The Caliphate by André Gallo (books to read for 13 year olds .TXT) 📕

see, Steve reviewed what he knew about his captors. There were at least the four who had snatched him off the street, plus al Khalil and a couple of other men he had heard when being brought up the stairs. Did they have weapons? Al Khalil appeared unarmed.

     Steve guessed he was on the second floor. The bedroom had a window. He was thinking that he could probably overpower al Khalil and let himself out the window and down to the street. Whatever he did had to be quiet, though, and it had to be quick to succeed. However, nothing was possible until he was untied.

     “Why don’t you untie me and show me that Islam is still the faith of the civilized, not of the barbarians.”

     Al Khalil moved to the back of his chair and undid the handcuffs, but Steve’s legs remained tied. He smirked and said, “Maybe you can talk better now that your hands are free. Why are you in Ashqelon? Why did the CIA send you here?”

     Steve now sensed his best tactic would be to throw al Khalil off track.

     “And you’re going to put me to the sword if my answer doesn’t make you happy? The same way Islam spread the faith, by the force of arms—the bully of the Mediterranean world? Isn’t your theological rationale for violence, your excuse, that Allah is beyond reason? That makes all thoughts of human restraint irrelevant. It gives your armies and thugs the right to do anything at all, including the use of suicide bombers and the mass killing of civilians, in order to bring the rest of us to submit to Islam?”

    At first al Khalil’s smile had made an effort to resurface. He even appeared mildly amused that Steve would dare to go toe-to-toe with him on the subject of religion. He answered by walking up to him and slapping him with an open hand.

     “You, as an unbeliever, cannot use Allah’s name without risking your life. You forget that Islam modernized the Western world. Our thinkers, Averroes, Avicennes, Ibn Khaldun, brought the Europeans out of their Dark Age. You’re showing your ignorance by looking down on Islam.”

     Steve tested his ropes by trying to force his legs apart whenever he thought al Khalil was looking away but had no luck.

     “All the men you named were rational, or rationalists, in spite of Islam. One was Persian and the other two, born in Andalusia, were a product of the mixed Arab-European culture. I wonder what any of them would say about today’s Muslim violence and intolerance. When the West complains about Muslim violence and intolerance, what is the Muslim reaction? Its leaders send crowds into the street to destroy and kill, making the West’s point. And if Islam has any intention of fitting into the current century, Muslim leaders need to understand that they have to recognize basic rights, such as practicing whatever religion you choose, or none at all.”

     Al Khalil now paced in front of Steve. He moved his hands from behind his back to point a finger at Steve each time he asked a question or rebutted a comment.

     “Hypocrite! You Christians murdered and pillaged our towns during the Crusades. Wasn’t that violence? And what about the civilians you killed in Afghanistan, in Iraq?”

     “You’re right about the Crusades. But that was a thousand years ago. When you kill non-combatants it’s by design. When we do, it’s unavoidable because your people have this habit of hiding your soldiers and your artillery in schools and hospitals and mosques.”

     Al Khalil sneered in fury.

     “There are no civilians, no non-combatants in the West. You are all guilty. Either you voted for the leaders who do war against us, or you are all in armed forces in one way or another, or you pay taxes for your war machine.”

     Steve was pleased that al Khalil was no longer focused on the reason for his presence in Ashqelon. He continued.

     “We moved on, we progressed, we had a reformation. You didn’t. Your theology and your way of life are still locked into the twelfth or thirteenth century. The Quran was probably useful and even progressive a thousand years ago. But it has forced Muslims to stay behind the rest of the world. Am I not right?”

     At once, by the look of fury on al Khalil’s face, Steve realized he’d gone too far.

     “Blasphemer!” His voice was rich with fury. “To call the word of Allah, may He have mercy on us, ‘useful’! Dog! If I didn’t have a better use for you, you would be dead.”

     He went to the door and called out, and the kidnappers returned. At al Khalil’s orders, they put the handcuffs back on Steve’s wrists, in front of him this time, and led him out of the room. Al Khalil personally replaced Steve’s blindfold, tightly.

     As they moved him down the stairs, a somewhat calmer al Khalil said, “When these houses were built, they all had to include a bomb shelter. Most are made of reinforced concrete with no windows, always under the house. You can reflect in there. Oh, I almost forgot. You’ll find someone you know in there as well.”

     Although he couldn’t see him, Steve turned around quickly toward al Khalil on the stairs above him waiting for him to reveal the name of his other prisoner. Could it be possible that al Khalil had also captured his father? He didn’t want to ask, afraid to give him more information.

***

That night, al Khalil sent Hussein and four of his men in two vans to the national park on the coast. In the dark, they entered through the central Jerusalem Gate, lifting the barrier to allow the vans through. They turned left at the main parking lot and right toward the water. Another