It is surely high time for Diaspora leaders to stop living in denial and get
their act together. Instead of competing with each other in oozing political
correctness, they should display some backbone and call a spade a
spade.
We are currently witnessing the greatest revival of global
anti-Semitism since the Middle Ages. This permeates all classes of society, and,
ranging from academics to illiterates and European leaders who retain office
despite making unabashed neo-Nazi remarks about Jews to mobs at anti-Israeli
demonstrations carrying placards “gas the Jews.”
RELATED:Planned Koran burning in US called off by Florida pastorMuslims to hold summit over Ground Zero Islamic centerIt encompasses the
entire political spectrum, but is spearheaded by liberals and Muslims. Muslim
radicals relate to Israel in a manner reminiscent of the Church’s medieval
attitude toward the Jews. They promote popular TV programs depicting the blood
of Muslim children being used for baking matzot, and have revived
The Protocols
of the Elders of Zion as a best-seller. They certainly compare favorably
with the worst Nazi Jew baiting, with imams quoting genocidal religious texts to
the faithful, inciting them to murder Jews, “the descendants of apes and
pigs.”
It is macabre to observe the alliance between liberals and
jihadists who represent the antithesis of everything the Left purports to
represent. The extremist Islamists are the most reactionary elements in the
world. They reject fundamental human rights, proscribe freedom of expression and
religion, promote the degradation of women and, to this day, implement barbaric
laws including stoning of adulterers and homosexuals and the amputation of limbs
for petty crimes. More than 50 Muslim countries deny Judaism or Christianity
equal standing with Islam.
WHAT MAKES this situation even more bizarre is
that over the past months, there has been a concerted campaign claiming that
Islamophobia represents the greatest threat to human rights in the world! In the
US the controversy over the mosque at Ground Zero, where 3,000 Americans were
murdered in the name of Islam, has been twisted into an attempt to deny Muslims
equal rights as distinct from not violating the sensitivities of the bereaved
families. Not a single mainstream conservative politician has ever denied
the right of Muslims to build mosques throughout the US.
This is taking
place at a time when the Muslims have the audacity to promote legislation at the
UN and elsewhere which would make any criticism of Islam a criminal
offense. The response of the Obama administration has been to reiterate
the ludicrous mantra introduced by president George W. Bush describing
Islam as “the religion of peace” and blatantly deny the reality that present-day
terrorism is essentially a Muslim phenomenon, even though that does not mean all
Muslims are terrorists.
Taking political correctness to the ultimate
extreme, US counter-terrorism director John Brennan described jihad as “a holy
struggle, a legitimate tenet of Islam intended to purify oneself or one’s
community,” and urged that those indulging in terrorist acts never be described
in “religious terms” despite the fact that all recent terrorist acts in the US
were perpetrated by Muslim extremists. Administration officials initially
described perpetrators as demented people rather than Islamic terrorists. This
even applied to the Fort Hood killer, who had been influenced by an
American-born Yemeni imam and was shrieking “
Allahu akbar” while massacring
unarmed American servicemen.
Alas, Jews who exaggerate the presence of
Islamophobia become leading proponents of the campaign to sanitize and
understate Islamic extremism. This is especially bizarre, given that Jews,
especially in Europe, but also increasingly in the US, are facing far greater
threats of violence than Muslims. It is also synagogues, rather than mosques,
which are continuously being desecrated and vandalized, in many cases by
Islamists.
In that context, the relative tranquility which Muslims
experience in Western societies is a great tribute to tolerance – a tolerance
unlikely to have been extended to Jews in similar circumstances. Imagine the
response if Israel had a track record like some of the Arab states, or if Jews
in Western countries were blowing up their neighbors.
While genuine
interfaith relations are to be commended, many Jews persist in engaging in
“dialogue” with Muslim organizations that refuse to dissociate themselves from
hard-line Islamic attitudes. Some of the leading Saudi groups promoting
international interfaith conferences are directly engaged in the promotion of
anti-Semitism, yet Jews participating in these bogus meetings naively babble on
about love and coexistence and ignore realities. By doing so, Jews undermine the
few moderate Muslims courageous enough to speak up.
All religions
incorporate texts and concepts which encourage violence and aggression, but it
is the interpretation by religious leaders that determines actual
behavior. Judaism, Christianity and Buddhism today are overwhelmingly
supportive of peace, and seek coexistence while condemning extremists.
IN
CONTRAST, only a few Islamic moderates have the courage to criticize extremism
within their own circles. Those brave enough to do so are marginalized,
condemned by their kinsmen, and their lives are frequently endangered. The
overwhelming majority remains silent or defends the Islamic excesses of Islamic
regimes.
On the other hand, when a lunatic American pastor threatens to
burn a Koran, President Barack Obama personally intervenes and warns of global
violence and mayhem. This the first time that an American president has
called on the nation not to “endanger our troops” in order to placate extremists
threatening violence in response to the acts of a solitary American
eccentric.
Of course, burning a Koran or any religious book is a barbaric
act. But in these times
anything likely to offend Muslims, including cartoons or
criticism, is condemned out of fear of violent Islamic responses. This contrasts
with an absence of Islamic respect for other religions. When some years ago, the
National Endowment for the Arts contributed an outrageously insensitive,
blasphemous image of a crucifix in urine to a New York exhibition titled “Piss
Christ,” outraged Christians did not threaten to go on killing sprees.
An
example of the insane levels generated by fear of Muslim violence is reflected
in the case of Molly Norris, a Seattle weekly newspaper cartoonist who was
forced to adopt a new identity at the urging of the FBI because she had become a
prime target for assassination after having drawn a satirical cartoon of the
Muslim prophet in her local newspaper. This resulted in a fatwa being issued
against her, stating that “bombings and acts of arson were appropriate responses
to acts of blasphemy.”
Yet Obama, champion of the First Amendment for
Muslims, remained silent about Morris’s ordeal.
There is indeed a
desperate need to encourage moderate Muslims. But appeasing the extremists and
groveling to Muslim bullies merely emboldens them. There is not a single
instance in history in which appeasing religious fanatics of any faith has
brought about progress. If we allow ourselves to be intimidated or fail to
confront Islamist jihadists, they will succeed in destroying the very tenets of
our civilization.
This is an area in which Jews, who have the most to
lose, must surely stand up and be counted.
ileibler@netvision.net.il