[Washington Post] Richard Cohen - In vast parts of the Islamic world, too many people not only deny the Holocaust but embrace the thinking that made it possible. We have almost 2,000 years of experience with anti-Semitism and know by now its immense power. That anti-Semitism is now a part of Middle Eastern culture. It has infiltrated textbooks; it is recited in mosques. It is aired on television - for instance, the broadcast of a play produced at Gaza's Islamic University in which Jews were portrayed as drinking Muslim blood. Holocaust Museum shooter James W. von Brunn was quickly segregated from the American mainstream and designated the crackpot he is. In the Middle East, though, he would be no such thing. If Arab leaders do not attempt to rebut and eliminate the hatred of Jews that is poisoning their societies, they will find that the peace that most of them undoubtedly want will not be possible.
2009-06-19 06:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive