Coffee, Facebook, Birds Singing, Evil Jews… Huh?

As Salaamu Alaikum and good Saturday morning all. Ah, this is the life. Sending the kids off to Islamic Saturday school with the hubby, lounging in bed with my youngest quietly occupied next to me, chilling out and checking my Facebook while idly wondering if I should bake something.

Then I see something reprehensible on my FB wall, an article shared or commented on by one of my FB friends, and it’s all I can do not to throw the phone against the wall in disgust. And here I was thinking I was going to have a quiet day….

The offending post was an illustration of an Evil Swarthy Hook-Nosed Jew in a bowler hat peering out from behind curtains made up of the flags of the US, the UK, and the old Soviet Union. The link attached to the picture went to an anti-Jewish screed referencing “The Protocols of Zion”, which is a shortened version of “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion”.

Now, that post was a bundle of wrong wrapped up in a bubble wrap of bigotry, set inside a box of antisemitism, taped shut with an adhesive of idiocy. Let me see if I can tease apart the wrongness:

1. Muslims should not be passing on unvetted information that you do not know is true. I actually wrote about this just the other day. If I reference a news article or a blog post, you should take care to ensure my reference is valid (and is not “The Onion”). Sharing links willy-nilly is irresponsible. I mean, how many people think Morgan Freeman is dead because there is a meme that pops up every few months declaring his passing?

2. Portraying Jews as evil IS evil and is to be condemned by Muslims in the harshest terms. Take away the bowler hat and put this illustrated person in a thobe and a turban and you have every Charlie Hibdo cartoon ever drawn about Muslims. You don’t like it when Muslims are stereotyped and we are all generalized as being terrorists. I’m sure the Jews don’t like it when they are portrayed as money-grubbing secret conspirators. Jews are people and people are individuals. Some are good and some are bad.

3. If you reference “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion”, you immediately lose all respect and legitimacy. This so-called Jewish document is a FAKE. It was created by antisemites to breed hatred of Jews. It also contains a reference to the blood libel that Jews would use the blood of non-Jewish children for use in their Passover matzohs. I have sat at a Passover table and have eaten matzoh. While I cannot say that they are tasty or delicious, I can attest to the fact that they are goyim-blood free.

4. You do not need to look at racist conspiracy theories to understand that this world is pretty screwed up and a small number of people control the media in the western world. That is a fact easily ascertainable by looking at the ownership of all the big media companies (hint: not even enough to fill out David Letterman’s Top Ten List). This is a situation that sucks but it is not based on Judaism. It is based on power politics and goes far beyond the religion of any person or group.

5. Only a weak person without intellect argues according to the racial traits of his enemies. I am a Muslim. I do not believe in the Trinity of the Christians, and they don’t believe in Muhammad, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him, as a prophet. Should I make a racist attack on Irishmen or Italians? I don’t agree with the teachings of Judaism, and I will discuss the merits of Islam (while not tearing down another person’s faith) without demonizing Jews or calling them Christ Killers or some other horrible epithet. I will argue vociferously against Zionism (as will some Jews and many other people of conscience) but I will also recognize that the Jewish people suffered horribly at the hands of the Nazis and the Russians and Soviets (see: pogroms) and this led them to their current mindset. And remember that the (largely Christian / atheist modern) Western powers PUT THEM IN PALESTINE. And remember that despotic “Muslim” governments are trying to blame Israel for all their ills rather than governing according to Islam.

6. At one point in my life, I actually converted to Orthodox Judaism. I learned how to read Hebrew, I davened at the local schul, I took a dip in a mikvah in New York City. I broke bread – challah, of course – with ultra-Orthodox Jews and sat and learned from them. I think Allah guided me THROUGH Judaism on my way TO Islam so that I would have a more mature idea of what Judaism is and to ensure that I viewed Jews as people rather than stereotypes. I value the lessons I learned and they make me a better Muslim overall.

And here’s the conclusion: I am a Muslim. I am against Zionism and have only the harshest criticism for an Israeli regime that commits genocide against my brother and sister Muslims. I do not agree with the teachings of Judaism as they are now taught, but I do believe that Allah revealed the Torah to Moses, peace be upon him, and that means I cannot treat Jews or Jewish practices with contempt because they come from the same well that our Qur’an does. I believe that there is a great social conscience among many Jews and they are often at the forefront of civil rights fights (read your American history boys and girls). I believe that antisemitism is a sin and it is just as bad as when some ignorant individual calls for the death of all the “Moozlums” because we are all terrorists. And it’s stupid that I even have to say it, but, yeah, the Holocaust happened.

So, I hope I helped enlighten someone on this sunny Saturday morning. I just had to get that off my chest Now I’m going to drink my coffee and wait for my family to return with some eclairs from Paul’s Bakery that are seriously the size of footballs. Have a great day, don’t be a racist, remember people are people are people, not stereotypes, and remember all that “do unto others” stuff, yada yada.