benchmade Knife Company of Oregon
City, Oregon. Benchmade has been around since 1988. Many, myself included,
consider the company America’s premier maker of automatic knifes, which are
folding knives that open mechanically - by pushing a button, rather than
manually - by using one’s thumb. Because all but one or two States prohibit
the possession and carrying of automatic knives, sometimes referred to as
“Switchblades,” such knives are produced almost exclusively for use by
police, military and sworn security personnel.
Earlier this year Benchmade introduced the Infidel. A new, modern
version of an older design concept, it is an “out-the-front, duel-action
automatic.” Push the Infidel’s “button” (pun intended) forward and a
double-edged blade springs out the front of the knife. Push the button
rearward and the blade springs back inside the knife. I have tested the
Infidel. You really need to push the button, hard, deliberately, because
the knife has no “safety.” Clearly that is a precaution Benchmade built-in
to prevent the knife accidentally activating while in one’s pocket…Ouch!
Benchmade hit-the-ground-running when America was attacked on 9/11, working
tirelessly ever since to supply the women and men protecting us, our country
and our freedom with knives upon which they can rely. Well a couple of
months ago Benchmade became even more involved in the War on Terrorism, but
this time as an “attackee.” It is something that could be visited upon any
of us.
In his column from the last week of this September, Daniel Pipes astutely
concluded that we are being subjected to a “prolonged campaign of
intimidation,” backed by aggression and violence, sending a basic message to
us. Mr. Pipes went on to accurately identify the message - “You Westerners
no longer have the privilege to say what you want about Islam, the Prophet
and the Koran…” That column was instructionally titled, ‘Islamic law rules
you, too.’
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"Intimidation is an especially nasty, often
effective tool. Incitement is intimidation’s enforcer. It is
vital that everyone understand and identify intimidation and
incitement." |
I believe the war with terrorism is actually a clash of
civilizations. It is a war being waged aggressively against Western
Democracies by those whose goal is to replace our freedom with Islamic law
and rule. In this war our enemies try to kill us using whatever weapons they
can acquire. We are familiar with our enemy’s successes and attempts against
our person. But the terrorists’ efforts to defeat us go far beyond simply
using edged weapons, firearms, explosives, poison and weapons of mass
destruction to kill us. Our enemies also seek to defeat us by killing our
way of life, by preventing us from exercising our freedoms.
Killing our exercise of our Right to Free Speech is both a tactical
objective and a strategic goal of the terrorists. Our enemy’s position is
clear. Only a Moslem may voice an opinion about anything Islamic, anything
from an idea to even a single word contained in any Islamic text or oral
tradition. No one else may say anything. There can be no other side to any
discussion, since there is no discussion. We can not even use words in
common parlance, given a word’s universally accepted meaning, if suddenly
someone somehow decides that the word or the context in which it is used is
now unacceptable. Using misinformation and malice to form that “Opinion of
Objectability to Islam” or simply reaching the same conclusion out of
ignorance is perfectly acceptable.
Thus we return to the Benchmade Knife Company. Have you figured-out the
puzzle I now pose? What sin did my friends commit? What Commandment did they
transgress, that they deserved to have been singled-out for castigation
(which often precedes worse acts of retribution) by a Moslem writing an item
on a Blog? They named their knife Infidel. Hell’s Bells, what a
wonderful example that makes my point so easy to prove.
Look-up the word "infidel" in any dictionary, in any language. Ask someone
who speaks Arabic or an Arabic linguist (I did) or a scholar of Islamic
history what the word means. The answer will be universal - “Non-Believer.”
There is no negative connotation, except of course when the term is applied
to me. I do not see the inciter’s problem. Those individuals I consulted,
schooled in the Arabic language and the history of Islam, failed as well to
see the insult, the bigotry in using the word as a name for a knife.
I could be wrong. Somehow, in some way I, a liberal Jew from Connecticut can
not grasp, using Infidel for the name of a knife might be a form of
bigotry aimed at Moslems. Perhaps the man offended by the naming is not in
error in his understanding of the word, its meaning, usage and historical
context. Let us imagine he has not turned the word on its head. The use of
the word nevertheless constitutes Benchmade’s legitimate exercise of Free
Speech. But we are to sweep Free Speech aside because that speech, in one
man’s opinion, is insulting to his religious beliefs. Are religion,
religious beliefs and religious subjects now to be “off-limits,” subjects
that are taboo never to be mentioned, forbidden to discuss? Free Speech is
easily chilled.
Intimidation is an especially nasty, often effective tool. Incitement is
intimidation’s enforcer. It is vital that everyone understand and identify
intimidation and incitement. You can not effectively combat and defeat what
you do not understand and can not identify. |
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Howard Linett is an attorney, an independent journalist, a
lecturer, sniper instructor in the Israeli Police Civil Guard and the author
of "Living With Terrorism: Survival Lessons from the Streets of Jerusalem." |
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Contact Howard
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