Guardian Jewish writer finally gets it

[steevo]

Jonathan Freedland blames himself and West for Muslim sickness.

I read the transcript of an interview with Basmallah, a three-year-old girl, again aired on Saudi TV, who was introduced as a “Muslim girl, a true Muslim”. Here’s the exchange:

Host: Basmallah, do you know the Jews?

Basmallah: Yes.

Host: Do you like them?

Basmallah: No.

Host: Why don’t you like them?

Basmallah: Because they are apes and pigs.

I shuddered to read such a thing. But it was translated and distributed by the Middle East Media Research Institute, and, like others, I wondered about the group’s motives: Memri was founded by a veteran of Israeli military intelligence. (On the other hand, few challenge the accuracy of Memri’s translations: unpalatable though they are, the texts Memri finds are all too real.)

Such has been my standard operating procedure, constantly trying to see if there’s a way to contextualise these incidents, to see them in proportion. My motivation was not complicated: I prefer my Jewish identity to be positive, rather than defined by a perennial defence against anti-semitism.

But everyone has their limits and last week I reached mine. On Thursday the president of Iran chose to stand with the cranks, neo-fascists and racists who deny the factual truth of the Holocaust.

“Some European countries insist on saying that Hitler killed millions of innocent Jews in furnaces,” said Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. “Although we don’t accept this claim...”

Suddenly, the usual apologetics won’t work.

The "usual apologetics". More revealing than he knows.

hat tip: LGF reader

[Teddy Bear]

I don't know if it's the same interview described above, or another similar one, but a few years ago Egyptian TV also had a young girl describing Jews in a manner like that of Basmallah above. The fact that Memri also offers the live recording together with the translation suggests that there is no embellishment or distortion.

I wish those who glibly speak of multiculturalism would offer some sort of logical explanation of how societies that are diametrically opposed would be able to integrate. On the one hand, we have ours, which extols the virtues of acceptance and freedom from prejudice, and the Muslim states which proclaim pure racist propaganda as daily fare, and where one is a good Muslim if you share in these hate filled notions.
The Muslims seem perfectly able to recognize when they perceive any kind of racism directed towards themselves, even terming it as such where a particular view is fully justified, but they do not extend any kind of tolerance to those they wish to vilify. Inventing reasons to justify and perpetuate their hatred. They now even use laws related to racism to permit them to continue their own racist agenda, while being free from criticism themselves.

[steevo]

To me, those who speak of multiculturalism, deep down, oppose it.

I think the majority of us will not tolerate racism and most forms of prejudice. Our law makers even enact absurd PC restraints, limiting our security. But our strengths of free expression and acceptance of diversity can only survive through accountability, and our Left-wing populace and media do a very poor job holding Muslim intolerance and hate accountable; much of the time excusing, explaining, or justifying it. Your latest example "Understanding why Islam wants to control the media" is significant and one of many ways they are allowed to easily exploit and manipulate our ideals and way of life.

Only when our media stops their double standard will Muslims find it difficult to continue theirs.