Hamas: 'Jews lived peacefully among Muslims for centuries, can again, in accordance with Islamic values.'

(This means: Sure, Jews can live in Hamastan -- as
dhimmis, a subservient population.)

Below, in answer to a question, a Hamas official states that under Hamas rule, Jews would live " in accordance with [Islamic] ethics, religious teachings, and historical values."

To Muslims, the history of non-Muslims living under Islamic rule has been benign, and they characterize Jews as having lived peacefully in Arab and Muslim countries for centuries.

But this view of history doesn't square with what we know, historically, about what "toleration of minorities" -- the acceptance of dhimmi status -- in Arab lands meant. It meant that non-Muslims, (i.e., those who did not wish to convert to Islam) would have to show subservience to Muslims in many everyday respects. Only then would non-Muslims be permitted "to live in peace." Hence, the prospect of Jews living "in accordance with Islamic ethics, religious teachings, and historical values" in a prospective Hamastan isn't that thrilling. //Mark Finkelstein


Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Hamas: 'Jews lived peacefully in Arab countries'

If ever Hamas were to conquer Palestine it seems that what lies in store for their non-Muslim minorities is a dhimmi future, according to this interview with a top Hamas official on Islamonline.net.

By Bataween

DAMASCUS — When IslamOnline.net announced to its audience a scheduled exclusive interview with Dr. Mousa Abu Marzook, a top Hamas leader, it received a flood of questions from its diverse global audience.

One question was put forward by a person who identified himself as an Israeli Jew who wanted to make up his mind about Hamas "independently of the local news sources."

He wanted to know the kind of state Hamas would establish if it ever rises to power in Palestine, and whether it would expel Jews if Israel was dismantled.

"[We will deal with Jews] in accordance with our ethics, religious teachings, and historical values," Abu Marzook, the deputy head of Hamas political bureau, told IOL. He highlighted how Jews lived peacefully for centuries in Muslim and Arab countries. [Without using the term dhimmi]

"Jews lived freely and ran prosperous businesses in Egypt and Baghdad, and the markets of Baghdad are evidences of what the Jews owned."

[comment by bataween: Colour me cynical, but whatever happened to those prosperous businesses and Jewish-owned markets, Abu Marzook? All appropriated by Arab governments without a penny in compensation to their Jewish owners.]
-------------
For information about dhimmitude see Bat Ye'or's article.

What do you suppose the outcome might be when you teach people that "Zionists develop diseases to sell drugs? " Time to wake up. --Mark


'Zionists develop diseases to sell drugs' From Tehran, PressTV*
Tue, 26 Aug 2008 21:06:20 GMT

President Mahmoud AhmadinejadPresident Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has blasted some 'Zionist drug cartels' that develop new diseases to sell their pharmaceutical products.

“Some multinational companies and Zionist cartels produce new kinds of diseases to export their drugs to other countries,” Ahmadinejad said in a meeting with Iranian pharmacists arragned to mark the Pharmacy Day.

“Contrary to the commercial approach that is prevalent in the world drug markets, our approach towards the production and export of drugs is humane,” Fars news agency quoted the president as saying. “We should try to produce drugs that are needed worldwide to help the humans,” he noted.
---------
* PressTV : Press TV takes revolutionary steps as the first Iranian international news network, broadcasting in English on a round-the-clock basis. Our global Tehran-based headquarters is staffed with outstanding Iranian and foreign media professionals.

Barak to Rice: Israel will not accept nuclear Iran
Published:08.25.08, ynetnews.com

Defense Minister Ehud Barak met with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and told her that Israel is committed to the safety of its citizens while at the same time acting to improve the lives of the Palestinians in the West Bank.

Regarding Iran Barak said that the US must continue to impose sanctions on the country, as Israel would not accept a nuclear Iran and would remove no options from the table. (Roni Sofer)
---------------------------------------------
Obama: Act forcefully with Iran before Israel's back against wall
Published:
08.25.08, ynetnews.com

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama called on the US and its allies to "act forcefully with Iran" and "address the nuclear issue before Israel feels its back is against the wall." (Reuters)
-----------------------

[McCain on Iran: From February 2008]

The excerpt below is from the transcript of Senator McCain's speech.

