A deliberately staged provocation of the well-known Reichstag Fire variety. Whether or not these are simply local Arabs on their own, or whether the malice aforethought is directed from elsewhere, perhaps by Iranian agents trying to keep things white-hot everywhere (it's not hard to keep the hysteria going forever), hardly matters. What matters is the fact that hysterical hate can be so easily whipped up, which tells us to direct our curiosity to one thing: what is it about the tenets, attitudes, atmospherics of Islam that make so many of its adherents so susceptible to such instant whipping up, such hysteria, such hate.

That, everywhere you look, is surely the question, if you are an Infidel, to ask yourself, and also ask what it is that keeps us, the Infidels, from showing anything like the same hysteria and hate, whatever the provocation, and whatever the differences among Infidels. Something to think about.

Posted by: Hugh at February 12, 2006 5:01 PM

Well it looks that World War III is inevitaqbly upon us, sadly no one is going to win it and Earth ultimately will be inherited by the roaches... (And I don't mean Cher!)

Posted by: RJLCyberPunk at February 12, 2006 5:02 PM

While I'm all for freedom of speech, I do not believe it extends to putting your ideas on someone else's property. I don't condone this. If they want to post it where it can be seen, rent a billboard or paint it on their own houses, although the possibility of Muslims doing it to get attention and provoke the issue is not outside the realm of probality.

Posted by: Bohemond_1069 at February 12, 2006 5:16 PM

"the possibility of Muslims doing it to get attention and provoke the issue is not outside the realm of probability."
-- from a posting above

"Not outside the realm of probability"? Litotes of the Year Award. Nothing else is remotely as probable.

Posted by: Hugh at February 12, 2006 5:32 PM

No, bohemond, I am with Hugh. This is not the work of Jews, I'd put my money on Muslims going for the sympathy vote once more. Compare it to the 'bombing' of the mosque in Tennessee - done when no one was in the building, nearly no damage. Same with the mosques in Montreal and in Toronto- barely any damage but a well-publicized press conference within an hour of the fires.

Posted by: libbysmom at February 12, 2006 5:33 PM

The following excerpt from a symposium at Frontpagemagazine.com gives a brilliant overview of the obstacles facing people trying to reform Islam, vs. the obstacles that faced people who reformed Judaism and Christianity in the past: from http://www.frontpagemagazine.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=21247 :

Andrew C. McCarthy:...It is in our national security interest that the moderates prevail in their struggle against militant Islam. I am probably less optimistic about their chances than you guys are, for a few reasons. The most important is doctrinal. This is an over-simplification, of course, but the problems that required change over centuries in the Judeo-Christian traditions were more about human nature and core assumptions about the role to be played by religion in the state. The Inquisition, for example, was about power and corruption, and ran against the basic Christian tenet that the ecclesiastical and the secular, while they reside together, create obligations that are severable: Render unto Cesar what is Cesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” Judeo-Christian scripture, moreover, is deemed to be “inspired,” not dictated by God Himself.

So, from the Christian perspective for example, not only are you starting with a philosophy whose central commands are “love thy neighbor,” “turn the other cheek,” and “forgive them seventy times seven”; you are also dealing with scripture that is amenable to revision and reinterpretation as times change. The core principles don’t change, but our understanding of how they apply does.

Islam, to the contrary, not only proceeds from quite different premises and contains a core obligation, jihad, which is so troublesome reformers have to spend most of their time and energy trying to bleach out its military component (hard to do with a concept that is, at root, military); you also have the difficulty that the words in the Qur’an (including the ones promoting violence against unbelievers) are deemed to be the words of Allah Himself. That makes the challenge for reformers all the more profound because they are not at liberty to say Allah was wrong, and much of the scripture we’re talking about is sufficiently clear that it’s hard to say He was misunderstood. What this all ends up meaning is that it is very, very hard – both for textual reasons and because Islam lacks a central authority – to marginalize the radicals on the ground that they are perverting scripture...

FrontPage: Thank you Mr. McCarthy. In terms of Islam, I agree with everything you say and I never said that I was optimistic about an Islamic reformation. My only point is that we cannot make an enemy out of 1 billion people and it makes no sense for us not to ally ourselves with those Muslims who reject extremism and terrorism and who wish to rehaul their religion. This will be no simple task for them, but we must support them and they are in this battle with us against the same enemy.

