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February 13, 2012
Binyamin Rose: Back to the Bunker: How a life-risking act by a Christian family during the Holocaust saved a family and built a thriving community a world away
Menachem Wecker: Business Schools Teach Real Estate Despite Troubled Housing Market
February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
Oct. 27, 2003
/ 1 Mar-Cheshvan, 5764
Should America blame itself for the Muslim world's hatred?
By
Jonathan Tobin
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http://www.jewishworldreview.com |
Even in a world where anti-Semitism is becoming increasingly accepted,
occasionally someone can say something that shocks even the French.
The speech of Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad at a meeting of a
conference of Islamic countries last week contained so much blatant anti-Jewish
bigotry that French President Jacques Chirac felt compelled to condemn it.
To the applause of his fellow Muslim world leaders, Mahathir informed the
world that it was being run "by the Jews." The Malaysian spiced this rather
routine litany of anti-Semitic invective by going on to state that the Jews
"invented … human rights and democracy so that persecuting them would appear to be
wrong, so that they can enjoy equal rights with others."
To his credit, President Bush made a point of personally refuting Mahathir's
screed.
It would be nice to think that Mahathir's speech was just the ravings of a
nutty Malaysian. That appeared to be the spin the administration wanted to put
on the affair. Even as she condemned Mahathir's words, National Security
Advisor Condoleeza Rice tempered that by saying, "I don't think they are emblematic
of the Muslim world."
WHAT 'MODERATES' THINK
Perhaps Rice missed the fact that Ahmed Maher, foreign minister of Egypt,
supposedly a U.S. ally, praised Mahathir's speech as "a very, very wise
assessment." And Hamid Karzai, recently installed by the United States as the leader
of Afghanistan, called it "very correct."
And those were just the comments from the "moderates." Far from being
unusual, this type of Jew-hatred has become typical in an Arab and Muslim world that
has become the global producer of anti-Semitism. Jews and Americans have
become the boogeymen of the Muslim imagination, filling heads with ready-made
excuses for the failure of Muslim civilization to keep up with the West.
This drivel has been hammered into the minds of young Muslims around the
world in schools paid for by America's Saudi "allies."
But, predictably, for some Americans the answer lies not in confronting the
dementia that passes for wisdom in the Muslim world, but for America to change
its policies. It didn't take long for such a suggestion to appear on the Op-Ed
page of The New York Times. The author was Times columnist Paul Krugman, the
Princeton economist who usually confines himself to rabidly partisan attacks
on Bush's domestic policies.
But on Oct. 21, Krugman told his readers that the Malaysian leader isn't
really such a bad guy.
In a piece titled "Listening to Mahathir," Krugman said that the bulk of the
speech was an accurate depiction of Muslim problems. If he indulged in
Jew-baiting, we should, Krugman said, understand he was just throwing his
constituents "rhetorical red meat" as part of a "delicate balancing act aimed at
domestic politics."
In other words, Mahathir was no different from, say, a politician in the
American South in the 1950s who had "progressive" views, but who ranted about the
threat to white America from blacks in order to stay in office. Except, of
course, that Krugman and the rest of 2003 America no longer believes that such
balancing acts are either justified or defensible.
BLAME IT ON US — AND ISRAEL
According to Krugman, it really isn't Mahathir's fault that he has to say
such nasty things. "The rising tide of anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism" is,
according to this sage of Princeton, due to Bush's war in Iraq and
"unconditional support for Ariel Sharon."
Krugman's view is in line with the views of a State Department panel that
recently toured the world trying to find out why Muslims don't like us. That
panel — packed with anti-Israel academics — came back to tell us that America's
bad image in the Muslim world was largely our own fault. They think that we
should increase our efforts to make nice with Arabs and Muslims, and even rethink
our foreign policy.
And that always comes back to the same canard floated by Krugman — that
support for Israel is at the heart of hostility to the West, and that if only W
ashington would cut the Israelis loose, then Muslims wouldn't hate us or crash
hijacked airliners into skyscrapers to get our attention.
This sort of nonsense has been resisted by sensible elements of the Bush
administration, which has focused on fighting terror, not rationalizing it. But
that has also been accompanied by a willful blindness to the miasma of hate that
pervades the Muslim world. Most statements coming out of Washington on this
issue, like Rice's, are something between a prayer and a hope that if we ignore
the problem, maybe it will just go away.
Instead, maybe we should be telling Muslims that, contrary to Mahathir, they
aren't being "humiliated" and "oppressed" by Israel. They are being
humiliated and oppressed by their own leaders, and a culture that is hostile to those
concepts of "human rights" that they claim the Jews invented to swindle them.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in Washington and in the media consider "must reading." Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Jonathan S. Tobin is executive editor of the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent.
Let him know what you think by clicking here. In June, Mr. Tobin won first places honors in the American
Jewish Press Association's Louis Rapaport Award for Excellence in Commentary as
well as the Philadelphia Press Association's Media Award for top weekly
columnist. Both competitions were for articles written in the year 2002.
Jonathan Tobin Archives
© 2003, Jonathan Tobin
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