Just published by Post Hill Press, The Levine Affair: Angel’s Flight is the gripping novel of an elite
paramilitary unit put together by an Israeli philanthropist named David Levine
to combat the global threat of jihad. Their mission in the book is to rescue a
young Nigerian woman sentenced to be stoned to death, as well as a journalist
and editor under assault by a mob of jihadis. Yes, it’s a fictional thriller
with some edge-of-your-seat action sequences, but it’s hardly escapism, grounded
as it is in the real-world persecution of Christian communities in Nigeria. The
book is educational as well, and presents a confrontation of clearcut good and evil,
happily devoid of the moral equivalence that spoils too much of today’s
storytelling about Islamic terror (such as Showtime’s Homeland, for example).
Lela Gilbert knows this territory
well. The author of Persecuted: The Global Assault on Christians,
Blind Spot: When Journalists Don’t Get
Religion, and most recently Saturday People, Sunday People: Israel
Through the Eyes of a Christian Sojourner, Lela is a freelance writer
and editor who has authored or co-authored a jaw-dropping 60+ books, and a
contributor to The Jerusalem Post, The Weekly Standard, Jewish World Review, and National Review Online, among others. An
adjunct fellow at the Hudson Institute, she lives in California and Jerusalem.
I reached out to her with a few questions about the novel.
Mark Tapson: Though you’ve written novels before, you’re
known primarily for your ecumenical nonfiction like Saturday People, Sunday
People. Why a novel about Islamic fundamentalism in Nigeria,
rather than nonfiction?
Lela Gilbert: Jack
Buckner and I actually started writing Angel’s
Flight before I wrote Saturday People, Sunday People and Persecuted.
I was thinking of a way to tell a captivating, realistic up-to-date story
that didn’t obscure the realities of life under the threat of Islamist
terrorists. Nigeria has faced such dangers for more than a decade.
I also wanted to try and bring the
reader into the terrible agony of a young woman sentenced to death by stoning,
living out her days in a squalid prison cell with her very life dependent on
the survival of her beloved but sickly baby. I wrote all this long before
Meriam Ibrahim was imprisoned in Sudan; in some ways her story was eerily
similar to this one as it unfolded. Meanwhile, I was longing for good-hearted
heroes to enter the fray and defend the defenseless – so I invented some! Jack
helped me arm them properly and prepare them for battle.
MT: One of the main characters is a young publishing editor who is largely
clueless about Islam. You also mention that Islamic atrocities in the 3rd
world receive very little press coverage. Do you think this ignorance – or perhaps
willful blindness – is still a widespread problem in the literary world and news
media, and among our “intelligentsia” as a whole?
LG: I think the events of
recent days – both the horrors of ISIS in Iraq and the brutalities of Hamas –
have awakened a few more journalists and “experts” to the deadly religious
fanaticism of radical Islamists. But my sense is that these groups and their
attacks are still viewed as isolated incidents, perpetrated by ragtag troublemakers
here and there. Yes, they cause bloodshed, but the incidents are perceived as
having nothing to do with each other as far as ideology and global ambition are
concerned. There’s a huge disconnect between the lurid news reports and YouTube
posts of beheadings, crucifixions, mass kidnappings etc. and westerners living
in peace and prosperity. It’s kind of like watching reality TV – it’s “real,”
but not really real.
Meanwhile, in both academic and
journalistic circles, there is also a persistent prejudice against Americans
and our Western allies – promoting the idea that we are really at fault for all
the troubles of the world. We should call terrorists “freedom fighters” and
stop criticizing their non-Western tactics – cruel though they may be. Instead
we should be apologizing for our own record of crimes against humanity. We’ve
learned to describe this kind of reasoning as “moral equivalency.”
MT: One of your characters is critical of human rights organizations who
are naïve about the threat of jihad and who believe only in “heart-to-heart
dialogue” with the enemy. Another character asserts that there is no hope for the
persecuted Nigerian Christians “unless good people take matters into their own
hands.” Do you think we have reached the point where military action is the
only solution for Christian communities in Africa and the Middle East that are
facing violent extermination?
LG: I don’t suppose there
is ever a time when military action is the “only” solution. But when it comes
to Islamist fanaticism, I’m skeptical about dialogue, because people who
believe in coercing religious conversion through violence, or those who believe
Islamists should rule over other religious minorities with an iron fist – these
people are not open-minded. They claim to love death, not life, and declare
that they intend to martyr themselves for the cause. They may agree to dialogue
in order to divert attention from what’s happening on the ground, or to
take a break in their assault long enough to rest and reload.
Meanwhile, there are two advantages
to military action. One is, of course, to defeat the insurgents. The other is
deterrence: massive casualties to troops and damage to infrastructure can cause
terrorists to have second thoughts about their next plan of attack. “Talk
softly but carry a big stick” was Teddy Roosevelt’s idea of foreign policy. America
does a lot of soft talking these days – sometimes even tough talking – but the
sticks all seem to be locked up in the State Department’s basement.
MT: You’ve obviously set up the novel for a sequel or a second mission for
your characters, protecting Christians at the Turkish-Syrian border. Do you
envision a series of books in which your special operatives take on Islamists
around the world?
LG: I don’t know about a
series. But there are some very dangerous places in the world that don’t
get much attention in the media. It would be both informative and satisfying to
focus the spotlight on a couple more of them. I hope Jack and I get a chance to
do so.
(This article originally appeared here on FrontPage Mag, 8/14/14)
