In a powerful and unapologetic address to young conservatives at the Young America’s Foundation event on June 19th, Robert Spencer, the founder and director of Jihad Watch and author of dozens of books on Islam and jihad, delivered a sobering reality check about the nature of the conflict with the Islamic Republic of Iran and the broader global jihad.
Spencer explained that what much of the West calls “war” is viewed by Iran and other jihadist entities as something fundamentally different: a religious obligation that cannot be permanently negotiated away.
Watch the full speech and Q&A here:
Key Excerpts That Cut Through the Noise
Spencer took numerous questions from the audience. Two answers stood out for their clarity and importance:
1. “In any case, I’m for it” — Why Robert Spencer is a Zionist
“You cannot be opposed to jihad without supporting Israel because Israel is on the front lines of the global jihad… America First does not mean America alone.”
In this clip, Spencer directly addresses those who claim to be “America First” while opposing alliance with Israel. He makes the case that shared enemies and shared values make Israel a natural and necessary partner.
Watch the short clip here:
2. “We Cannot Live Peacefully Alongside Islamic-Dominated Societies”
The Qur’an says, chapter 8, verse 39: ‘Fight them until persecution is no more and religion is all for Allah.’ … If your religion is not all for Allah, some Muslim might one day think he’s got to fight you.”
Spencer dismantles the fantasy of peaceful coexistence with societies governed by Islam. He points out that the ideological imperative for expansion and domination is built into the core Islamic texts and doctrine. That this is not a misunderstanding or “extremist” version of Islam, but Islam as it actually is.
Watch the short clip here:
Spencer’s message to the next generation was clear:
Ignoring the doctrinal roots of jihad will not make the threat disappear. Whether it’s Iran’s regime, Hezbollah’s rockets, or stealth jihad organizations operating inside the West, the same ideology drives the conflict.
The West’s repeated attempts at negotiation, appeasement, and wishful thinking have consistently failed because they refuse to acknowledge what the other side openly states about its goals.
This is must-watch material for anyone who wants to understand why the same patterns repeat — from 1979 until today.Share this widely. The future depends on young people hearing the truth that too many in positions of power still refuse to face.
It is important to understand that Islam is a separate system of thought and values from that within Western Civilization. What we consider noble, righteous, or Godly is not the same in Islam.
To self-sacrifice for the greater good is a common idea in the Judeo-Christian West. But to do so by dying in an act that causes a mass casualty event of unbelievers is the equivalent in Islam.
Taking sex slaves is anathema in the West. But it is more than permissible in Islam. It is considered excellent conduct.
Mohammad is considered the perfect human being. And therefore, his behavior is to be imitated in all ways possible.
Politics is always downstream from philosophy, and all Islamic societies are run 100% by Islamic principles to the extent possible, with the expectation of greater adherence to these precepts in the future. Therefore, any form of detente between Western thinkers and Islamic polities is doomed to failure for the West.
Western peoples actually want coexistence, albeit in our own respective lands.
Islam seeks total and uncompromising global domination.
This article has been cross-posted with permission from the RAIR Foundation.
somehistory says
Very important point….they believe that war must continue with every muzzlim taking part until the entire earth is subject to islam.
Once people recognize that fact, it’s easier to understand why *talking peace* with them is useless.
It isn’t just that they lie and lie and lie and break promises. They start out with the intent to wage war and nothing is going to stop them.
The cows can come home, the chickens can roost, pigs can fly, and the fat lady can sing. But until they dominate every person on earth, war, war and more war.
David Grisez says
It sure sound like the only thing that can result in a lasting peace with Iran is for the war against Iran to completely destroy all the Islamic leadership of Iran and completely destroy all the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp. Then replace the government with a non-Islamic elected representative government. It is clear from the teachings of Islam that as long as there is an Islamic government in Iran the war will only temporarily pause until the Islamic government has enough strength to fight again.
Elizabeth brower says
Struggle is a Marxist term that the Muslims (or the Marxists) jacked from the other.
gravenimage says
Elizabeth, Islam is of course much older than is Marxism.
“Struggle” is not in and of itself an ugly word–but it certainly has been used in ugly contexts–as you note, by Islam and communism. Another is fascism–“Mein Kamf”–“kampf” also means struggle.
My favorite quote using “struggle” in a non-totalian way is Arthur Hugh Clough, in his poem “Say not the struggle nought availeth”.
https://www.poetrybyheart.org.uk/poems/say-not-the-struggle-nought-availeth
I find this poem a comfort when we have had another reverse in the fight against Jihad.
Anonistan says
Why American people hate themselves? It does not care about anything but stupidity.
Islam is going to take over America. It begin with Newyorkistan.
Sneako: Takbir
Muslim Crowd: Allahuakbar
Sneako: Allhuakbar. Fuck you. This is the Islamic Republic of New Yorkistan. Islam will be in every household. Inshallah the whole world is Muslim. Welcome to Mamdani’s New York. You see this city, you see how it looks? Inshallah your city looks just like this too.
somehistory says
Are you being sarcastic? or are you in with the evil boloney?
gravenimage says
Unless this is sarcasm it is vicious claptrap.
Anonistan says
Why do American people hate themselves? It does not care about anything but stupidity.
Islam is going to take over America. It begin with Newyorkistan.
