Thursday, May 19, 2005
A Spokesman for the Religion of Peace
Some things need little elaboration:
That's Sheik Ibrahim Mudeiris, broadcasting an ordinary Friday sermon on Palestinian state-run TV. According to MEMRI's transcript and translation of the sermon, he had several interesting things to say:
- "Israel is a cancer spreading through the body of the Islamic nation, and [...] the Jews are a virus resembling AIDS, from which the entire world suffers."
- "You will find that the Jews were behind all the civil strife in this world. The Jews are behind the suffering of the nations."
- "We have ruled the world before, and by Allah, the day will come when we will rule the entire world again. The day will come when we will rule America. The day will come when we will rule Britain and the entire world - except for the Jews... Listen to the Prophet Muhammad, who tells you about the evil end that awaits Jews. The stones and trees will want the Muslims to finish off every Jew."
Do Israelis deliver similar sermons, by the way? No, they do not. Israeli teachers tend to go the other way, bending over backwards to favorably portray Arabs in general and Palestinians in particular. Arabic is a required subject in Israeli grade schools; but it goes without saying that Palestinian schools do not teach Hebrew. I own an album that was distributed in 1988 to every soldier in the Israel Defense Forces; presumably, it contained music the IDF wanted its soldiers to hear... and not one song was a call to war or to violence. (Over half were songs of peace.) The examples go on and on.
Read the entire sermon; it isn't long. And remember this, next time Israeli Prime Minister Sharon complains about "incitement in the Palestinian media". This is what he's talking about; it's prevalent, and it's institutionalized. And the supposedly "moderate" Mohammed Abbas, Arafat's replacement, is doing nothing to stop it.
Hat tip: LGF. Check out Lileks as well; things like this make his blood run cold, and with good reason. As he says: "I can only imagine how I’d feel if the fellow making the speech lived on the other side of town." Indeed.
UPDATE: Bloggledygook addresses this issue, in deadly earnest, in a post that's mostly about Newsweek:
Here Rich has it correct. The president would do well to instruct his acolytes to quit the mush-mouthed talk of respect for Islam and instead make the unequivocal statement that the United States will honor Islam the very second Muslims do.Damn straight.
UPDATE II: LGF continues to follow this topic (no surprise there):
From a report that aired on Al-Arabiya TV (one of the Arab world’s most popular satellite channels) on June 1, 2005, here’s a film clip that may turn your stomach—as children rehearse for a short life of murder and violence by playing martyrdom games.
Reporter: Abd Al-Sattar’s favorite game is “Jews and Arabs.”
Boy: The Arabs are in the street. The Jews stand over there and we shoot at them, and throw rocks and grenades at them.
Reporter: To win the game, the player must die.
Mind you, this boy is doing what he's been taught to do. From his teachers in school to the imam's sermons, and most likely including his own parents and older role models, the message is the same: your life is meaningless unless you forfeit it while killing Jews. And if you think this is grim, remember: it doesn't get any better from here.
All right, now, everyone who supports the idea of a peaceful, democratic Palestinian state -- what do you suppose this boy will be when he grows up?
