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Nonie Darwish is a freelance writer for the online journal, FrontPageMag.com, edited by David Horowitz. A convert to Christianity, she says she is the daughter of a non-Palestinian "shahid" (martyr). Darwish blames "the Middle Eastern Islamic culture" for her father's death and to avenge it, she has adopted a mission to "expose Moslem culture and Islamic fundamentalists." She also says that, after having been raised in an atmosphere of hatred for Israelis and Jews, she now wants to promote reconciliation, acceptance and understanding between Israelis and Arabs.
According to her articles: she was raised in the Gaza Strip in the 1950s, attending a Palestinian preschool and kindergarten. Her father was a prominent non-Palestinian (presumably Egyptian) military officer whose job was to "mobilize Palestinian forces into Israeli territory and cause as much death and damage to Israel as possible"; he asked for and was promised a transfer but was "killed by the Israelis in retaliation" two weeks before getting it, at the age of 35, thus becoming a shahid (martyr). After his death, her family moved to Cairo, where she attended Catholic high school and then the American University in Cairo, earning a BA in Sociology/Anthropology. She then worked as an editor and translator for the Middle East News Agency, until emigrating to the United States in 1978, mainly to marry her Christian husband, ultimately receiving United States citizenship.
After arriving in the US, she began attending a non-denominational evangelical church and converted to Christianity, or in her words, was "saved". About a year after the September 11, 2001 attacks, Darwish began writing columns for the neoconservative publication FrontPageMag.com.
Her website Arabs for Israel (http://www.arabsforisrael) describes itself as an organization of Arabs and Moslems who respect and support the State of Israel, welcome a peaceful and diverse Middle East, reject suicide/homicide terrorism as a form of Jihad, and promote constructive self-criticism and reform in the Arab/Moslem world.
Quotes on Arab culture
- "In the Arab world to take responsibility and say sorry is taken as an unmanly sign of weakness that may get a person into more trouble. Those who admit guilt, even if it is accidental, are given no mercy and may end up taking all the blame and being brutally punished. ...Honesty is not rewarded." [1] (http://frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=13509)
- "Don't be fooled by the glory of being a martyr. I learned that the hard way, but thank God I triumphed. I could not have done it without living in freedom in the USA. As a child I was asked by many: 'Are you going to avenge the killing of your father by killing Jews?' My answer now as an adult is a firm 'no'. Instead, I will live to expose the dark side of the Moslem culture and Islamic fundamentalists." [2] (http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=5301)
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