(my boldfacing)

Posted by: eduardo odraude at February 12, 2006 5:34 PM

As an American Jew, I am really frightened right now.

Posted by: elizmr at February 12, 2006 5:37 PM

Of course, the IDF have already apologized for the incident:

http://www.arutzsheva.com/news.php3?id=98401

I really don't get that so many people were up and standing outside the mosque at 4:30 a.m. Call me cynical and suspicious.

Posted by: libbysmom at February 12, 2006 5:37 PM

Lol Libbysmom,

They have the 'Fajr' prayer around that time. So nothing suspicious about it.

Posted by: Tushar Saxena at February 12, 2006 5:47 PM

Graphic anti-Semitism

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1139395389782&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter

"Graphic anti-Semitism

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dan Pattir , THE JERUSALEM POST Feb. 11, 2006

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The phenomenon of demonizing Israel and the Jews through cartoons in the Arab press is neither new nor recent. It has been part and parcel of its mode of editorial conduct since the establishment of the Jewish state more than 57 years ago.

Indeed, reviewing many Arabic-language publications over the years, one cannot escape the conclusion that caricatures have always been perceived by Arab regimes - which own or control the media outlets of their countries - as a legitimate tool that need not and should not be restrained or refined in the no-holds-barred fight against Israel.

Anyone entertaining the notion that the demonization of Israel and the Jews is a thing of the past need only look at recent publications in the Arab press. Daily, weekly and monthly papers, periodicals and magazines are loaded with cartoons containing the worst kind of anti-Semitic content.

This is true of most, if not all, Arab countries, even those far away from our immediate vicinity. And it is regrettably true of places like Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority, all of which have concluded peace agreements with Israel.

These cartoons are always rude and brutal, with a bloodthirsty punch. All of the cartoonists and their editors seem to treat the subject in the same way: through denial of the Holocaust; the Jew as a repulsive stereotype; Israel as a Nazi-like entity; and the Jews as a whole as the greatest existing threat to mankind.

It is important to reiterate that in most cases, the indigenous Arab media does not exercise freedom of speech. It is state-owned or state-controlled. In Egypt, for example, all major dailies and weeklies follow the government's policy lines, and its editors are hand-picked by the president. Hence, editorial cartoons cannot run contrary to state-directed guidelines.

In other cases, such as in some Gulf states or in Lebanon - or even in London and Paris, where certain Arabic-language publications originate and are circulated in the Arab world (Al Khayat and Sharq-al-Ausat are examples) - although their outlets are privately owned, have invisible strings attached to certain regimes. In other words, their supposed editorial freedom is often questionable.

WHAT IS most amazing is the lack of any positive cartoons related to Israel - even at the height of peaceful negotiations (such as Camp David, Oslo agreements, the Jordanian-Israeli peace treaty or Israel's disengagement from Gaza). None. Not even in the Gulf states that are regarded as having higher journalistic standards, being more open-minded politically and less antagonistic toward Israel.

There are no signs of restraint when it comes to anti-Semitic images - ranging from Jews as a satanic force trying to undermine Islam, to Jews being an international cabal seeking to dominate the world to Jews controlling the American government, to equating Jews and Israelis to Nazis.

This is a practice which can inflame dangerous passions in countries where many illiterate youth are fed distorted visual impressions of Jews and of Judaism.

The result of such unrelenting anti-Semitic onslaughts is that an entire generation of Egyptians, that has come of age since the 1979 Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty, is constituting a major setback in the normalization process with Israel. It also contradicts the peace treaties between Israel and its immediate neighbors, which call for "prevention of incitement and hostile propaganda as specified in the Interim Agreement" (the Hebron Protocol of 1997), and in the 1998 Wye River Memorandum stating that "the Palestinian side will issue a decree prohibiting all forms of incitement to violence or terror."

So far, not only have the above not been eradicated, but they are being perpetuated.

In his book, Semites and Anti-Semites, distinguished Middle East scholar Bernard Lewis writes: "The demonization of Jews goes further than it had ever done in Western literature, with the exception of Germany during the Nazi period."

