Here is the perspective of a Christian Arab from Lebanon. She is a journalist and human rights activist, who speaks truth to power without fear of political correctness. She is the author of Because They Hate: A Survivor of Islamic Terror Warns America and other books about the political realities of Jihad in the Middle East and the world.

The speaker has lived the life in the Middle East. Born and raised in Lebanon, she knows and tells the real story of how life changed in her country after Arafat and his Palestinian Liberation Organization settled there and began their rule of terror.

Although the sponsoring organization for this speech in the video below, the Heritage Foundation, appears to be an organization with whom I (and I imagine most if not all readers of OpEd News) will have political disagreements, Gabriel tells a compelling story any open minded critical thinker should hear.

I have become familiar with the inexplicable reaction of intolerance and closemindedness of many in the "Progressive" movement, who refuse to even read or listen to differing perspectives.

If this was not so destructive (and Regressive), I would find it amusing that people who define themselves as "Progressive" are so inclined to censorship and single viewpoint propaganda. For that is, in fact, the definition of propaganda: the presentation of a single and biased point of view to the exclusion of other viewpoints that would enable and require critical thinking and analysis.

And it is this virulent unwillingness to hear differing perspectives that keeps the Progressive movement from winning important political battles. It bespeaks a lack of the kind of critical and strategic thinking, and the ability to perceive and consider the Big Picture, that is required to succeed in difficult and challenging power struggles.

So - in the hopes that most readers are interested, intelligent, thinking people, I post this different perspective.

Here is a speech where you can hear Ms. Gabriel's story.

Here is an interview at Duke University with Ms. Gabriel.

According to Wikipedia: Brigitte Gabriel (born 1965) is a human rights advocate, journalist, author and activist. She is the founder of the American Congress For Truth and ACT! for America.

According to Gabriel's website, her mission is to:

• Keep citizens informed through action alerts, issues and legislation

• Educate millions of citizens about our enemy, and what they can and must do to protect themselves and their country

• Arm activists with information to get involved and take action

• Motivate citizens to become active in decisions affecting national security and the American way of life

• Network organizations with like-minded goals to bring change

• Empower citizens to have a voice in their government

• Fearlessly speak out in defense of America, Israel and Western civilization

Gabriel was born in Lebanon and raised as a Christian. She is a favorite among conservative radio stations in the United States.

Nancy Tobi is cofounder, former Chair, website editor for Democracy for New Hampshire (DFNH), and Chair of the NH Fair Elections Committee. Nancy is the author of numerous articles on election integrity, including "The Gifts of HAVA: Time to Ask for a Refund," "What's Wrong with the Holt Bill," "We're Counting the Votes: An Election Preparedness Kit," and "Hands-on Elections: An Information Handbook for Running Real Elections, Using Real Paper Ballots, Counted by Real People". Her article about election reform fallacies is included in the April 2008 book "Losers Take All" edited by Mark Crispin Miller.

Call it the consequences of irresponsible American invasions, call it the irrational exuberance of short sellers, call it the catastrophe of subprime lending, call it the mismanagement of leveraged products, blame it as you may, American markets are facing unprecedented meltdown and doomsayers see little promise in the federal bailout package. Ironically, the Wall Street has noticed that Shariah-compliant investments - which avoid speculative risk and debt-ridden greed - have fared much better in these troubled markets...

The Quran prohibits speculative risk, warning the faithful to avoid games of chance in which the probability of loss in is much higher than the probability of gain. Shariah-compliant investments, therefore, avoid speculative risk, including interest rate options, naked equity options, futures, derivative and numerous leveraged products purportedly designed to hedge investments. Many of these financial products attract speculators in hopes of making quick money... In addition to prohibiting high risk investments, the Quran also prohibits no risk investments... Islam does not prohibit passive investments. Nor does it prohibit giving interest-free loans. Debt is not contrary to Islamic law. Charging interest is.

The federal bailout package that the Bush Administration is selling as a quick cure of all problems will only aggravate the underlying cancer of interest-bearing debt. It is unlikely that the infusion of more money will reform institutions and companies built on layers of interest-bearing debt. When the best and the brightest are engrossed in finding ways to make money with money, and no more, the system may look creative and intelligent but it is geared toward shared destruction. [More]

Popular video blogger Pat Condell on Islam's war on free speech and human rights.