Sneako: Takbir
Muslim Crowd: Allahuakbar
Sneako: Allhuakbar. Fuck you. This is the Islamic Republic of New Yorkistan. Islam will be in every household. Inshallah the whole world is Muslim. Welcome to Mamdani’s New York. You see this city, you see how it looks? Inshallah your city looks just like this too.
John Herlihy says
LOL!! We don’t hate ourselves. We ABHOR Islam and you 7th century Orcs that want Islam/Sharia to rule the world.
Can’t wait wait for you and yours to come to my home to spread your filthy twisted GARBAGE. A big surprise awaits! Guaranteed.
And there are millions of us Kuffar that feel the exact same way.
Tony says
Islam is a Criminal-Terrorist-Gang Enterprise against all Non-Muslims while employing deceit, discrimination, segregation, violence, and terrorism as taught in Islamic Law and in Islam’s Qur’an(Qur’an 9:5, 29, 111; 49:15, etc.). Islam’s Muslims are murderous, Totalitarian Terrorists of Allah operating as a Criminal-Terrorist-Gang Enterprise under Islamic Law to ultimately conquer the Non-Muslims with Islamic Law DBA Islam(Qur’an 8:60; 9:5, 29, 111; 49:15, etc.). Allah in Qur’an 8:39 commands, “And engage in war with them[Non-Muslims] until there will not be sedition and the religion will be completely to Allah…”
Islam is the deceitful, daily practice of Islamic Law by Muslims, and Allah rewards his Muslim believers, Genocidal Terrorists of Allah, with a Garden Paradise when they kill and are killed in Jihad for Allah as war against Non-Muslims using MUSLIM MONEY and MUSLIM LIVES to make Islam, Islamic Law, supreme(Qur’an 9:5, 29, 111; 49:15, etc.). Allah in Qur’an 49:15 teaches, “Surely the believers[Muslims] are only those who believed in Allah and his messenger. They do not doubt, and they performed JIHAD with their MONEY and their LIVES for the sake of Allah. Those are the truthful.” See also Qur’an 2:191; 4:89, 91; 8:60; 9:5, 29, 111; 47:4; 48:29, etc.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
A couple of interesting points in the video
⮞ 23:00 Turkey tried to prove that it’s possible for a muslim country to be a secular state. I daresay that Iran was, and again can be, more successful than Turkey in that aspect. Most of Iran’s Persian history had been non-muslim, and until the conquests of Alexander, it was pretty successful. Whereas most of Iran’s ruling muslim dynasties were Turkic. By contrast, most of Turkish achievements – both in Turkey and in Turkistan – were as islamic entities, so it’s much harder for Turkey to present a successful non-islamic resume than it is for either Iran or Mongolia
⮞ 25:00 Speaking of Nasser & Egypt, while he was anti-islamic but only to a limited extent – his hostility towards Israel forcing him to make common cause w/ jihadist at least in that aspect, Nasser’s other major problem was that he was a socialist. Egypt had a horrible economy during him, the United Arab Republic that he formed w/ Syria came unraveled partly b’cos of it, and so as the opposition to his ideas, if not him, grew, it got co-opted by jihadists. As it is, Anwar al Sadat, despite his agreements w/ Israel, courted the jihadists and Hosni Mubarak continued those policies. That’s why in Egypt, most muslimahs wear the hijabs: Nasserite ideology got discredited due to its socialist contents, and islam rode the replacement waves that followed
⮞ 37:30 Not only did the “Palestinians” not exist before 1964: before 1948, the term “Palestinian” was used exclusively to refer to Jews, not Arabs! I daresay that had Israel adapted the name “Palestine” when it got created, it would be interesting to see what name the Soviets would have given Arafat’s band of jihadists
⮞ 48:00 About the aftermath of 9/11, reason it didn’t last beyond a couple of weeks was that Bush was busy absolving islam of any guilt. Well, if islam was not guilty of anything, then why not ding Saudi Arabia – the country that 15 of the 19 hijackers were from, instead of Afghanistan or Iraq? And if it was guilty, then why wasn’t there a major attempt to ostracize muslims? After the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, that country was overnight cancelled: not only were Russian officials and their relatives sanctioned, but even ordinary Russians were systematically boycotted and isolated in every sphere of work Eg Russians who worked in Free Open Source Software suddenly found themselves removed from projects that even they helped found, even if they had nothing to do w/ Putin or the Russian government. Imagine if that had been the attitude towards muslims regardless of any circumstances!
⮞ 50:00 How do we protect America from islamic law when we allow muslims to practice their religion? That’s the core problem w/ recognizing islam as a religion. Robert somewhat touched on it early in his speech, when he pointed out that islam is not a religion in the way that the term “religion” is understood in the West, just like Jihad is not a war the way wars are understood in the West. I think that student Josiah Peters got it right: there is no way one can protect America – or any other country – from islamic/sharia law as long as muslims are allowed to practice islam, the way it is understood by them! I’m not talking about someone who practices only the 5 pillars, including the Ramadan fasts & so on: I’m talking about muslims who do most of the things required of them by their ulema. As long as that is allowed, there is always a vector for sharia to build its foundations
Anyway, good speech. Great to see RS back on the speaking circuit. Hope that he’ll also discuss in more length the Iranian situation in terms of its potential for emerging as a secular country if Pahlavi comes to power, and what might happen to the entire region if and when that happens
gravenimage says
Robert Spencer at YAF: Why Jihad Cannot Be Negotiated Away – And Why Israel Is on the Front Lines
……………………………………
Spot on! Yes, you cannot negotiate with dishonest savages.