The question posed by Lewis, against the background of the ongoing practice of editorial cartoons on this issue in most Arab media outlets, is of great importance: "Given the scale on which all these activities are taking place, the question is no longer whether Arab governments are pursuing anti-Semitic policies; the question is: Why were these policies adopted, how far have they gone, and how deep is their impact?"

The writer, a veteran researcher of editorial cartoons, is the curator of a series of cartoon exhibitions inside and outside of Israel (among them a comprehensive collection of the history of Israeli cartoons in 11 European capitals, 1994-97), as well as the recent exhibition of The Year 2005, in the eyes of 30 Israeli cartoonists."

Posted by: scribe10 at February 12, 2006 5:53 PM

The radical approach is only harming Islam.
Communism seems to have followed a similar route: gaining popularity and strength only to lose it by the radical leanings of fanatics. The fanatics turned off those who were concerned with the dark direction the Party was going, while at the same time inspiring those convinced of the truth and uniting those who viewed the doctrine as a threat.

The democratic process is revealing what the vast majority of believers want: Saudi style Islam..the true Islam.

Posted by: ChinCheck at February 12, 2006 5:54 PM

It looks like ridiculizing Islam is the strongest weapon against Islam. This is good. By showing their anger, the West see can see the real face of Islam.

Posted by: westman911 at February 12, 2006 5:58 PM

this is all wrong:

the writer should have made some basic hebrew grammar mistakes and been told to write it out correctly 1000 times by a hamas guard...

is there no humor out there?

Posted by: exposesithlords at February 12, 2006 6:00 PM

I do find it amazing how skeptical you folks are.
Everything has to be the fault of the muslim...they need muzzlin.

Muslilms don't do hebrew...it is against muslim tradition to speak (except in extreme cases) or learn hebrew....no this is a jewish yob at work.

Posted by: Naseem at February 12, 2006 6:02 PM

I have to agree with Hugh. There are a few reports with this:

"Osman Zamari of the West Bank village of Nebe Elias near Qalqilya said he found the Hebrew graffiti inscribed on the mosque when he arrived for morning prayers, and saw a car with three men wearing Jewish skullcaps drive away."

He seems to be the only witness. Undoubtedly, more violence will follow.

Posted by: Rebecca JW at February 12, 2006 6:10 PM

Who benefits Naseem?

Posted by: ChinCheck at February 12, 2006 6:14 PM

the writer should have made some basic hebrew grammar mistakes and been told to write it out correctly 1000 times

As in "Romans go home" in "The Life of Brian"?

That is the first thing that popped into my head.

Does anyone know whether West Bankers (no Cockney rhyming slang intended) usually know Hebrew?

"Not outside the realm of probability"? Litotes of the Year Award

Well it isn't the most hyperbolic of statements.

Posted by: Interested at February 12, 2006 6:15 PM

Oh, and speaking of free speech, take a look at the site for radio Islam. It's amuzing to see the "Freedom of speech - use it or lose it" banner accross the top of the page.

http://www.radioislam.org/islam/english/english.htm

Posted by: libbysmom at February 12, 2006 6:23 PM

Yes, the "Palestinians" in the West Bank know Hebrew. Many of them are day labourers and most can speak and write Hebrew. There have been many reports of suicide bombers being sent into Israel for their fluency in Hebrew, therefore being able to pass as a Sefardi Jew.

Naseem, what was that again?

Posted by: libbysmom at February 12, 2006 6:28 PM

Rebecca JW posted: "Osman Zamari of the West Bank village of Nebe Elias near Qalqilya said he found the Hebrew graffiti inscribed on the mosque when he arrived for morning prayers, and saw a car with three men wearing Jewish skullcaps drive away."

My how thoughtful of these Israelis to wear skull caps.

It is most likely that this is one apiece with what the "Danish" imam did - manufacture three more cartoons that were bound to excite volatile muslims.

BTW many Arabs in the West Bank speak and write Hebrew.

Posted by: DP111 at February 12, 2006 6:36 PM

to Naseem,
No one here knows who sprayed those words on the mosque. This is all speculation about possibilities and probabilities, on which only so much time should be spent.

