The Arab Spring in all its glory.
From MEMRI, video of a huge banner at an Egyptian soccer game that reads, “One Nation for a New Holocaust.”
Will the New York Times report this yearning for genocide upon the Jewish people?
Of course not. They are too deeply invested in a false narrative that posits a Jeffersonian Democracy in the Arab world led by cool, western-style bloggers and Tweeters.
Let’s rewind to Thomas Friedman and his, ahem, expert evaluation of the Egyptian Arab Spring:
“And, as we sit here today, the popular trend is not with the Muslim Brotherhood. Indeed, what makes the uprising here so impressive—and in that sense so dangerous to other autocracies in the region—is precisely the fact that it is not owned by, and was not inspired by, the Muslim Brotherhood.”
Whoops.
You know in my business, Hollywood, when a producer, writer, or director mounts one money-loser after another, their status is diminished because they do not have the pulse of the public. Thomas Friedman, who has been wrong about the Middle East 100% of the time, suffers no such consequences. The New York Times and his liberal fans continue to make believe that he knows what he’s talking about.
Of course, Friedman is the the man who characterized Israel as “Yad Vashem with an army.” A statement worthy of American Nazi David Duke.
Friedman’s meme is, of course, nonsense. The Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafists control the Arab street and the body politic from Cairo to Tunisia.
Just the other day, to justify his gutting of the military, President Obama stated that “the tide of war is receding.”
This is, to use a clinical psychological term, magical thinking. Of course, our enemies will not cooperate in this fantasy. You do not wish away war anymore than you can wish away hate or the eternal march of genocidiers. Only power defeats power. It’s a never ending struggle that mutates from one generation to the next.
As America retreats from Iraq and Afghanistan, as Obama slashes defense spending to levels that will leave America and her allies prey to multiple transnational threats, the vacuums that we create—black political holes—will be filled by Turkey, Pakistan, Iran and a host of aggressive colonial Islamist players.
Ariel Chaim Avrech, ZT'L, May His Righteous Memory be a Blessing.
11 Comments
There’s another banner above and behind the main one, which says something about Blood and White Knights. That surprised me as I watched the video, because I couldn’t help thinking “they’re like an Arab version of the KKK” — they have their robes and their hood or masks, and they blame everything on the Jews.
I’ll have to admit, on some level, I just don’t get it. The “idealist” side of my brain says they are conditioned to be this way. They follow an Anti-Semitic religion (and they don’t even know it). They are indoctrinated from birth to hate and blame Jews by their parents, teachers, religious and political leaders. They are manipulated by mod-rules mentality where fire, chanting and fist-pumping stirs up the passion of these teachings (that is, EVERYONE I KNOW IS IN FAVOR OF KILLING JEWS, SO I SHOULD BE IN FAVOR OF KILLING JEWS TOO) — the idealist side of my brain wants to say “if only they were removed from their environment for an extended period of time and exposed to Israeli culture, they could see the Jews as human beings, as innovators, as healers, as a compassionate, loving people — and then they wouldn’t want to kill Jews”.
The pragmatic side of my brain says that soccer field reminds me of the Nazi rallies in Nuremberg Germany and some day we’ll probably look back (as we do now at Nuremberg) and say “why didn’t we stop this when we had the chance… before the war… before all those people died?”
Like or Dislike:
3 
0
Prophet Joe:
I don’t think motives matter when it comes to a people who yearn to commit genocide. The only thing that counts is destroying them.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Even the State Department, at least the FSOs actually working Egypt issues, saw this coming well before Tunisia kicked off. They and we on the military side figured the crisis would come with Mubarrak’s death and the ensuing succession question, but events are unfolding generally as everybody expected. This stuff ain’t rocket science.
Sad thing is that in the Egyptian context, MB actually IS a moderate party. There are far worse groups doing very well in the elections. When your country’s definition of “moderate” is MB, you’re in trouble. Like the liberals who “don’t know anybody who voted for Bush,” the Egyptian secularists pinned their hopes to the weak, inept el Bareidi and the fact that “all my friends” were freedom-loving, secular Muslims. Pity they didn’t get out more. The echo chamber is a comfortable place, but hanging out there isn’t the best way to see things as they really are.
And I was shouting at my car radio the other day when I heard an Egyptian businessman on NPR saying that the Islamists would moderate their outlook when they saw the effect of their policies on the tourism industry, because “they need money to operate, and they are pragmatic people.” Egypt has a long, cold winter ahead of it.
I am happy to be away from diplomats and strategists and back with paratroopers. It is painful to watch your worst predictions come true and be unable to do anything about it.
Virgil
Like or Dislike:
2 
0
I think Egypt is very dependent on our foreign aid – if we cut them off where will they go? Even in 1983 Cairo was full of these old rickitty red and white buses they called “Carters” – picture these things with people literally crammed into them –
I am sure the Iranians would like to jump in but I don’t think they can fill the gap.
To all those people over here who thought (and think) we are seeing the beginnings of democracy “be careful what you wish for”
Like or Dislike:
1 
0
Virgil:
Thanks so much for your service and for giving us the benefit of your experience in that part of the world. The ME is an extremely dangerous neighborhood and it looks like it’s only getting more dangerous.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Years ago (1983 exactly) I was sitting in the hotel at Giza having a buffet breakfast. And in come some Israeli tourists.
I thought we had entered a new age.
Like or Dislike:
1 
0
Bill:
A fair number of gullible Israelis also thought they were entering a new age. That’s the left for you—always delusional.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
It’s shocking to see that banners like this are being raised in our time. How can anyone of good conscience see this and deny that it is ever-necessary for Israel to remain a strong, well-defended Jewish state?
Like or Dislike:
2 
0
Franny:
“Good conscience” is the operative phrase. Those who would throw Israel/Jews under the bus are bereft of conscience.
Like or Dislike:
1 
0
Maybe Obama was told Holocaust means “a picnic with apple pies” in Arabic. Or maybe it’s the name of a soccer team. I’m sure someone at the State Department that couldn’t translate the reset button with Russia is working on it right now.
James Taranto in the WSJ pointed out that Friedman wrote the other day that no one predicted the crushing defeat of the secularists in the elections and compared it to seeing elephants flying. I am beginning to seriously doubt that anyone at the NYT bothers to read him anymore or else they might question why he still draws a paycheck.
Like or Dislike:
1 
0
Johnny:
Long ago, Friedman crossed over to Team Jihad.
Seraphic Secret predicted the defeat of the Egyptian secularists. That was an easy call—if you’re not a liberal.
Like or Dislike:
2 
0