Tactical Hudna and Islamist Intolerance

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From Tactical Hudna and Islamist Intolerance: Hudna is the first word used in Muslim history to mean cease-fire, specifically in the context of the seventh century Truce of al-Hudaybiyya. Named after a village outside Mecca, the truce came six years after Muhammad and his followers abandoned Mecca for Yathrib, today’s Medina. This move set a pattern of retreat followed by regrouping and rearming, which permits an attack on the territory previously left behind. Muhammad and the rulers of Mecca negotiated a truce, the essence of which was to permit the Muslims to return unarmed on pilgrimage each year for the

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Can Israel really stand up to the world?

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Michael Freund asks: With Israel coming under increasing pressure to make additional, far-reaching concessions to the Palestinians, the question has arisen once again of whether the Jewish state is capable of standing up for itself and its interests. Interestingly, there is another small Mediterranean state – namely Greece – that recently created a major diplomatic furor, all because of a question of semantics. And as I argue in the column below from the Jerusalem Post, Israel would do well to learn from their example. Read Michael Freund’s article here.

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