You say, Naseem, that

Muslilms don't do hebrew...it is against muslim tradition to speak (except in extreme cases) or learn hebrew

But Haseeb Shehadeh of the University of Helsinki disagrees:

http://www.hf-fak.uib.no/institutter/smi/paj/Shehadeh.html

Shehadeh says:

...The number of Muslim Arabs in Israel is over six hundred thousand...

...The Arab child starts acquiring the Hebrew language in the third grade when he is nine years old. Accordingly, a graduate of matriculation certificate (the so called ) learns Hebrew during ten school years in which he has 3-5 hours per week. Learning Hebrew includes grammar and reading various texts in prose and poetry from different periods such as the Old Testament, the Mishna (usually = the Chapters of the Fathers), Middle Ages and contemporary literature...

Posted by: eduardo odraude at February 12, 2006 6:43 PM

Yes, the "Palestinians" in the West Bank know Hebrew

Probably an inside job then. Love that site by the way, Libby's Mom.

Posted by: Interested at February 12, 2006 6:51 PM

And Naseem -- many Palestinians in the West Bank are able to speak Hebrew.

Posted by: eduardo odraude at February 12, 2006 6:53 PM

Everyone knows the future (not in chronological order): The Europeans will evict the Moslems in their midst; contacts between the civilized world and the Islamic world will dwindle to near zero. Other sources of energy will come on line pushing the Islamic world into mass poverty (even more than it is now). Iran will attack Israel prompting nuclear retaliation. The PA led by Hamas will also attack Israel prompting massive retaliation. The Moslems in India will provoke violent attack by the Hindus, forcing most of them to leave.

Posted by: Seymour Paine at February 12, 2006 7:12 PM

Why would the Israeli military clean the mosque?????

Doesn't Israel have freedom of speech?????

The racial hatred that Islam has for Israel has no bounds. Islam knows that as long as America is strong Islam will not be able to destroy Israel.

So,

The war with Islam is inevitable.

Israel should be stoking the fires of Islam so Israel can control the war that is coming to Israel.

When the war starts, America will be in the middle of it.

Be prepared, be armed, be ready.

The Texican,

Freedom. The only choice at any cost.

Posted by: Texican at February 12, 2006 7:25 PM

Point to Ponder:

The RELIGION OF ISLAM calls Jews "apes and pigs". It's in the Official Writings™ of Islam.

And yet ONLY ONE MOSQUE has had "Muhammad is a pig" spray painted on it?

This actually seems to show restraint and respect for civility on the part of Jews.

Posted by: Jim at February 12, 2006 7:28 PM

This is hilarious! I just read the article at the J-Post, and CNN left out the bit about the pig being drawn net to a large red Star Of David. Of course, a Jew would naturally draw a Star on a mosque were he to decide to deface it.
/sarcasm

Posted by: libbysmom at February 12, 2006 7:48 PM

Naseem is a liar that makes things up whenever it wants to make a point. It is simply too funny.

Here's hoping the next big Pak quake takes out
Naseem and the rest of its' hive!

Posted by: American at February 12, 2006 8:08 PM

Wow! Libbysmom, some link you got there: Sharon and Bush depicted as apes, and the vilest, grossest and most perverted slander I have seen in a long time. Now that passes as 'Free Speech' and our suckers in the administration chicken out over a few laughable nothing-toons!

This is so good I have to post it again!

http://www.radioislam.org/islam/english/english.htm

Nasseem is doing her usual agit-prop instead of answering my question as to how Mohammed (a Beduin Arab Bandit) was connected with Abraham and Moses. So I guess were done with it: You accept that it is a false claim, like everything Mo did, lies and false claims...?

And this 'incident' that is under review here is just another typical Mohound false claim, 'see, we are victims of the evil Jews'...

The world has had enough. Time to make an end to this charade...

Posted by: sheik yer'mami at February 12, 2006 8:09 PM

The Muslim can't defend themselves adequately against a superior civilization - they will certainly die in unacceptable numbers - just for this reason, I think it is time to throw cool water on the comic picture fire.

Posted by: henry at February 12, 2006 07:35 PM

Henry, these same defenseless Muslims will kill you and rape your wife and children if they get the opportunity. They would show you no peace or mercy.