SEN. MCCAIN: I intend to make unmistakably clear to Iran we will not permit a government that espouses the destruction of the state of Israel as its fondest wish and pledges undying enmity to the United States to possess the weapons to advance their malevolent ambitions.
---------
No endorsement of either candidate is implied.
....
I intend to defeat the threat by staying on offense and by marshalling every relevant agency of our government and our allies in the urgent necessity of defending the values, virtues and security of free people against those who despise all that is good about us.

Morris on Bostom's Legacy of Islamic Antisemitism

Israeli historian Benny Morris reviews The Legacy of Islamic Antisemitism: From Sacred Texts to Solemn History, Edited by Andrew G. Bostom, along with another text.


The Darker Side by Benny Morris
The New Republic Published: Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Scholars in the West have begun to devote time and space to anti-Western jihadism and Muslim anti-Semitism--and a good thing, too, as these are very much on the contemporary international and Middle Eastern political and military agendas and, I fear, will grow in significance during the coming decades, as the Huntingtonian "clash of civilizations" widens.

That such a "clash" is going on is all too apparent, from the riots in Nigerian streets, where hundreds died following the announcement of an impending beauty pageant on Nigerian soil, to the murder of an Italian priest in Turkey following the publication of the Muhammad cartoons in Denmark.

Yet, Western liberals hesitate to tackle the subject of Muslim anti-Semitism, lest it seem anti-multicultural or provoke the hornet's nest of Allah's minions.

Even the use of the word "jihad" has become taboo among appeasers of Islam--and even among some non-appeasers, such as George W. Bush, who, like other Western leaders, refuses to call the phenomenon by its precise name (and the name that its own practitioners use). People speak of "international terrorism" when they should be speaking of "international Muslim (or Islamist) terrorism."
....

The story peddled by latter-day Arab propagandists (and reinforced by some Jewish scholars, who tended in decades past, sometimes for apologetic reasons of their own, to highlight the medieval "Golden Age" of Islamic Spanish Jewry)--that the Jewish minorities in the Muslim Arab countries before the advent of Zionism enjoyed a pleasant fraternal existence among the majority populations--has often been trotted out for the benefit of ignorant Westerners, to illustrate Muslim Arab tolerance of minorities and, politically, to promote plans for a multi-ethnic, one-state solution for Israel/ Palestine.

It also has taken hold among Western intellectuals. Thus as prominent a journalist as Lawrence Wright, in The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11, writes that "until the end of World War II, there was little precedent in Islam for the anti-Semitism that was now warping the politics and society of the region. Jews had lived safely--although submissively--under Muslim rule for 1,200 years, enjoying full religious freedom," until Christian missionaries, Nazi propaganda, and the rise of Israel twisted their minds and propelled them toward anti-Semitism. ....

But this construct, in Bostom's view (and in my own), is wholly false. It flies in the face of the evidence, much of it presented in Bostom's tome. Certainly modern Christian influences, nationalist enthrallment, and Jewish nationalism (and its success) have added layers to traditional Islamic anti-Semitism. But they were building on firm foundations.

From its inception, Islam and its adherents, beginning with Muhammad himself, saw Judaism (and Christianity) as rival parent religions that had to be fought and overcome for Islam to succeed. The initial struggles, in the early seventh century, were existential, a matter of survival, for the Muslims bent on dominating Hijaz and then breaking out of the dismal, arid, thinly populated confines of Arabia. The first Muslims shared a deep sense of vulnerability and threat.

And so the Jews (and Christians) in the realms of expanding Islam were subjected to a regime based on an understanding or agreement--the dhimma--of subordination, marginalization, and discrimination. By the twelfth century, the great philosopher Maimonides, a successful Jew in the Islamic world, the doctor to sultans, was to lament: "God has cast us into the midst of this people, the nation of Ishmael, who persecute us severely, and who devise ways to harm us and to debase us.... None has matched [them] in debasing, humiliating, and hating us." And the situation was to remain more or less constant in most of the Islamic lands down to the twentieth century.
---

Bostom's book is important and deeply discouraging, but it suffers from flaws of organization and analysis. It is eclectic and chaotic; much is missing, even as there is too much repetition. In some ways the historical picture is even worse than he portrays it as being.
---- end ---

Bostom has issued a response to Morris' claim that "much is missing." See: article

Iran's Ahmadinejad in new verbal attack on Israel

Aug 23 04:58 PM US/Eastern AFP

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad renewed his verbal attacks on arch-foe Israel on Saturday, accusing it of dragging the world into turmoil and predicting its demise.
"About 2,000 organised Zionists and 7,000 to 8,000 agents of Zionism have dragged the world into turmoil," Ahmadinejad told a rally in the central Iranian city of Arak carried live on state television.

