Following are excerpts from an interview with Egyptian writer Muhammad Ibrahim Mabrouk, which aired on Al-Majd TV on April 27, 2009
Interviewer: American society was not born and did not grow in the United States. It is a mixed society – a society of immigrants, of different nationalities. How can it be claimed that this society in its entirety was melted down into a single, utilitarian doctrine, if the original societies, which go back hundreds of years, were not able to melt down its people into a united society?
Muhammad Ibrahim Mabrouk: The main characteristic at the basis of a certain society... The ideology or concepts upon which a certain society is based become the main characteristics of the people who join it later. I will try to present some of the concepts... How was American society formed? It might come as a surprise to the viewers that when Christopher Columbus went to America... It is taught in every school that he...
Interviewer: ... discovered [America].
Muhammad Ibrahim Mabrouk: Yes, he discovered it when he was on his way to India, from the other direction. He stumbled upon America and discovered it.
Interviewer: You say that this is what we are taught. Do you have a different idea?
Muhammad Ibrahim Mabrouk: Of course. It wasn't like that at all. This is mentioned in a Western book titled The Conquest of America, which was translated by Shuruq Publishers.
Interviewer: It was fabricated? It's a lie?
Muhammad Ibrahim Mabrouk: Completely fabricated. It is mentioned in the memoirs of Christopher Columbus...
Interviewer: So what is the truth?
Muhammad Ibrahim Mabrouk: The truth is that Christopher Columbus wanted to liberate Jerusalem from the Muslims. He was trying to reach the Chinese emperor. Europe failed completely in its efforts to attack the Muslims, and to take Jerusalem from them. Columbus wanted to reach the Chinese emperor from the other direction, and to convince him to give him cavalry in order to liberate Jerusalem. Imagine, the whole thing is about aggression. He stumbled upon this new continent. When Christopher Columbus discovered this continent... It's not like we've been told – that he met a group of barbarian Indians. According to anthropological studies, the Indians have a civilization that is 12,000 years old – the Mayan civilization. It's not that he didn't encounter a civilization, but the annihilation of that civilization by the pioneers who came with Columbus, and later by the Dutch, the British, and the Portuguese... The most significant component of America to this day is the Pu... Pur... Puritans, who were of English origin.
Interviewer: Could you say it again, as it's such a difficult word?
Muhammad Ibrahim Mabrouk: The Puritans. They were English Protestants. They believed – according to Protestant leaders Luther and Calvin – that some people are destined to go to Heaven, while others are destined to go to Hell, and they were among those who were going to Heaven. America means to them what Israel means to the Jews. It is the "New Israel." So just like is written in the Book of Isaiah, they should annihilate the people that lived in this "Israel." This is the notion of annihilation that appears in the Jewish books. By annihilating the Indians, they would get closer to their god.
[...]
Three percent of the people in New York have AIDS. Half of the children in England are illegitimate. 40% of all 15-year-old girls in the US have lost their virginity.
Interviewer: In an illegitimate way, mind you...
Muhammad Ibrahim Mabrouk: What does Christianity have to say about this?