Read about the Muslim gang rapes of European grils across Europe.

There is only one choice, your family or the Muslims?????

I have made the choice. Islam is to be defeated.

When the bombs and nukes fall, I will fell sorry about the innocents that died, but they had the opportunity to protest and stop this, but didn't. Their silence is defeaning in the support of the violence and murders across the world by their fellow Muslims.

This is a war for our very survival and I intend on surving with my family my relegion and my country.

American nuked Japan to end the war and to save American soldiers and we need to do it again.

I value our freedoms and America more than all of the Muslims across the world. They have the opportuninty to live in peace with the world, but refuse.

The war with Islam is fastly approaching and it is near.

Be prepared, be armed, be ready.

The Texican,

Freedom. The only choice at any cost.

Posted by: Texican at February 12, 2006 8:13 PM

Well, these vandals could've burned the Mohammedan mosk to the ground, like Muslims do to churches and synagogues....But they didn't.

Posted by: DCWatson at February 12, 2006 8:17 PM

Naseem

I suppose you'll want to blame the desecretion of the koran in the following video clips on the handiwork of the jews also.

http://anarchangel.blogspot.com/2005/06/team-infidel.html

Please feel free to share these clips with your friends and co-religionists Naseem. They really need to know what some infidels are up to in their spare time.

Posted by: William The Crusader at February 12, 2006 8:33 PM

Even if this was a Jewish provocation, the responsiblity for ANY response from the Muslims falls squarely on the shoulders of the Muslims.

We must cease giving any quarter to the notion that we are somehow responsible for their barbaric behavior. This is the notion which suffuses the horrid attitude that ultimately there is something we can do to appease these unappeasable Muslim monsters..

We are victims twice in this regard, first by our own hand, and then at the hand of our opportunist and cynical Muslim communities --

1.) When we imagine that we are somehow responsible for the barbaric reactions of the Muslims to anything we do -- blame their response on whatever "provocation" you wish -- war with Iraq... calling Iran and Syria an "axis of evil"... being "infidels"... supporting the Mujahadeen against the Soviets... war in Afghanistan... or the latest comics in a Danish Newspaper -- whatever it may be... When we imagine our actions are responsible for the Muslim reactions, we indulge in a pathological myth about ourselves... In psychological parlance this is called the "myth of our own omnipotence." It is an adjunct of development in infants and children, and necessary for them to feel powerful in a world where they are largley powerless. But we are neither infants, nor powerless... But when we image that somehow WE can do things to change other's reactions to our beliefs or our actions in the world, then we are falling into a malignant trap of our own delusion -- We are only responsible for our own actions. PERIOD. Muslims are responsible for their actions. PERIOD.

2. The opportunistic Muslim umma, always looking for an advantage over those whom they consider their inferiors and their enemies, usurp this delusion we embrace about ourselves. They take full advantage of our "myth of our own omnipotence." They encourage and exploit this fully -- we are always assured by the Saudis and even the Palestinians that there is no possiblity of peace without US involvement... The Iraqis have drawn us into a similar flimflam... Currently there are many Iranian exiles trying to ensnare us in another similar racket... They all encourage us to pour countless billions into their coffers -- meanwhile they have no doubt of delivering anything other than the slightest simulacrum of our desires -- only enough to keep those dollars flowing and no more...

Shame on us for our mistake of ever believing that we are in any way responsible for Muslims, or for their actions... And shame on them for exploiting this grandiose delusion we have of ourselves... Time to grow up and realize we are powerful.

No more efforts spent on Muslim boondoggles -- No more treasure thrown into their greedy maw -- No more grandiose schemes, or self flaggelation when the Muslims rampage for whatever imagined transgressions... It is time to hold ourselves responsible only for our own actions -- this will greatly decrease our load and impedence in the World. It is also time to hold Muslims responsible for their actions in the world. This will greatly increase their burden and impede them in the world. If we can... then we win -- they lose... It's that simple! What could be better than that?

Posted by: jsla at February 12, 2006 9:19 PM

I was wondering today if every mosque in the USA were taken out how many secondary explosions there might be. No offense intended, just wondering.