He said that if the West does not restrain Zionism, "the powerful hand of the nations will clean these sources of corruption from the face of the earth," without specifying which nations.

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

(August 20) AMIA slams Iranian President's remarks


Argentina. AJN (20/08/08).- AMIA's Secretary General, Julio Schlosser, warned in a dialogue with Argentina's Jewish News Agency (AJN) that Ahmadinejad poses a "risk" to the international community. He also called on the international community to condemn "the harsh remarks" of the Iranian leader, who maintained that "the extirpation of the corrupt Zionist regime" is close.



In relation to the warning sent by the Israeli government to its citizens travelling abroad for possible kidnapping attempts by Hezbollah, the leader said that Argentina "is not exempt from international terrorism".


AMIA's Secretary General, Julio Schlosser, warned on Wednesday that the Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, "poses a risk to the Jewish community" and said that Argentina "is not exempt from international terrorism", especially after the attacks perpetrated against the Jewish center and the Israeli Embassy, in 1994 and 1992.


In statements to Argentina's Jewish News Agency (AJN), Schlosser condemned the remarks recently made by the leader of the Islamic Republic, saying that "the extirpation of the corrupt Zionist regime" is close .

Schlosser also urged international organizations to condemn the Iranian President's statements, in light of his repeatedly threatening Israel and the international community.
The leader said that it "no analysis can be made of the statements made by this person", referring to Ahmadinejad.

"We are used to the harsh remarks of this man, we are not surprised, that is why it is not possible to make a political analysis of this statement", Schlosser insisted.

He also called for the international condemnation of the statements made by the Iranian leader. "The international community is supposed to respond to this kind of statements", AMIA's Secretary General said.

"This man (referring to Ahmadinejad) has always maintained a constant behaviour, and this is not the only reason why he is posing a risk on the international community, he does not abide by the United Nations resolutions and continues with the nuclear power plan", Schlosser stated.

Regarding the warning sent by the Israeli government to the Israeli citizens travelling abroad, on possible kidnapping attempts from Hezbollah, the leader noted that Argentina has been a victim of the international terrorism and that it is not exempt of being attacked again.

"Argentina has already been a target (of a terrorist attack) and if
it continues to be one today, we do not know, but the only target in the region has been Argentina", he noted.

Schlosser also spoke about the risk that the Tri-Border area represents for Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay.

"The Tri-Border is an open door and, if someone is telling us 'be careful', we will", the AMIA official said in reference to the warning sent by the Israeli government.

Nevertheless, Schlosser highlighted that this threat "is not a problem to be concerned about, but a problem to take care of and to take all the necessary precautionary measures."

That is why Schlosser held that "security measures have to be taken to be alert, as alert as we are every day, and a bit more".

Sooner or later, someone's going to have to start paying attention to this stuff.


Ahmadinejad says Israel will be removed soon
The Associated Press Published: August 20, 2008

TEHRAN, Iran: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is calling Israel a "germ of corruption" that will be "removed soon."

The comments were posted Wednesday on his presidential Web site. They appear to be part of an effort to defuse criticism by hard-liners over recent remarks made by a high-level official.
Last week, Iranian media quoted Vice President Esfandiar Rahim Mashai as saying Iranians were "friends of all people in the world — even Israelis."

The comments were rare from a government official in Iran, whose president regularly calls for Israel's destruction. They sparked domestic criticism of Mashai, with some officials calling for his resignation.

[By the way, Mashai, the great friend of Israel, apparently has a nuanced view of friendship --Mark

Following are excerpts from an interview with Iranian Vice President Esfandyar Rahim Mashai, which aired on Al-Manar TV on July 28, 2008. Mashai reportedly said earlier this week that Iran is the friend of the citizens in Israel and the U.S. The translation is based on the Arabic voiceover. [From MEMRI]

Esfandyar Rahim Mashai: The Islamic Republic of Iran did not, does not, and will not accept the legitimacy of this Zionist entity. No Iranian citizen or party will ever accept this... ]

In 2005, Ahmadinejad said he believed Israel should be "wiped off the map."

