Sunday, October 26, 2003
Daniel Pipes weighs in on Mahathir and endemic Muslim anti-Semitism.
Deadly Denial [of Muslim Anti-Semitism] - article by Daniel Pipes
But she then added, "I don't think they are emblematic of the Muslim world." If only she were right about that.
In fact, Mahathir's views are precisely emblematic of current Muslim discourse about Jews - symbolized by the standing ovation his speech received from an all-Muslim audience of leaders representing 57 states. Then, a Saudi newspaper reports, when Western leaders criticized Mahathir, "Muslim leaders closed ranks" around him with words of praise ("very correct," "a very, very wise assessment")...
Update: LGF offers the following article as a good complement to Pipes:
Accepting the reality of Islamic anti-Semitism By Dr. Charles Jacobs
Why? I see 4 general reasons:
1. Psychological denial. Who wants to think, 60 years after the Holocaust, that a new, religious campaign against the Jews could be taking shape? We liked to think the hatred from the Arab world was "street talk" that would dissipate "when peace came." It probably won't.
2. Media's selective reporting: The media is reluctant to discuss the religious dimensions of the conflict in the Middle East, because its preferred prepackaged view is that this is a secular struggle for national liberation. It is also reluctant to report negatively about Islam. Steve Emerson is boycotted by PBS.
3. Jewish Politics: Many in the Jewish community want very much to think that the war in Israel is primarily over borders, where compromise is possible. To think that the conflict is about the Jewish right of self-determination in the Islamic realm is daunting. They are also concerned that examples of Islamic anti-Semitism may be used to justify certain Israeli policies.
4. Political correctness: We are a liberal people and do not want to speak badly about a race, religion or a people. We seem unable to distinguish between simple factual truth and bigotry. I our multicultural society, we have not yet developed a public language to describe Islamic anti-Semitism without potentially being accused of insensitivity or prejudice.
This whole thing has continued to frighten me deeply and I'm not sure why. I mean it's obviously disturbing, but I think I fear where this might all lead, down the road...
isn't it talk like this that helped Hitler gain his momentum? And not that I think the world would stand by and watch a second time, but as it was pointed out...there *are* 1.3 billion of them. That would be a pretty hard number to stop if they all decided to band together.
It is scary, there's no doubt. That's why for a lot of people like myself, how politicians stand and the things they say on the entire War on Terror is so important.
And while one hesitates to make Hitler anologies at all, the Mahathir statements are quite frightening, and for very good reason.
There are a lot of Muslims in the world, and of course, they're not all likely to decide like some sort of hive-mind to simultaneously come after the infidels, nor will they want to. But again, even a small percentage of a huge number is still a significant number. Combine that with Mahathir's statements (and far worse), add the fact that so much of the Muslim world lives without Democracy, which can so often act as a "coolant" on the most radical factions (because without functioning Democracy, the most radical can gain an inordinant amount of power...control the government...and the weapons of destruction...) and you have a world situation that can keep you up at night if you're not carefull to...kepp some hobbies. ;)