Right from wrong: Jihadi babies and Barbie dolls

In the Middle East, even among countries in which women were making progress, radical Islam is forcing them into subservience and slavery.

By RUTHIE BLUM
A PALESTINIAN presenter listens to Hamas official Salah al-Bardweel at a Gaza studio (photo credit: REUTERS)
A PALESTINIAN presenter listens to Hamas official Salah al-Bardweel at a Gaza studio
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Less than two weeks ago, a baby born in the Gaza Strip was named “Knife of Jerusalem” by his doting parents. Paying homage to terrorists is nothing new among Palestinians, but the mother and father in question wanted their tribute to be original.
Rather than imitating the common practice of immortalizing specific “martyrs” killed while committing atrocities, this family from Rafah decided to highlight the weapon of choice employed in the current jihad against the Jews.
In spite of its internecine conflict with Hamas, which reigns in Gaza, the Fatah-dominated leadership of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah was tickled by the couple’s innovative gesture.
After all, murdering Israelis is a shared goal, regardless of other points of contention.
For this reason, a photo of the newborn and his birth certificate adorned Fatah’s official Facebook page last Friday.
This is but one tiny example of the way in which Palestinian children are raised and groomed to glorify violence. First they imbibe it with the milk of their mothers – most of whom themselves were born after the signing of the Oslo Accords, or were young children during that period. Then their teachers take over, feeding them false material from hate-filled schoolbooks supplied by the very PA that came into existence through a phony peace process only the Left imagined was genuine.
It is this incitement that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been denouncing, in an effort to explain to the world that the current wave of terrorism, characterized mainly by stabbing attacks, has nothing to do with the Aksa Mosque. It has everything to do, he is arguing, with the lies pounded into Palestinian kids’ heads from the time they emerge from the womb.
Nothing illustrates this better than a baby called Knife of Jerusalem.
Beyond the Middle East, some of this Arabic “nuance” gets lost in translation, as is evident in the “even-handed approach” of the US and EU to the surge in bloody assaults on Israelis that began in mid-September.
But the leaders of those countries, too, were raised and groomed on ideology – a combination of obsession with the self and empathy with the enemy that has had disastrous consequences. It is frightening to recall that the occupants of the White House were 1960s radicals, marching for peace while waging war on Western democracy and values.
To hit home how the decades since the Vietnam and Six Day wars have widened the global gap despite the advent of the Internet, one need only look at the condition of women.
In the Middle East, even among countries in which women were making progress, radical Islam is forcing them into subservience and slavery.
In Tehran, for instance, prior to the revolution in 1979, girls wore and studied what they wanted, frequented cafes with members of the opposite sex and fought for higher status under the Shah of Iran. The same goes for all Islamist regimes.
It is hard to remember a different era in places like those. It is not difficult, however, to observe how girls are treated today by Islamic State and other terrorist organizations, which recruit them to service the men.
There are exceptions, of course. Palestinian girls have been taking a much more active role in the current terrorism wave than ever before – not only cheering on their men and boys as they go out to throw firebombs, not only packing them lunches but hurling their own rocks and using their own kitchen knives to stab Israelis.
In the US, on the other hand, women with endless freedom continue to bemoan their plight, gazing into their navels so frequently that they fail to look up long enough to consider the genuine abuse suffered (and increasingly committed) by their sisters elsewhere.
Indeed, while Knife of Jerusalem’s mother was pregnant, a controversy erupted in America over – get this – the latest Barbie ad.
Now in her 50s, the coveted doll with the body no girl could ever hope to achieve without surgery is in trouble. To counteract the increasing loss of revenue – in spite of attempts over the years to keep up with the times by creating ethnic, overweight and even wheelchair Barbies – its manufacturer, Mattel, came up with a new commercial it hopes will restore some of the icon’s previous appeal.
In other words, the company is trying to figure out how to compete on the market. If it fails, it will lose customers. Nothing diabolical, or even political, there. It’s merely business.
The campaign encourages young girls to reach “beyond traditional gender stereotypes” and aspire to become anything from football coaches to museum curators. Aside from the ridiculous premise that American girls are not already taught they can do or be anything they want in life, the ad is cute.
Nevertheless, it has generated much criticism from circles claiming it creates the kind of false expectations that Barbie’s physical attributes used to do. One doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry over such nonsense.
One does know, however, that across the ocean, Knife of Jerusalem’s fate is sealed. No glass ceilings for his mother, sisters or future wife; only shards with which to slaughter Jews.
The writer is the web editor of The Algemeiner (algemeiner.com).