This sort of thing couldn’t have anything to do with Muhammad’s dictum that “war is deceit,” could it? Naaah. To think that would be “Islamophobic.” “Jewish Leaders, Israel at Odds Over Ties With Muslim Group,” by Nathan Guttman in the Forward, October 14 (issue of October 23), with thanks to Joel:
The Muslim World League, an organization emerging as a ubiquitous presence on the interfaith conference circuit, boasts close ties to the Saudi monarchy and produces a magazine that has published antisemitic screeds.
That dual identity has put Jewish groups in a bind in deciding how to relate to the group and the widely attended, high-profile interfaith forums it is producing on behalf of the Saudi king, Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz.
In September, Jewish groups abruptly withdrew their participation in one of those interfaith conferences after the league’s magazine published an article depicting the world media as under total control of the Jews.
But now, in part at Israel’s apparent behest, one of the Jewish community’s primary umbrella groups for interfaith affairs plans to proceed with an unprecedented trialogue this December involving world Jewry, the Vatican and — representing Islam — the MWL.
At Israel’s apparent behest? What on earth are the Israelis thinking? Sometimes we let Realpolitik get the better of us, to our own detriment.