Georgian olim: We're home

Israel absorbs 75 new immigrants from Georgia during past week in wake of war; Immigrant Absorption Ministry approves assistance plan for newcomers; one immigrant says he'll do everything 'to defend the homeland'

Yael Branovsky Ynetnews.com August 16, 2008

The war in Georgia may be waning, but those who fled its horrors are still living with its aftermath. And dozens of them have found new homes in Israel. A total of 75 new immigrants arrived in Israel last week from Georgia, with most of them settling in the cities of Bat Yam and Ashdod.

The Immigrant Absorption Ministry has already approved an assistance package for the newcomers that will include Hebrew schooling, employment offers and subsidized rent. Underprivileged immigrants will also receive a grant of several thousand shekels. According to the Jewish Agency, some 120 additional Georgians are preparing to immigrate to Israel within the coming months.

The Memisashvili family abandoned its home in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi and arrived in Israel last week. Vaj'a and his wife, both in their thirties, and their two children, aged 3 and 8, have taken up temporary residence in Kibbutz Messila in northern Israel, as part of a collaborative program between the Jewish Agency and the Kibbutz Movement.

"I feel like I've come home," said a proud Vaj'a, who has already managed to squeeze in a visit to Jerusalem. "Here, I am not afraid of a war starting. As an Israeli citizen I will do whatever is necessary to defend the homeland. I feel like we've come home, and I know everything will work out for the best."

The kibbutz, he says, has welcomed his family with open arms. "I have a lot of family in Israel, and I heard stories of when they first immigrated, I was surprised by the way people responded to us. They come over, they visit, they bring us clothes and things for our home, and we were even invited over for Shabbat dinner. It warms the heart."

Natia Zurshvili, a single mother of two, was a resident of Gori. The town became the epicenter of the violent clashes between Russia and Georgia, and is currently still under Russian occupation.

"Our house was bombed, almost all of it collapsed," she told Ynet. "My father took me, he children and my mother to Tbilisi, and then went back to collect our belongings. Now he can't get out of there, because the Russians have closed it down. But he will immigrate too, because there's no choice left. There is nothing there."

Zurshvili, her children are currently staying at an absorption center in Ashdod along with her sister and her sister's family.

"We came with nothing, not even a change of clothes," recalls Natia. "It's hard to describe the hell we've been through. I'm in daily contact with my father, he doesn't leave the house – what's left of it, and we're very worried about him."

In the coming days Zurshvili is expected to move into a larger apartment along with her children and mother, and she has been declared eligible for the welfare grant.
"I'm still in shock because of everything that's happened, but I hope we'll manage. I'm an accountant, I hope I can find work and make a living here."

Memorial in China for 11 Israeli Athletes Killed in '72

(IsraelNN.com) A ceremony in memory of the 11 Israeli athletes murdered by PLO terrorists during the 1972 Munich Olympics will be held this evening in Beijing's Olympic Village. In addition to the current Olympic Commission representatives, the head of the German Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, and Honorary President of the International Olympic Committee (I.O.C.) Juan Antonio Samaranch will take part in the memorial.

In 1972, a Fatah terrorist front group going under the name of Black September infiltrated the Olympic Village in Germany and took 11 Israeli athletes hostage. After negotiations, and a botched rescue attempt, the bound Israeli captives were killed. The mastermind of the Munich attack, Mohammed Daoud Oudeh, or Abu Daoud, revealed in his 1999 memoir that current Palestinian Authority Chairman and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas handled the financing for the Munich attack.

Saudi Columnist: Bomb Iran Now, Let Chips Fall Where They May
or, "Iran is not the problem [of the U.S. Israel, and Europe alone] "--Mark

In his August 4, 2008 column in the liberal Arab e-journal Elaph, Saudi columnist Saleh Al-Rashed argued that the Gulf states should urge the West to attack Iran before it acquires nuclear weapons.

Following are excerpts from the column: [1] as translated by and aggregated from MEMRI

A Nuclear Iran is Like a Nuclear Bin Laden
"'There's no avoiding what there's no avoiding' - this adage came to mind when I read the pronouncement by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps commander Mohammad 'Ali Ja'fari, who said: 'My country is easily capable of closing the Straits of Hormuz, the main passageway for oil freighters, if the country is attacked due to its nuclear program.'

