We're All Going to Have to Make Sacrifices
The essence of a peace accord is that each side has to give up on some of what it wants. So for instance, if there's ever going to be peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians, the Palestinians are going to have to give up on demonizing Jews. But it's going to be really hard:
PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) met recently with the head of the Palestinian Broadcasting Authority and asked him to check all programs aired on state television to prevent the broadcast of inciting material... However, they stopped short of an order to stop incitement in the Palestinian media... with Palestinians and Israelis differing over what constitutes incitement.
I guess it is really hard to draw a bright line as to what constitutes incitement. For instance, if you look at this one way it could be incitement, but looked at another way it could just be education:
The Friday sermon of March 12, 2004 in the Sheikh 'Ijlin Mosque in Gaza was delivered by Sheikh Ibrahim Mudeiris , an employee of the Awqaf (Religious Affairs) ministry of the Palestinian Authority. The following are excerpts from the sermon:
The Prophet received an instruction from the Lord of heaven and earth, Who knows the nature of the Jews, who forever live off the fire of civil strife and disseminating their venom among the brothers, Muslims, and friends. Allah ordered him to forge his plan to take care of the Jewish existence in Al-Madina.
The Prophet had three stages in taking care of the Jewish existence... We have tolerated you for a long time - you offspring of apes and pigs! We have tolerated you for a long time... We must first teach the Qaynuq'a tribe [who was destroyed a lesson that will deter those behind them... Thus, there was no choice but to begin with the strongest among the Jews so they will serve as a lesson to those who follow them.
So really, it depends on how you look at it. And even if the Holocaust denier really does try to clamp down on calls for out-right violence against Jews, what he leaves behind won't be much better:
Itamar Marcus... said Monday that the only shift he has detected in the Palestinian media since Yasser Arafat's death two weeks ago was from incitement to violence to incitement to hatred.
He noted that the incitement to hatred now being broadcast, along with the glorification of Arafat as a super-shahid, was similar to that which existed before the outbreak of the intifada four years ago, which, he said, was no less dangerous than incitement to violence.
The problem is not this television program or that sermon. The problem is the overwhelming resentment on the Arab street, cultivated for generations as a potent vehicle for mobilizing hatred against Jews. It is evident in the refugee camps cynically maintained by Arab kleptocrats and tyrants. It is evident in Palestinian schoolbooks. And it ends up in the discourse of what passes for Palestinian political deliberation. Jews are blamed for literally every ill in Palestinian society, including the death of a sick old man. Until the Palestinians stop blaming Jews for the problems in their society, there will always be some symptom of their bitterness and loathing. It will appear either as an undercurrent in their culture or explicitly in their political dialogue. But it will demand some outlet, and insincere declaration will certainly not help anything.
PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) met recently with the head of the Palestinian Broadcasting Authority and asked him to check all programs aired on state television to prevent the broadcast of inciting material... However, they stopped short of an order to stop incitement in the Palestinian media... with Palestinians and Israelis differing over what constitutes incitement.
I guess it is really hard to draw a bright line as to what constitutes incitement. For instance, if you look at this one way it could be incitement, but looked at another way it could just be education:
The Friday sermon of March 12, 2004 in the Sheikh 'Ijlin Mosque in Gaza was delivered by Sheikh Ibrahim Mudeiris , an employee of the Awqaf (Religious Affairs) ministry of the Palestinian Authority. The following are excerpts from the sermon:
The Prophet received an instruction from the Lord of heaven and earth, Who knows the nature of the Jews, who forever live off the fire of civil strife and disseminating their venom among the brothers, Muslims, and friends. Allah ordered him to forge his plan to take care of the Jewish existence in Al-Madina.
The Prophet had three stages in taking care of the Jewish existence... We have tolerated you for a long time - you offspring of apes and pigs! We have tolerated you for a long time... We must first teach the Qaynuq'a tribe [who was destroyed a lesson that will deter those behind them... Thus, there was no choice but to begin with the strongest among the Jews so they will serve as a lesson to those who follow them.
So really, it depends on how you look at it. And even if the Holocaust denier really does try to clamp down on calls for out-right violence against Jews, what he leaves behind won't be much better:
Itamar Marcus... said Monday that the only shift he has detected in the Palestinian media since Yasser Arafat's death two weeks ago was from incitement to violence to incitement to hatred.
He noted that the incitement to hatred now being broadcast, along with the glorification of Arafat as a super-shahid, was similar to that which existed before the outbreak of the intifada four years ago, which, he said, was no less dangerous than incitement to violence.
The problem is not this television program or that sermon. The problem is the overwhelming resentment on the Arab street, cultivated for generations as a potent vehicle for mobilizing hatred against Jews. It is evident in the refugee camps cynically maintained by Arab kleptocrats and tyrants. It is evident in Palestinian schoolbooks. And it ends up in the discourse of what passes for Palestinian political deliberation. Jews are blamed for literally every ill in Palestinian society, including the death of a sick old man. Until the Palestinians stop blaming Jews for the problems in their society, there will always be some symptom of their bitterness and loathing. It will appear either as an undercurrent in their culture or explicitly in their political dialogue. But it will demand some outlet, and insincere declaration will certainly not help anything.