Posted by: dms at February 12, 2006 10:05 PM

This insult to pigs could not be allowed to stand, obviously.

I agree with the Israeli action.

Posted by: profitsbeard at February 12, 2006 11:01 PM

William,

You are absolutely wicked! (And so funny.)

Posted by: Isabellathecrusader at February 12, 2006 11:41 PM

Texican: "American nuked Japan to end the war and to save American soldiers and we need to do it again."

What did the Japanese do now??

Just kidding...I know what you mean...

Posted by: duh_swami at February 13, 2006 12:12 AM

another excuse to loot and burn. Maybe we should send tehm all to Antarctica.

Posted by: Dumbo at February 13, 2006 3:58 AM

what is it about the tenets, attitudes, atmospherics of Islam that make so many of its adherents so susceptible to such instant whipping up, such hysteria, such hate.

Posted by: Hugh
-----------------------------

The mere mention of the TRUTH about Mohammad seems to be the straw that breaks the camels back.

Remember the time a journalist mentioned that the models at a beauty pagent were very beautiful, and "surely the prophet Mohammad would have selected one for a wife" resulted in over 200 dead and many buildings burned to the ground.

Imagine what would have happened if it was a 6 year old children's beauty pagent....

Posted by: Mullahmasher at February 13, 2006 4:11 AM

Well it looks that World War III is inevitaqbly upon us, sadly no one is going to win it and Earth ultimately will be inherited by the roaches... (And I don't mean Cher!)

Posted by: RJLCyberPunk
------------------------------------

Oh ye of little faith.

Do you honestly think a bunch of 7th century neadrathals can win a war against us?

We could crush them all in a matter of minutes if we wanted to. We are fighting a war using unheard of restraint, never before has this 'tactic' been used.

Believe me, if things were to escalate into total war, there would be no such limitations, PC ness.

I do hope however a draft is implemented, and a restraint IS used for a while, in order to use the draft as a tool to rid the nation of undesirables- namely leftist moonbats/ communists who hate our nation.

I know, wishfull thinking. Be thankful I'm not President.

Posted by: Mullahmasher at February 13, 2006 4:22 AM

From Gramfan. I just got this and how predictable!!!

PA: Likud behind Muhammad cartoons

Palestinian envoy to Washington says Likud party concocted distribution of Muhammad caricatures worldwide in a bid to create clash between West, Muslim world. Israel's ambassador to U.S. responds: That's nonsense

By Yitzhak Benhorin
YnetNews
February 13, 2006

WASHINGTON - Palestinian Authority representative in Washington Afif Safieh charged Sunday that the Likud party is responsible for distributing Danish anti-Muhammad cartoons worldwide in a bid to bring about a collision between the western and Muslim worlds.

In a tense television debate held between Israeli Ambassador in Washington Danny Ayalon and Safieh, which was broadcast on CNN's "Late Edition," the Palestinian envoy was asked by host Wolf Blitzer to comment on the recent violent Muslim demonstrations across the world that erupted in response to the publication of caricatures mocking Prophet Muhammad in a Danish paper.

Safieh replied by saying that his personal acquaintance with both western and eastern societies has led him to believe the pro-Israeli Likud's global wing acted to bring the western, mostly-Christian society to a collision course with Islam.

Stunned by Safieh's answer, Blitzer asked his guest whether he was serious, or only joking. Safieh then explained that the editor of the Danish newspaper that originally published the cartoons is a fan of Jewish right-wing columnist Daniel Pipes, and that the two cooperated in distributing the caricatures that roused furor among Muslims.

Israeli Ambassador Ayalon dismissed the remarks and said they were "nonsense." Ayalon stated he was as much concerned by these caricatures as by anti-Semitic cartoons in the Egyptian press, but added that what worried him even more was the Muslim reaction, including flag burning, torching embassies and physically hurting people.

I did not see such a response when anti-Semitic or anti-Christian cartoons were published, Ayalon said.

'Hamas won't enforce religious reforms'

During the interview, the Christian Safieh was also asked to refer to the possibility Hamas may transform the Palestinian society into a religious Muslim society. According to the PA representative, this was not a probable scenario.

Hamas knows it does not have a mandate to change curriculums in schools or force women to cover their faces with veils in order to make society more Muslim, Safieh said, adding the group is also aware of the fact it cannot go against the peace process the Palestinians yearn for.

Egypt’s Ambassador to the U.S. Nabil Fahmy, who also took part in the debate, referred to the recent meeting between Hamas representatives and government officials in Cairo, and said Egypt was very firm, candid and even blunt with Hamas.

Hamas representatives were told there would be no progress in the Middle East without engaging in a process that would lead to a two-state solution – a Palestinians state along side an Israeli state, Fahmy said. The best way to do it is not to get dragged into a cycle of violence with Israel, Hamas was told.

Ambassador Ayalon stressed in the interview Israel's stance that there would be no negotiations with a Palestinian government that includes Hamas until the group accepts the Quartet's and Security Council's preconditions to renounce terror and disarm.

Posted by: Gramfan at February 13, 2006 6:28 AM

"In a tense television debate held between Israeli Ambassador in Washington Danny Ayalon and Safieh, which was broadcast on CNN's "Late Edition," the Palestinian envoy was asked by host Wolf Blitzer to comment on the recent violent Muslim demonstrations across the world that erupted in response to the publication of caricatures mocking Prophet Muhammad in a Danish paper.

Safieh replied by saying that his personal acquaintance with both western and eastern societies has led him to believe the pro-Israeli Likud's global wing acted to bring the western, mostly-Christian society to a collision course with Islam."
-- from a posting above

The PLO -- or PA -- representative, himself an islamochristian, would prefer that you not know that thousands of churches have been burnt in Indonesia by Muslims, where attacks on them are a daily occurrence (google "three Christian schooolgirls"). He would prefer that you not know about the attacks on Christian villagers, and American missionaries, in the southern Philippines. He would prefer that you not read about the attacks over many decades on Christian schools and churches in Pakistan by Muslims, which led to the protest-suicide, a real as opposed to false martyrdom, of Bishop John Joseph a few years ago. He would prefer that you not notice that in the apartheid state of Saudi Arabia, not only are Jews not allowed, but the Christians permitted in to work as hired hands are persecuted for the slightest evidence of any participation in Christian religiuos worship. Even the singing, behind closed doors, of Christmas carols, by English nurses, has been severely punished. Other Christians have been promptly expelled, or even imprisoned and tortured, some in their hospital beds. You can find out more: just google "Saudi Arabia" and "Christians" and spend a horrified hour or two. In Egypt, Coptic girls have been kidnapped, raped, and forced to convert; Coptic churches and villages attacked. In one famous case, after a Copt was murdered by a Muslim, the Egyptian police moved in, and seized dozens of -- Copts. In Lebanon, the "Palestinians" committed all sorts of atrocities on Christians, and the particularly fiendish tortures that they engaged in can be read about at Lebanese websites (start with that of Brigitte Gabriel). The massacres at Damur and other Christian villages are hardly known outside Maronite circles -- why? The French priesets and Italian monks, who had lived in Algeria and whose vocation was charity, not missionary work, who had their throats slit by Muslims, are not noticed by Safiyeh. And one could go on, and on -- there are the 1.8 million southern Sudanese, killed or starved to death over the past 20 years by Muslim Arabs, those southerners being both animist and Christian. There are the 1 million Christian Ibo, massacred not only by the Muslim-run army in Nigeria, but by Egyptian pilots who specialized in strafing Ibo villages and killing tens of thousands -- but who remembers the Biafra War of 1967-69 except those in Nigeria itself? Who remembers Col. Ojukwu's Ahiara Declaration, when he denounced the "Jihad" of the Muslims against the Christians of Nigeria?

But, Safiya would find some way, perhaps, to link mass starvation and killings in the southern Sudan, the Moluccas, Karachi, a village in Upper Egypt, a ship off Algiers containing Italian monks asleep and about to have their throats slit by Muslims who have crept aboard at night, about to be murdered with "Likud agents.:

After all, the True Believer, the fanatic, can always find a way to come up with the most implausible tales, and be believed.