"In my estimation, confronting this country, which is trying to gain the time necessary to acquire nuclear weapons, is unavoidable. The possession of nuclear weapons by a state like Iran, which is ideological to the core, is more or less like Osama bin Laden having a nuclear bomb. They are two of a kind. Despite the difference in their turbans and in their religious beliefs, the end result is the same.

"Perhaps it is our bad luck that we [i.e. Saudi Arabia] and the Gulf states would be the first to suffer from a military confrontation with Iran and from its response, and the problem would become even more grave if Iran succeeded in closing the Straits of Hormuz, as the IRGC commander threatened. But our situation with Iran is like that of the sick man who refuses to have his illness treated with cauterization. Yes, the pain of the burning is horrible, but this malady can only be treated through this military confrontation -cauterization.

"History has taught us that ideological countries only pay heed to victory over their ideology… They never accept any halfway situation, even when they find themselves on the brink of disaster."

"Confrontation Is The Solution"; "The Absolute Priority Must Be Our Strategic Security in the Gulf"

"Confrontation is the solution, and there is no solution but confrontation. The game of the carrot and the stick played by the U.S. and E.U. will be to no avail.

"At present, we are suffering from two things: Iran's attempts [to gain] regional hegemony, and its attempts to impose its influence via its sectarian allies - the fifth column of Arab Shi'ite fundamentalists. Imagine what Iran's influence, hegemony, and fifth column would be like if Iran had a nuclear bomb.

"Perhaps it is a strange coincidence that, this time around, our strategic interests coincide with those of Israel. The regime of the mullahs in Iran is our enemy, and at the same time it is an enemy not just of Israel, but of world peace and security.

"I know that the Arab demagogues stand together indiscriminately with anyone who is against Israel and America. But we need to not be swept away by these demagogues as we were in the past. This time, the absolute priority must be our strategic security in the Gulf, which is threatened by Iran - even if this comes at the expense of the Palestinian cause.

"In politics, nothing prevents you from allying with the devil for the sake of your interests. This is what confronting the Iranian danger - which is close - demands of us. This issue, in my estimation, cannot suffer delay or hesitation. Every passing day benefits Iran.

"Thus, we need to push the world powers, and especially the U.S. and the E.U., towards military confrontation to neutralize the Iranian enemy, whatever the cost, before the nuclear bomb makes it too late - even if it is against the will of the Arabs of the north."

[1] www.elaph.com, August 4, 2008.

Jordan bars Jews with religious items

Aug. 14, 2008
Matthew Wagner , THE JERUSALEM POST
Jordanian border officials refused to allow a group of Israeli tourists carrying religious objects such as talitot and tefillin to enter their country on Tuesday, saying it was "a safety measure" to avoid potential terror threats.

Thirty-six Israeli tourists on their way to Amman for a three-day tour were detained at the Sheikh Ali Hussein Crossing near Beit She'an at 6:30 a.m. and notified of a new regulation that prohibits entry into Jordan with tefillin, talitot, prayer books, Bibles or the Talmud.

"Our group was presented with two options," said Alan Novetsky, a recent immigrant from New York who was accompanied on the tour by his wife. "Either enter Jordan without religious objects or go back to Israel."

Novetsky said the group's suitcases were thoroughly searched for religious items. "They seemed to know exactly what they were looking for.

"It was very demeaning to have such a negative experience in what is billed as a friendly country. People in the group, including the tour guides, were quite shocked. No one had ever heard that Jordan imposed religious restrictions," he said.

"What made it worse was that the whole thing seemed to be directed solely at Jews. I saw Christians walking through into Jordan openly wearing crosses. Apparently, Christian religious symbols did not seem to be a problem for the Jordanians. I can well imagine the international outcry if Islamic tourists were to encounter such restrictions on their entry into Israel."

A Jordanian security official said the decision was taken only for "security reasons."

The official said that the decision had been in effect for a long time and Israeli authorities were aware of it.

"The Jordanian security authorities are responsible for the safety of all visitors to the kingdom and it is our duty to take all measures required in this regard," the official explained. He expressed regret that the tourists had been offended by the measure.

