Islamophobia is one of the worst forms of bigotry against a people. It drives much of the terror and spreads much of the anti-Jewish hatred around the world. College campuses are very guilty of Islamophobia as we witness the wide support of Hamas and demonization of Israel. The growing far-Left of the Democratic Party is also guilty of this phobia to a great extent. You might think I’m kidding, but I’m not.
As for violence or hatred practiced against Muslims, they rate almost on the bottom on every survey when it comes to victims. But there is a worse bigotry than just the mistreatment of Muslims. It is called the “soft bigotry of low expectations,” a quote attributed to Michael Gerson, speech writer for George W. Bush.
You see, when a Jew does something wrong or is accused of something wrong, the world goes upside down with not even knowing the facts. Last week’s episode, where supposedly 100 Gazans were killed by Israel, was classic. As Menachem Begin famously said, “Goyim kill Goyim and they blame the Jews!” Israel was able to conclusively demonstrate that the Gazans trampled each other in a fight for humanitarian aid (which Israel assists in giving). Yet the media never dropped the original false claim made by the Hamas spokespeople. Even The Wall Street Journal was guilty.
Sound familiar? That’s because it is. You recall that Arab media blamed Israel for bombing a hospital, killing 500 people. The world media feasted on the story and the region was ablaze. Within hours, Israel had proved it was a failed rocket launched by Palestinian Islamic Jihad (directed at Israeli civilians) that fell on a parking lot adjacent to the hospital and a handful of people died. Did the world rush to condemn the Islamists? Not a peep. Was the media embarrassed by this malpractice of journalistic standards? Nah.
Remember years ago, when an Arab boy, Mohamad al Durah, was seen on video cowering under his father during a crossfire between Israelis and the PLO, and was sadly shot to death? French television reported it as clearly coming from an Israeli gun. A major skirmish against Israel – almost an Intifada – resulted from that report. It was about a year later in French courts when it was proven that the TV station concocted the facts, and the bullet was from a Palestinian source. Did anybody turn around and reprimand the Muslims for killing a little boy??
As was referred to in last week’s Queens Jewish Link, the media are constantly taking Israel to task for supposedly having a racist ideology of comparing Gazans to Amalek. Does anyone call out Imams for referring to Jews as monkeys and pigs who must be found hiding behind trees and killed, based on their scripture? How many reports have you seen lately of terror atrocities committed by Abbas’ “pay for slay” terrorists killing men, women, and children in cold blood?
Over the years, over 15,000 rockets were fired by Hamas towards Israeli civilian populations. Anybody accuse them of being genocidal? UN… anything?
I often wonder: How is it that intelligent people in the universities, in the media, in the streets, and in politics side with the very essence of evil, Hamas, over the truly good-natured Israelis? Of course, the easy answer is anti-Semitism, which is no doubt at least partially true.
But I think there really is a lot more going on here. The attitude toward Muslims is that we can’t expect much from them. They are not civilized people, the thinking goes. So, all their misbehavior is forgiven. Jews and Israelis, on the other hand, are supposed to be renowned for ethics; so when a Jew slips or even appears to slip, he is quickly condemned.
Did these same concerned people utter any protest against Hamas from October 7 until the time Israel mobilized, about a month later? Nobody cared about the unspeakable atrocities committed by Muslims against innocent men, women, and children. Nobody was up in arms about hostage-taking on the university campuses. How could that be?
This is a classic case of “the soft bigotry of low expectations.” We thank you for the compliment of setting us Jews on a high pedestal. But we can do without your favors. The very people who claim to be in the vanguard of eradicating hate and racism are the biggest perpetrators of bigotry. The leftist ideology, along with all its other flaws, is truly racist. It is downright Islamophobic. And it’s exacting a big price for Jews, world peace… and Muslims.
If someone asks you if you feel Israel is committing genocide, just answer them absolutely no – you’re not Islamophobic.
Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld is the Rabbi Emeritus of the Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills, President of the Coalition for Jewish Values, former President of the Vaad Harabonim of Queens, and the Rabbinic Consultant for the Queens Jewish Link.
