I’ve always thought one of the most interesting points about the Crusades — the non-Pagan converting ones at least — isn’t merely that the West was simply responding in kind to Muslim aggression, so much as the fact that the Jihadis have now bought a Western interpretation of the Crusades. I remembering reading about this point at length, but I can’t remember who it was –probably Lewis or Ajami. Anyway, the fact is that until fairly recently the Arab/Muslim world didn’t have a giant chip on its shoulder about the Crusades. After all, they won. And it wasn’t as central an event in their historical narrative as it is today. It’s only with the export of Marxist notions of European colonialism and exploitation to the Middle East that the radicals started harping on it. In other words, Bin Laden’s whole emphasis on “Crusaders” and the knee-jerk response to the word is tied up in the Westernization of the Middle East. Alas, it’s the wrong kind of Westernization but Westernization nonetheless. We saw similar dynamics in places like Vietnam, where French Marxism was appropriated by nationalist movements and therefore deemed “authentic” by leftist observers. This is one reason, it seems to me, why the whole post-colonial studies crowd (or whatever they’re called today) seems to think that Marxism is an authentic third world doctrine, even though it couldn’t be more European. Just look at Rigoberta Menchu for a perfect example of the phenomenon. Olivier Roy makes related points about the European Jihadis in particular have imbibed this Western brew the most, being both reactionary and modern in their worldviews. We now hear our own Marxist drivel spouted back to us in “authentic” voices and find it convincing, even when most of us find it absurd when we hear the same stuff from Europeans.

Anyway, what I thought was fascinating and depressing about Lewis’ talk last night was how he demonstrated that the process is continuing. His anecdote about the French Prime Minister (I think he said it was a P.M.) declaring that Saladin had “liberated” Jerusalem from French Crusaders was profoundly revealing.