Redemption Is Possible Even For An Islamic Terrorist

The story of Yaron Avraham is a rarity, though not unheard of. It shows that anyone has the potential to redeem oneself. I first heard him interviewed on Israel’s i24tv station.

Yaron was born in Lod in central Israel to a Muslim family. At the age of 9, he experienced a traumatic event. His sister––whom he was very close to–– was murdered in front of him by two of his older brothers for the crime of being out too late. This was an honour killing which is practised by many of the more radical elements in the Muslim world. Since he couldn’t understand what had happened and was asking questions, his family sent him to a mosque in Gaza so he could be educated to be a Hamas martyr. This is what Gazan children are taught with the mission of killing Jews.

Yaron explained that from morning to night, the mosque embued you with the teachings of the Koran. He had to learn the text by heart, and he was re-educated in the ways of a future suicide bomber, looking upon death as a blessing. It was day and night indoctrination.

Then, another traumatic event changed forever the direction of his life. When he was 13, two children in the mosque were suspected of having a relationship. What was the punishment? Beheading, which Yaron was forced to watch. At that point, he could no longer tolerate his situation.

Yalon fled back into Israel to his family home, from which he permanently left shortly after. Luckily, he was picked up by a very kind Israeli Jew who offered to take him to Tel Aviv and gave him some money to help him for a little while. This was Yaron’s first interaction with a Jew.

Ultimately, Yaron adopted his new society and converted to Judaism, entered the Israeli military and joined the Givati Brigade, which went into Gaza to uncover terrorist activities. He is currently trying to educate people on the situation regarding the evils of radical Islam, which he can speak to from his own experience.

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Another person who fled from the strict confines of her Islamic family in Somalia is Ayaan Hirsi Ali. She was not a terrorist. She also had a conversion away from Islam.

In her book Infidel, Ali chronicled how she was genitally mutilated at age five. I won't describe the details. She eventually fled Somalia and made her way to Holland, where she became an advocate for women's rights as a member of parliament and was highly critical of Islam. 

In 2004, Hirsi teamed up with filmmaker Theo Van Gogh to make a film, Submission, about the Islamic suppression of women. Van Gogh was murdered on an Amsterdam street, first shot, then almost decapitated with a knife. Ali eventually fled to the U.S., where she currently resides. However, there is a fatwa on Ali, so she has to have exceptional security wherever she goes.

To this day, Ali has to fear for her life, yet still continues to fight—as a Christian—for women's rights and a reformation of Islam.

There are elements of Islam that are incompatible with a civilized society. So where are all the feminists and others who should be condemning the tenets of Islam which are damaging women? They are amazingly silent, especially the Hollywood crowd who purports to be champions of women's rights.