The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam and the Crusades

The Politically incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades

But themovie is justone part of a much larger campaign to convince

Westerners that Islamic civilization is equal or superior toWestern

civilization.

The whitewash ofKingdom of Heaven
Kingdom of Heavenisa classic cowboys-and-Indians story in which
Muslims are noble and heroic and the Christian s are venal and viole nt.The
script is heavy on modern-dayPC clichés and fantasiesofIslamic tolerance:
brushing aside dhimmi laws andattitudes(of which Ridley Scotthas most

likely never heard),it inventsa peace-and-tolerancegroupthe "Brotherhood of
Muslims. Jews and Christians." But of course theChristians spoiled
everything. A publicis t for the film explained. "theywereworkingtogether,

Itwasastrong bond until theKnightsTemplar caused friction between them,"

Ah yes,thosenasty "Christian extremists"'

Kingdom of Heaven was made for those who believe that all the
troublebetween the Islamic world and the West has been caused by Western
imperialism, racism, and colonialism. and that the gloriousparadigm ofIsl ami c

tol era nce , whi ch was onc e a bea con tothe wor ld, could be reestablishedif

only the wicked white men of America and Europe
would be more tolerant. Ridley Scott andhisteam arrangedadvan ce
screening sforgroups like the Council on American-Islamic Relations, making
sure,tha t sen sitive Mus lim fee lin gs wer e not hurt. It is a dream movie the
PCestablishmentin every way except one: It isn't true,
Professor Jonathan Riley-Smith, author of AShort History of thecrusades
and one of the world's leading historians of the period, called themov ie "rubbi sh,"
exp lain ing that "it' s not historically accurate at it "depictsthe Muslimsas

sophisticated andcivilized, and the Crusaders.ar e al lbr ut esan d bar bar ia ns. It
ha s not hi ngto do wi thre al it y, " Ohan d"there was nev eraconfraternity of
Mus lims , Jews and Christi ans. Tha t isutter nonsense."