The big cartoon controversy misses the point. Of course, the cartoons are offensive to Muslims, but cartoons do not warrant burnings and killings. Cartoons did not cause the disease of hate in the Muslim world; they are only a symptom of a far greater disease.

I was born and raised as a Muslim in Cairo, and in the Gaza Strip. In the 1950s, my father was sent by Egypt’s President, Gamal Abdel Nasser, to head Egypt’s military intelligence in Gaza and the Sinai where he founded the Palestinian Fedayeen “armed resistance.” They made cross-border attacks into Israel, killing 400 Israelis and wounding 900.

My father was killed in a Fedayeen operation when I was 8 years old. He was hailed by Nasser as a national hero and was considered a shaheed, or martyr. In his speech announcing the nationalization of the Suez Canal, Nasser vowed that all Egypt would take revenge for my father’s death. My siblings and I were asked by Nasser: “Which one of you will avenge your father’s death by killing Jews?” We looked at each other speechless, unable to answer.

In school in Gaza, I learned hate, vengeance and retaliation. Peace, considered a sign of defeat and weakness, was never an option. At school we sang songs calling Jews “dogs” (in Arab culture, dogs are considered unclean).

Criticism and questioning were forbidden. When I did either of these, I was told: “Muslims cannot love the enemies of God, and those who do will get no mercy in hell.” As a young woman, I visited a Christian friend in Cairo during Friday prayers, and we both heard the attacks on Christians and Jews from the loudspeakers. They said: “May God destroy the infidels and the Jews, the enemies of God, as all the worshippers responded “Amen.”

My friend was scared; I was ashamed. That was when I first realized that something was wrong in how my religion was taught and practiced. Hundreds of millions of Muslims have been raised with this hatred of the West and Israel to distract from the failings of their leaders. Things have not changed since I was a little girl in the 1950s.

Palestinian television extols terrorists, and textbooks still deny the existence of Israel. More than 300 Palestinians schools are named after shaheeds, including my father. Roads in Egypt and Gaza still bear his name — as they do of other “martyrs.” They are heroes. Today, the Islamo-fascist president of Iran uses nuclear dreams, Holocaust denials and threats to “wipe Israel off the map” as a way to maintain control of his divided country.

With Denmark set to assume the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council, the flames are fanned by Iran and Syria, since the International Atomic Energy Agency is expected to refer Iran to the Security Council and demand sanctions. At the same time, Syria is under scrutiny for its actions in Lebanon. Both Iran and Syria cynically want to embarrass the Danes to achieve their dangerous goals.

The rallies and riots come from a public ripe with rage. Hate of Israel and the West is an industry in the Muslim world. Dictators in countries surrounding the Palestinians were only too happy to exploit the Palestinians as a diversion from their own problems. The mosques are filled with talk of jihad.

Is it any surprise that after decades of indoctrination in a culture of hate that people actually hate? Arab society has created a system of relying on fear of a common enemy, a system that has brought them unity and compliance amid tribal feuds, instability, violence, and selfish corruption. So Arab leaders blame Jews and Christians rather than provide good schools, roads, hospitals, housing, jobs, or hope to their people.

For 30 years I lived inside this war zone of oppressive dictatorships and police states. Citizens competed to appease and glorify their dictators, but they looked the other way when Muslims tortured and terrorized other Muslims. I witnessed honor killings of girls, oppression of women, female genital mutilation, polygamy and its devastating effects. All this is destroying the Muslim faith from within.

It’s time for Arabs and Muslims to stand up for their families. It’s time to stop allowing Arab leaders to complain about cartoons while turning a blind eye to people who defame Islam by holding a Koran in one hand while murdering innocent people with the other.

Muslims need jobs, not jihad. Apologies about cartoons will not solve the problem. We need hope, not hate. Unless we recognize that the culture of hate is the true root of the cartoon riots, this violent overreaction will start a clash of civilizations that the world cannot bear.

This article originally appeared in The Daily Telegraph.