Novetsky said that at first the the guides tried to bargain with the Jordanian officials, promising to keep the religious items hidden and to pray inside the hotel. But the suggestions were rejected.

"The vast majority of the group decided that as proud Israelis, we were either going to be allowed to walk into Jordan holding our religious objects or we would not go in at all."

This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1218446197326&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Jewish Community in Yemen

The Jewish community in Yemen faces a challenge.

Aggregated from Israelmatzav.blogspot.com

I have no idea what brought this on, but CNN did a report that was posted to the web on Friday about the Jewish community in Yemen. The Yemenite Jewish community, which has a very rich and ancient heritage, mostly lives in Israel these days with smaller pockets in the US and in London. But the small community just outside of Sana very strongly keeps to its traditions, as you will see in this video. I fear that this community may reach a bad end - God forbid - unless it leaves Yemen soon.

Let's go to the videotape (Hat Tip: NYNana who found it after CNN removed the original). [If the video is not included in your e-mail, go to jcommunitynews.blogspot.com

Jewish Agency evacuates hundreds from Georgia war zone

After establishing contact with Jewish community in war-torn South Ossetia, Agency coordinates evacuation to capital city of Tbilisi. As death tolls crosses 2,000, West announces delegation of EU, US, NATO officials en route to broker ceasefire

Yael Branovsky 08.09.08, ynetnews.com



"I'm staying here till the last Jew is evacuated," a defiant Bashu Mansharov told Ynet on Saturday after the Jewish Agency evacuated hundreds of Jewish Georgians to safety as Georgian-Russian hostilities continue to rage in South Ossetia.

At least 200 Jewish residents living near the ongoing Georgian-Russian hostilities have been evacuated by the Jewish Agency to the capital city of Tbilisi. Most from Gori.

Mansharov said the majority of those who have not fled are adult men who chose to stay behind and protect their homes and property. "I sent my wife, my two children and my mother-in-law away, but I will stay here until the last Jew leaves," Mansharov said. "Things here are bad, there are many wounded and killed, but even though I am a doctor I'm not in the hospital right now, because we're trying to get all the Jews out. I gave all of them the number of the Jewish Agency, so they could reach them for help."

According to the Agency, there are currently 12,000 Jews in Georgia, most of whom live in the capital. It also said there are still four Jewish families in South Ossetia that no one has been able to contact as of yet. Georgia's communications network in the region has been badly damaged.

"In The Legacy of Islamic Antisemitism, Andrew Bostom explodes the delusional myths with which too many in the West obscure the truth of Muslim Jew-hatred"
-- Bruce S. Thornton

Islam Without Apologetics by Bruce S. Thornton
8 August 2008 [excerpt]

According to received wisdom,

an Islamic faith that once tolerantly coexisted with Jews and Christians has been traumatized by the twentieth century and its destructive ideologies(such as fascism, communism, and nationalism), by the depredations of European colonialism and imperialism, and by the displacements wrought by globalization.

These developments, according to such apologists as John Esposito and Reza Aslan, have given rise to a distortion of Islam,

one manifested not just in “Islamist” terror but also in the virulent anti-Semitism visible today throughout the Middle East and in Europe’s Muslim communities. A religious culture that once embraced the kindred “people of the book”—Jews and Christians—has now been infected by European anti-Semitism, just one more way that Western cultural dysfunctions have damaged the traditions of a proud faith.

The problem with this tale, as Andrew Bostom documents in The Legacy of Islamic Antisemitism, is that it isn’t true.

A physician and professor of medicine at Brown University, Bostom demonstrated a doctor’s fidelity to empirical evidence in his previous book, The Legacy of Islamic Jihad, showing how violence against the infidel is central to Islamic doctrine, theology, and jurisprudence. He now performs a similar service in examining Islamic anti-Semitism, exploding the delusional myths with which too many in the West obscure the truth of Muslim Jew-hatred.

As he did in his earlier book, Bostom provides copious documentation from primary sources—including the Koran, hadith (traditional accounts of Mohammed’s deeds and sayings), sira (early biographies of Mohammed), and other Muslim texts—as well as modern scholarly commentary, including his own introduction, which summarizes his conclusions. His use of such an abundant body of scholarship makes it difficult for critics to dismiss his arguments as biased interpretations of the evidence.