What then, about the years of attacks on Christians, on churches, on Christian sites, and Christian interests, that took place for at least a thousand years before the modern rebirth of the Jewish commonwealth? What would explain the riots in Cairo against the Copts incided by Hassan al-Banna in 1940? Or the massacre of nearly 100,00 Assyrians by the Arabs of Iraq in early 1933, just a few months after the British left? What would explain, still earlier, the attacks on the Christian Armenians, with specially fiendish treatment meted out to the Armenian priests, by Muslims -- Turks and Kurds and then jackal-like Arab tribesmen attacking the stragglers as they went through the Syrian Desert to reach the safe-haven of fellow Christians in Haleb or the Christian villages of northern Lebanon? What "Likud agents" were behind the massacres of the Maronites in Damascus in 1860? Or all the other massacres of Christians, by Muslims, throughout the Middle East, and North Africa, all the way back to the first period of Muslim rule?

What, in other words, explains the attack and mass murder at Thessalonika, or other Greek cities? What explains the destruction of Christian communities throughout Anatolia by both the Ottoman and before them, the Seljuk Turks?

Take "The Decline of Eastern Christianity Under Islam" and read, or merely skim through it. Everything in it took place before the "Likud" existed, before modern Israel existed, while the Jews were still, in the Muslim and in the larger world, scattered and, in every worldlly sense, completely at the mercy of others. What would the PLO/PA representative -- and most representative he is -- say to all of this? He would bluster, he would be furious, he would stomp out.

It was not the place of Ambassador Ayalon to bring all this up. Not the place, not the time. But it is always the place, and always the time, for whoever is supposed to be moderating and discussing these events -- that is, supposed to be instructing us, to possess a sufficient grasp of the material (what do journalists do all day? Do they ever read about Islam? Do they think they have a duty to find something out -- or not? Is it all just a question of mere reporting without any knowledge of what the audience needs to know? Does Wolf Blitzer who has risen so high, think he has any duty to learn about the things mentioned in this posting, so as to rebut those who would use the propagandistsic pulpit he provides, when they so mislead his audience? Does Blitzer, does CNN, think in all their careerist banality, that they have any duty to inform and instruct, to stop falsehood in its tracks when if the journalists had a minimum of information, they could do so?

Or would that get in the way of Wolf Blitzer's career? And would it slow down things, so taht people who watch CNN would have to get used to a less frantic pace, with all that hectic vacancy of those headlines (oh, watch the damn thing when you are next on the treadmill at the gym, and be horrified by the absence of any sense of a journalist's first duty).

When a platform is offered for lies, and those lies are allowed to go unchallenged, those offering the platform are collaborators in disseminating those lies. They have a duty to undo those lies or to challenge them. They can only do so if they know something.

Does Wolf Blitzer know something about Islam? Do his colleagues? Do they think they have a duty, given the importance of the subject, at long last not to go with the flow of soothing banalities, but to study and find out?

What? Too busy?

Posted by: Hugh at February 13, 2006 10:45 AM

This ain't graffiti; it's the truth.

Posted by: JanuaryMan at February 13, 2006 11:13 AM

so what if it was a jew... muslims murder civilians the world over. What a dastardly, evil force this Islam is!!!
Some graffiti? A cartoon? So f@#$ing what?
Of course us westerners don't have any respect for islam -- ISLAM IS NOT WORTH RESPECTING.
And our western armies - the US, Israel...we f@#$ing annhiliate the armies of illiterate barbarian muslim hordes- in 2 weeks, or in 6 days.
I will respect islam when Islam is worth respecting!!!!
I ain't a -holding my breath.

Posted by: templar at February 13, 2006 6:33 PM

Now, now, Hugh!!

Several days ago on CNN, Wolf Blitzer was the moderator between a discussion between William Bennet and James Zogby. Unlike one of those other idiots who has since been transferred to other MSM, non-cable network duties, Wolf Blitzer happily stood by and let Mr. Bennett rip a new a**hole into Mr. Zogby, who was ill-prepared for Mr. Bennett's skills at deflecting taquiyya and dawa.

I have a psychic hunch that Mr. Bennett visits JW regularly.

Word is getting out. Islam is losing is the court of public opinion.

Posted by: kafira at February 14, 2006 10:37 PM