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Brigitte Gabriel, born October 21, 1964) is the pseudonym, of a Lebanese American journalist, author, and activist. Gabriel says that Islam keeps countries backward, and that it teaches terrorism. In order to promote such views, Gabriel founded the American Congress For Truth and ACT! for America so that citizens may "fearlessly speak out in defense of America, Israel and Western civilization."

She frequently speaks at American conservative-leaning organizations such as The Heritage Foundation, Christians United for Israel, Evangelicals and Jewish groups.

Stephen Lee, the publicist at St. Martins Press for Gabriel’s second book, called her views "extreme". Gabriel said she gives voice to "what many in America are thinking but afraid to say out loud, for fear of being labeled a racist, bigot, Islamophobic, or intolerant."

Early life

Brigitte Gabriel was born in the Marjayoun District in Lebanon to a Christian family.

Gabriel recalls that during the Lebanese Civil War, militants launched an assault on a Lebanese military base near her family's house and bombed her home, and consequently she and her parents were forced to live in an 8'x10' bomb shelter underground for seven years with only a small kerosene heater, no sanitary systems, no electricity or running water and little food. To get water she states that she had to crawl in a ditch alongside a road to a spring in order to evade Muslim snipers.

Later, in 1978, Gabriel says a man warned her family of an impending attack on Christians by militias. She says that her life was saved that night when Israelis invaded Lebanon in Operation Litani. Later, when her mother was seriously injured and was taken to an Israeli hospital, Gabriel noted the humanity of the Israelis in contrast to the propaganda against the Jews she says she saw as a child.

After graduating from high school, Gabriel completed a one-year business administration course at a YWCA in 1984.

Career

Using the name Nour Semaan, Gabriel was a news anchor for World News, an Arabic-language evening news broadcast of Middle East Television, a Marjayoun-based station that was run by the now defunct SLA and funded by Israel. Broadcast in Israel, Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon, through her work there, Gabriel covered the Israeli withdrawal from central Lebanon, the Israeli Security Zone (occupied South Lebanon), and the Palestinian uprising in the West Bank and Gaza. The television station moved to Cyprus for a time and was later purchased by Pat Robertson. Gabriel moved to Israel before immigrating to the United States in 1989 where she founded a television production, marketing and advertising agency.

According to the Center for International Policy (CIP), Gabriel, "has made a post-9/11 career out of roundly denouncing Islam, decrying 'political correctness,' and promoting the concept of an existential clash of cultures. The CIP aso states that, "Her pro-Israel, anti-Islam spiel, coupled with her compelling personal history, has made her a popular speaker, writer, and general 'expert.' She appears sometimes as a commentator on television news and radio programs, often speaking out for the rights of Muslim women."

ACT! For America and American Congress for Truth

Gabriel is the founder of ACT! for America, a non-profit issues advocacy organization. ACT! for America has hundreds of chapters across America and members in 20 countries outside of America. She is also the founder of American Congress for Truth, a non-profit organization which denounces Islamic fundamentalism. ===Other affiliations=== Gabriel is also a member of the Board of Advisors of The Intelligence Summit and lectures nationally and internationally on Global Terrorism. She has addressed former Prime Minister of Australia John Howard, Members of the U.S. Congress, The Joint Forces Staff College, The United States Special Operations Command, the FBI and members of the House of Commons in London.

Gabriel is listed as a member of the Hasbara Fellowship Speakers Bureau, a pro-Israeli advocacy group, on their website; but has denied being a member of that organization.

Authorship

Gabriel is the author of two books: Because They Hate: A Survivor of Islamic Terror Warns America, and They Must Be Stopped: Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and How We Can Do It. She is a regular guest analyst on Fox News Channel, CNN, MSNBC and various radio stations daily across America.

Because They Hate

In her first book Gabriel discusses her experiences as a Maronite (Eastern Catholic) Christian living in Lebanon during the civil war in the 1970s. She describes the story of her family and her childhood, hiding in a bomb shelter. She details her opinions that her country's inherent multicultural acceptance of all faiths and cultures including the then dominant Lebanese Christian phalangists, led to Lebanon's ruin by the continuous attacks from indigenous Muslims, other Christian groups and migrant Palestinians.

Gabriel comments that "anyone who voices his or her opinion contrary to 'politically correct think' is immediately tagged" a "racist" or "bigot" and that this has resulted in a "social paranoia which discourages free thought and expression." Moreover, she states that societies and cultures must be held accountable for their actions and that "by not judging others... we have helped create the monsters we are dealing with today."

The book made The New York Times hardcover best seller list. According to the introduction of the 2008 edition of Because They Hate, the book was put on the reading list at the FBI Academy and was assigned as mandatory reading for Navy SEALs heading to the Middle East.

They Must Be Stopped

"We, as infidels in the eyes of our enemy, need to understand the danger we face: A totalitarian ideology — whether its origin is mainstream or marginal — threatens to enslave, dominate, and murder us in order to realize its vision for global conquest."

Viewpoints

1. Gabriel 2006, p. 9 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFGabriel2006 (help) "...my tenth birthday, October 21, 1974..."
2. Cite error: The named reference NYT0311 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
3. Cite error: The named reference hate-189 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
4. Cite error: The named reference hate-188 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
5. Cite error: The named reference hate-202 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
6. Cite error: The named reference hate-203 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
7. Cite error: The named reference hate-205 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
8. "American Congress for Truth". Mission Statement. American Congress for Truth. Archived from the original on 2008-03-24. Retrieved 2008-04-19. One of the 7 mission statements.
9. ^ Gabriel 2006, p. 205 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFGabriel2006 (help)
10. Hoyt, Clark (2008-08-21). "A Radical Islamophobe?". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-04-26.
11. Gabriel 2006, p. 44 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFGabriel2006 (help)
12. "Because They Hate: A Survivor of Islamic Terror Warns America". Heritage Live - Events. The Heritage Foundation. Retrieved 2008-03-09. Brigitte Gabriel lost her childhood to militant Islam. – speaker profile from lecture series
13. Gabriel 2006, p. 95 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFGabriel2006 (help)
14. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/08/us/08gabriel.html?pagewanted=2
15. ^ Lamb, Franklin (6–12 March 2008), "Al-Ahram Weekly", AL-AHRAM (887 ed.), Cairo {{citation}}: Text "Focus" ignored (help); Text "Lost from Lebanon" ignored (help)
16. ^ "ACT! for America". About Ms. Gabriel. ACT! for America. Retrieved 2009-11-05. About Ms. Gabriel.
17. ^ "Americas Program Profile: Brigitte Gabriel". Center for International Policy (CIP). August 23, 2007. Retrieved 2010-02-11.
18. "Hasbara Fellowship Speakers Bureau". Israelactivism.com. Retrieved 2010-03-07.
19. Gabriel 2006, pp. 4–6 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFGabriel2006 (help)
20. Gabriel 2006, pp. 13–16 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFGabriel2006 (help)
21. Gabriel 2006, p. 216 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFGabriel2006 (help)
22. Cite error: The named reference Gabrielp186 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
23. "Hardcover Best Seller List". The New York Times Books. The New York Times Company. 17 November 2006. Retrieved 2008-03-09. The author (who describes herself as an Arab Christian and victim of radical Islam) presents her view of Islamic Terrorism.
24. Gabriel, 2006, p.xx of the 2008 edition.
25. Gabriel, 2008, p. 7.