Is Lashkar Anti-Semitic?
I’ve been debating seemingly hundreds of my blog readers and others attacking me at Comment is Free, the Jerusalem Post, Harry’s Place and Engage, who dispute my contention that the Mumbai terrorists were intending to attack an Israeli target when they killed at Chabad House (since Kasab, the surviving terrorist, said they were avenging Palestinian suffering). The distinction I’m trying to make is that many Jews believe this incident signals a mounting Muslim holy war against Jews, rather than a sign of Muslim grievance over the ongoing failure to resolve the Israeli Arab conflict. I’m hoping to argue the latter rather than the former.
I thought I was making a cogent pt. until I read this disturbing column in the NY Times which claims that Lashkar IS an out & out anti-Semitic outfit which DOES want to foment holy war against the Jews. I wonder what’s your take on this & whether you anyone currently living in Pakistan has anything to say on the subject.
Willow 2:00 pm on December 9, 2008 Permalink |
I’m afraid that since Israel does tend to present itself as the voice of Jews everywhere, most Arab Muslims I’ve met have stopped differentiating between ‘Jewish’ and ‘Israeli’. (EXCEPT, ironically, for Palestinians. All my Palestinian friends have a very nuanced understanding of Judaism/Zionism/Israel.) This was not the case with previous generations, however…my grandmother-in-law hated Israel but had a Jewish (Egyptian/Sephardic) doctor deliver all 8 of her children. (She refused to put their lives in anyone else’s hands!) Her husband had a Jewish partner in his business.
But I’m surprised outright anti-semitism has spread as far as Pakistan and India. I have trouble seeing how the Arab-Israeli conflict has any impact on the life of the average Kashmiri.
Willow 2:02 pm on December 9, 2008 Permalink |
PS–You’re doing great work. Courage.