Antisemitism on the wane?

Until the horrible tragedy at the United States Holocaust Museum this afternoon, many people were apparently under the mistaken impression that antisemitic and racist hatred was on the wane, in the U.S. and worldwide. Just the opposite. The hesitation of media to criticize antisemitic hatred and Islamic terrorism across the Arab world has energized and legitimized such hatred.

Here is a case in point, which has little to do with Arabs but everything to do with Islam: Adbulhakim Mujahid Muhammad shot and killed William Long, 23, June 1 in West Little Rock, Ark. Muhammad, born Carlos Bledsoe, is an African-American convert to Islam. He called the Associated Press today (collect, from jail) and said his attack on Long, who was taking a cigarette break outside a U.S. Army recruiting office where he was volunteering his time, was justified due to U.S. military treatment of Muslims in the Middle East. This story is being handled very quietly by the media even though the circumstances are similar to what transpired in Washington today. The alleged killer is black and Muslim, so he is off-limits. Von Brunn is a white racist--a bit inconvenient that he hates Jews, too, like many Muslims. The media will go after von Brunn, and rightfully so. Muhammad should receive similar coverage, but he hasn't and won't.

The nasty, hate-filled attacks Israel receives on a daily basis at campuses across the U.S. are organized and coordinated by two groups: Muslims and white, middle-class left-wing extremists. The Muslim Student Association apparently spends much of its time and resources on Israel Apartheid Awareness Week (not to be confused with Islamo-Nazi Awareness Week) and spreading a propaganda campaign consisting of denouncements of such a horrible country that it deserves destruction. They harass and intimidate Jewish students, and Hillel houses have come under attack. If groups similarly attacked homosexuals or African-Americans, they would be banned from campus.

Two voting blocs voted for Barack Obama for president expecting him either to change his mind or renege on campaign promises: voters who favor legalizing gay marriage; and Arab-Muslim activists who favor the destruction of Israel. Apparently the latter were very disappointed that Obama addressed AIPAC in June, 2008. (He sent Vice President Biden this year.) They expected him to run for president and not appear pro-Israel? That might happen in 2012; we'll see. Too soon to tell. At this point, Americans who seek Israel's destruction must be pleased that the White House seems to be singling out Israel for criticism and are surely quite hopeful the U.S.-Israel relationship takes a sharp turn for the worse. The hatred of Jews is never far behind hatred of Israel. Without Israel, the International Socialist Organization doesn't have much of a political platform. Of course, everything it favors--women's rights, workers' rights, gay rights, abortion rights, laborers' rights--are permitted in Israel and banned across the Arab world. But Israel is a Jewish state, so it must be destroyed. I spoke to one socialist at the Howard cta station (mistake, I know) who told me he objected to Israel's status as a Jewish state. Of course the 23 Arab-Muslim states didn't bother him in the slightest. Socialists seem to have this idea of replacing Israel with a secular utopia. In the Middle East.