As he writes,

“For the Muslim masses, basic Islamic education in the Qu’ran, hadith, and sira . . . may create an immutable superstructure of Jew hatred on to which non-Muslim sources of Jew hatred are easily grafted.”

Islamic anti-Semitism begins, as do all things in Islam, with the Koran—the immutable, infallible, timeless words of Allah dictated to the Prophet—in which Jews are cursed with “abasement and humiliation” and are “deserving of Allah’s wrath” because they rejected Mohammed. Jews are further characterized as corrupt, treacherous rebels and infidels whose destiny is to be the enemy of the true believers.

Read more of this article.

Iranian TV documentary traces Zionist themes in "Meet the Parents"



Video and transcript: http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1811.htm

May 28, 2008 Clip No. 1811

Iranian TV Documentary Series Traces Zionist Themes in Western Movies: "Meet the Parents"

Following are excerpts from an Iranian TV documentary on Zionist themes in Hollywood cinema. The program, which focused on "Meet the Parents," aired on IRINN TV on May 28, 2008.

Narrator: As has been mentioned before, one of the regular methods of Zionist propaganda is to use Jewish characters in films to present the idea that Zionism and the [Jewish] religion are one and the same.

[...]

Iranian film director Masoud Deh-Namaki: They are shrewd, because they do not reveal all their thoughts. As I've said before, they deal with the subconsciousness of the viewer. Later, they use these ideas in more substantial contexts, such as articles and serious films. The viewer, who is exposed to these ideas from a young age, does not need any explanation, because subconsciously, he has already absorbed these ideas.

[...]

Iranian documentary filmmaker Mohammad-Reza Khosaravi-Far: In order to highlight the oppression [of the Jews] and to make it more interesting, these people have begun to make comedy films. A striking example of such films is "Meet the Parents." In this film, they tried, using the comedy genre, to make the viewer not merely understand, but become convinced of this oppression and the holocaust, and of how much the Jews suffered hardships in the 1940s and 1950s.

[...]

Deh-Namaki: The nuclear weapons of [the Israelis] remain unused in their arsenals. Instead, they conquer the world with cameras, negatives, and frames.

[...]

Narrator: It is no coincidence that when the legitimacy of the Zionist regime is in crisis, one of the familiar Hollywood characters – the honest, clumsy Jewish citizen – is portrayed once again. The appearance of this citizen in "Meet the Parents" reflects the desire of a kind, peace-loving person to marry into a genteel American family. This symbolizes the extent to which the Zionist regime needs the Western fundamentalist regimes.

[...]

Iranian documentary filmmaker Reza Eskandar: [In such films] the character of the Jew is always praised and glorified. The Jew is always depicted as a positive and trustworthy person. Even if, by chance, he is involved is something wrong, it is only because he was pursuing a very lofty goal, and not because he was a bad man by nature.

[...]

Narrator: "Meet the Parents" is one of Hollywood's comedies produced in recent years, which includes humoristic scenes, and take bold jibes at traditional American society. At the same time, however, it cunningly tries to arouse the viewer's compassion and sympathy toward Zionist beliefs.
------------

As documented by The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) www.memritv.org

Any Iranian attempt to close Gulf 'self-defeating': Pentagon

[AFP] The Pentagon said Tuesday that any move by Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz would be "self-defeating" because its weak economy is so heavily dependent on oil revenues.

"Shutting down the Strait, closing down the Persian Gulf, would be sort of a self-defeating exercise," said Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary. "That doesn't say anything about whether we tolerate such a thing to happen."

Morrell's comments came in response to a warning by the new head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards that Iran could easily close the Strait of Hormuz, through which much of the world's oil passes.

[40% of all seaborne oil traffic passes through the Strait of Hormuz]

General Mohammad Ali Jafari announced Monday that Iran has successfully tested an anti-ship missile with a range of 300 kilometers (180 miles.)

"And given the equipment our armed forces have, an indefinite blockade of the Strait of Hormuz would be very easy," Jafari said on state television.

Morrell argued, however, that Iran would be the first to be hurt if it closed the Gulf.

"I don't think it is Iran's interest to shut down the Strait of Hormuz or the Persian Gulf, or attempt to do so," he told reporters.

"They have a very weak economy at this point which depends almost entirely on their oil revenue," he said.