The March of the Apologists Continues

Ali Kazak, the head of the General Palestinian Delegation to Australia & New Zealand and Palestinian Ambassador to Vanuatu and East Timor, writes in the Khaleej Times:

The attacks against Muslim minorities and their mosques and schools in the US, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Germany, Italy and elsewhere, every time there is a terrorist attack in the West, illustrates the dangerous level of hatred and racism that exists in these countries against the Arab and Muslim people, and is nothing to be proud of.

Excuse me? The dangerous level of hatred and racism against the Arab and Muslim people? Tell me, Mr. Kazak, how do you feel about 'neocons' and their foreign policy?

...Never did we hear of Christian and Jewish minorities in Arab and Muslim countries being attacked, nor their churches, synagogues and schools being torched and vandalised by the local populations; nor should they be. Yes, there have been disturbances between Christians, Jews and Muslims and even between Muslims and Muslims from time to time, but these are sectarian conflicts and they are a new phenomenon caused by the religious tensions created around the world.

Keep in mind when reading the above that the speaker represents the Palestinian government, and he has the nerve to downplay terrorism against Israel.

The claim by some Western leaders that these attacks by "Islamic terrorists" are a war directed against the people of the West because of "who we are" and because of "our way of life, civilisation and democracy" is another big lie and needs to be condemned. It is designed to inflame prejudice and hatred of Arabs and Muslims, and to appear as if the West is defending itself which brings false moral comfort and gives justification for its unjust war. One wonders how long it is going to take those few Western leaders to admit that these terrorist attacks are politically-motivated and are in retaliation against their Middle East policies and blind unconditional support for Israel's occupation, aggression and racial discrimination.

Notice the scare quotes around 'Islamic terrorists', as if this was all a figment of our imagination, just some scary bedtime story divorced from reality. A 'big lie', he calls it, 'designed to inflamed prejudice and hatred of Arabs and Muslims'. And then of course, there it is: the justification for terror - simply put, the existence of Israel.

As long as aggression, occupation, and racial discrimination continue against the Palestinians, Iraqis and the Afghans, and as long as Arab and Muslim interests and values are not respected, you do not have to be Einstein to know these policies are going to further the hatred, frustration and pressure resulting in more attacks. No power in the world will be able to stop terror as long as its causes remain.

Again, we see that nothing short of the removal of the Jews and Westerners from the Middle East will do.

This polemic is more disgusting in its way than the hate speech that regularly flows from the Arab media and mosques, because the hatred is covered by the appearance of 'reasonableness'. However, you don't have to be Einstein to recognize the underlying sentiment, nor the tacit acceptance of terrorism as legitimate.