Arab Paranoia Watch I: Iraqi Muslims Murder Jordanian Muslims? Blame Jews.
As you read this, keep in mind that the United Nations, the European Union, and certain diplomatic branches of the United States Federal Government have for decades insisted that, were Israel only to give away a little land, these people could be placated:
The imam sharply criticized the suicide attacks on three hotels in Amman, saying those who committed the crimes were not Muslims... Afterward, on the street, people agreed that whoever committed such an act could not be a Muslim. But many meant this literally, that the attack must have been carried out by outsiders, namely Israeli agents. "Who said it is them?" asked Ahmed al-Zawahrah, referring to claims that members of a radical Islamic group were behind the blasts. "It could be Israel."
While most Arabs have long viewed Israel as their enemy, the extent to which Israel weighs on the regional psyche and diverts attention away from social, political, religious and economic issues that cannot be ignored, many social and political analysts say. Blaming Israel is not just a knee jerk, they say; for many Arabs, it is their reality. "People don't blame Israel out of a vacuum," said Rami Khoury, a Jordanian political commentator and writer based in Lebanon. "There is a very strong historical reason, because Israel has caused a lot of grief for Arab people one way or another."...
In Egypt, Israel was also widely blamed for the bombing attacks in Taba and Sharm el Sheik over the last year, and for the recent sectarian violence between Coptic Christians and Muslims in Alexandria. In Syria, officials at the highest levels of the government have blamed Israel for killing Rafik Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister.
The Arab world mindlessly blames Jews for every calamity for "historical reasons" - like a history of genocidal anti-Semitism reaching back at least to 1900 which, it so happens, is before the founding of the state of Israel.
The imam sharply criticized the suicide attacks on three hotels in Amman, saying those who committed the crimes were not Muslims... Afterward, on the street, people agreed that whoever committed such an act could not be a Muslim. But many meant this literally, that the attack must have been carried out by outsiders, namely Israeli agents. "Who said it is them?" asked Ahmed al-Zawahrah, referring to claims that members of a radical Islamic group were behind the blasts. "It could be Israel."
While most Arabs have long viewed Israel as their enemy, the extent to which Israel weighs on the regional psyche and diverts attention away from social, political, religious and economic issues that cannot be ignored, many social and political analysts say. Blaming Israel is not just a knee jerk, they say; for many Arabs, it is their reality. "People don't blame Israel out of a vacuum," said Rami Khoury, a Jordanian political commentator and writer based in Lebanon. "There is a very strong historical reason, because Israel has caused a lot of grief for Arab people one way or another."...
In Egypt, Israel was also widely blamed for the bombing attacks in Taba and Sharm el Sheik over the last year, and for the recent sectarian violence between Coptic Christians and Muslims in Alexandria. In Syria, officials at the highest levels of the government have blamed Israel for killing Rafik Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister.
The Arab world mindlessly blames Jews for every calamity for "historical reasons" - like a history of genocidal anti-Semitism reaching back at least to 1900 which, it so happens, is before the founding of the state of Israel.
