Truth Is Not Racism

Date: Wed, 13 Jun 2001

From: Mark Rosenblit

To: letters@courant.com>

Columnist Amy Pagnozzi called Israel's President Moshe Katzav a racist because, in the aftermath of last month's bludgeoning murders of two Jewish teenagers in a cave near Tekoa by a group of "Palestinian" Arabs, he essentially declared that "Palestinian" society embraces Evil (which remarks he later clarified as referring only to "Palestinians" employing or supporting terrorism).

However, as if to endorse President Katzav's original declaration, official Palestinian Authority Television, on June 8, 2001, broadcast a sermon by Sheik Muhammad Ibrahim Maadi in which he praised the June 1, 2001 suicide slaughter of 20 Jewish teenagers at a Tel Aviv nightclub and called for more such suicide attacks.

Here is an excerpt from his sermon: "Woe upon whomever will not raid, and not tell tales of raids. Woe upon whomever does not give his children Jihad [Holy War] education... Blessed is he who fights Jihad in the name of Allah, blessed is he who goes on a raid in the name of Allah, blessed is he who dons a vest of explosives on himself or on his children, and goes into the depth of the Jews in their sinful discotheque. I ask of Allah that we see the Knesset building collapsing on the heads of the Jews."

If President Katzav's declaration is the Truth, then -- however politically incorrect it might sound to squeamish ears -- it is not Racism.

© Mark Rosenblit

Note: Despite United States President George W. Bush's public pledge to sire a second state for "Palestinian" Arabs (the first such state being Jordan), and despite Israel's (ill-considered) formal consent thereto, the "Palestinian" Arabs' official embrace of Evil continues to this very day. For example, on June 13, 2003, in the immediate aftermath of the horrific June 11, 2003 suicide bombing aboard a Jerusalem bus which murdered 17 souls and wounded over 100 additional innocents, Gaza Palestine Satellite Channel Television, an official television station of the Palestinian Authority, and Gaza Voice of Palestine, an official radio station of the Palestinian Authority, both broadcast a sermon by Sheik Ibrahim al-Mudayris in which he implored Allah to annihilate the Jewish people and the United States. Here is an excerpt from his sermon: "O Allah, punish our enemies. O Allah, destroy those who have harmed us. O Allah, destroy those who harm Muslims. O Allah, destroy the Jews and their supporters. O Allah, destroy the United States and its allies." -- Mark Rosenblit, June 18, 2003

Note: An upcoming conference in Jerusalem will deal with the unfortunate fact that the Koran, and consequently normative Islam, endorses violence against non-Muslims. Although Arab parliamentarians in Israel’s Knesset have branded the conference as “racist”, I repeat: TRUTH IS NOT RACISM. Read on!

'Fitna' filmmaker to attend Jerusalem parley

By Brenda Gazzar

(Jerusalem Post, September 4, 2008) Selected European lawmakers, along with Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders, whose controversial 15-minute film Fitna [which is the Arabic-language word meaning “Strife] has sparked world-wide Muslim outrage, will gather in Jerusalem in December [2008] to "plan practical steps in the struggle against the spread of Islam in Europe," MK Aryeh Eldad (NU/NRP) said Wednesday.

Wilders is scheduled to speak and screen his film at the two-day conference titled "Facing Jihad: a Lawmakers' Summit," which is drawing criticism from Muslim MKs in Israel, who argue the summit will encourage racism. The film, which first appeared on the Internet in March [2008], linked attacks by Islamic militants around the world to verses from the Quran [also spelled as “Koran”].

Eldad, who is chairing the December 14th-15th summit, said that the legislators attending the summit will discuss draft proposals that would better "regulate" immigration in their respective countries, including proposals that would require "declarations of loyalty" to the host country. The second day is to focus on the "education" of Israelis and Europeans, he said.

"The time has come to shatter some of the accepted truths on Islam," he said, during a press conference at the Ramada Hotel in Jerusalem on Wednesday. "One of them, for example, is that Islam has been taken over by extremists, but its real essence is different."

Eldad is seeking to hold the Islamic summit inside the Knesset and is waiting for a response from Chairwoman Dalia Itzik, who has the authority to accept or reject such requests. He threatened Wednesday to go to the Supreme Court if his request was rejected.

But at least some Arab parliamentarians are strongly opposed to the idea.

MK Ahmed Tibi (UAL-Ta'al) argued that the planned conference was "inflammatory" and motivated by anti-Arab and anti-Muslim sentiment.

"I can't imagine that the chairwoman would allow the screening of a racist, anti-Islamic, fascist film inside the Knesset. The Knesset is not a place for these kinds of things," he said during a phone interview. "It can't allow conferences of this kind that encourage racism."

Eldad said Wednesday that the Arab-Israeli conflict is due to a clash of civilizations between Islam and the West -- in which Israel is on the front line -- rather than a territorial dispute. The participating lawmakers are all opposed to establishing a Palestinian state, he added, because they understand that it "is the recipe for the destruction of the state of Israel."

Other participants will include Baroness Caroline Cox of Queensbury, an independent member of England's House of Lords as well as legislators from Belgium, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland.

The December summit will be sponsored by the Ariel Center for Policy Research, which opposes ceding territory to Arabs in exchange for peace.

AP contributed to this report.

(©) The Jerusalem Post

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