Someone forgot to tell these pilgrims that Islam has nothing whatsoever to do with pathological anti-Western animus or genocidal anti-Israel incitement:

Despite a ban on political activities at haj, a senior Iranian cleric gave a speech at Arafat to a group of pilgrims, who chanted "Death to America" and "Death to Israel", Iran's state television showed. Ayatollah Mohammad Mohammadi Reyshahri, head of Iran's haj mission, told the pilgrims some Muslims had despaired "in the face of Western civilization's onslaught" but that today there was a "resurgence of Islam".

Almost enough to make you believe what former Mossad chief Ephraim Halevy said about an impending civilizational clash in Europe. At times like these I find it reassuring to turn to Edward Said's post-9/11 essay on the Clash of Civilizations thesis (and yes, of course it was published in The Nation):

Labels like "Islam" and "the West" only serve to confuse us and fuel the destructive, basic paradigm of West versus the rest... This is the problem with unedifying labels like Islam and the West: They mislead and confuse the mind, which is trying to make sense of a disorderly reality that won't be pigeonholed or strapped down as easily as all that.

I'm not sure. There seem to be at least some people who are pretty certain about a few salient differences. Although with legal sanctions for "Islamophobia" being brought to bear against US students and being codified into international law - with Berlin's Center for Research on Anti-Semitism now turned towards investigating "the new enemies of Islam" - it doesn't seem like many of those people are in the West. Err... "the West."

References:
* Two million Muslim pilgrims gather outside Mecca for haj [Telegraph]
* Halevy: Europe heading to major cultural clash [JPost]
* The Clash of Ignorance [Said / Nation]
* The Next Threat to Israel on U.S. Campuses [Hasbara]
* West Trying, Failing To Block De-Facto UN Ban On Criticizing Islam (Plus: Indonesia As A "Moderate Muslim Nation") [MR]
* 'Islamophobia' or 'Truthophobia'? [WSJ]

Previously:
* I'm Going To Miss Westminster Abbey - Thousands Of UK-Born Jihadists In Enclaves Across All Of Britain
* Al Qaeda Misses Memo About How Sunnis And Shiites Don't Cooperate, Thanks Iran For Critical Financing And Infrastructure
* Jihadists Trying To Trigger War Through Mass Murder, Prank Calls?