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December 17, 2006
Kosher canary in a coal mine
Why am I so pessimistic about the future of the West? Because of things like the reaction to the Holocaust-denying hate-fest in Iran, presided over by the malignant dwarf Ahmadinejad.
For the last seventy years or thereabouts, Jews have been the canary in the coal mine for the rest of the world, taking the Devil's pulse, providing a benchmark against which we may gauge our own sensitivity -- or receptiveness -- to evil.
In the aftermath of the Holocaust, and the murder of more than 6 million Jews, the guilt-stricken West pledged, "Never again!"
But a large -- and growing larger -- portion of the world rejected the call for vigilance, as they rejected the very existence of the underlying state-sponsored, industrialized slaughter.
For instance, take this account by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the Somali immigrant who served as a Dutch legislator until she was forced into hiding after Muslim fanatics murdered filmmaker Theo Van Gogh, who filmed "Submission," based on her screenplay.
With great conviction, my half-sister cried: "It's a lie! Jews have a way of blinding people. They were not killed, gassed or massacred. But I pray to Allah that one day all the Jews in the world will be destroyed."
She was not saying anything new. As a child growing up in Saudi Arabia, I remember my teachers, my mom and our neighbors telling us practically on a daily basis that Jews are evil, the sworn enemies of Muslims, and that their only goal was to destroy Islam. We were never informed about the Holocaust.
Later, as a teenager in Kenya, when Saudi and other Persian Gulf philanthropy reached us, I remember that the building of mosques and donations to hospitals and the poor went hand in hand with the cursing of Jews.
Jews were said to be responsible for the deaths of babies and for epidemics such as AIDS, and they were believed to be the cause of wars. They were greedy and would do absolutely anything to kill us Muslims. If we ever wanted to know peace and stability, and if we didn't want to be wiped out, we would have to destroy the Jews.
For those of us who were not in a position to take up arms against them, it was enough for us to cup our hands, raise our eyes heavenward and pray to Allah to destroy them.
And that's why the conference if Iran is so disturbing; with the knowledge of what was promulgated in Germany a mere 73 years ago, the West appears to be quietly busying itself with less ... distasteful affairs, as the mad mullahs confer with an international assortment of homicidal maniacs, to deny the greatest crime against humanity in recorded history, and, perhaps lay the groundwork for a resumption of the slaughter, as the true inheritors of the Thousand Year Reich continue the quest for a world that's Jude Frei.
Ali points to the disturbing silence from the so-called moderate Muslim community, whom we are constantly reassured are just like the rest of us -- and nothing like the hate-filled jihadis.
What's striking about Ahmadinejad's conference is the (silent) acquiescence of mainstream Muslims. I cannot help but wonder: Why is there no counter-conference in Riyadh, Cairo, Lahore, Khartoum or Jakarta condemning Ahmadinejad? Why are the 57 members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference silent on this?
Could the answer be as simple as it is horrifying: For generations, the leaders of these so-called Muslim countries have been spoon-feeding their populations a constant diet of propaganda similar to the one that generations of Germans (and other Europeans) were fed — that Jews are vermin and should be dealt with as such? In Europe, the logical conclusion was the Holocaust. If Ahmadinejad has his way, he shall not want for compliant Muslims ready to act on his wish.
"Never again" seems risible, pathetic, really; "Sooner than you think" is more fitting, don't you think?
And don't forget, first the canary, then the coalminers.
Posted by Mike Lief at December 17, 2006 10:26 PM
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