The title of this book comes from a quote from the Koran: it is the way Jews are described in Islam’s central sacred text and is a phrase that is often repeated in Arabic society.
In this important but disturbing book, Neil Kressel, a social psychologist and expert on extremism in its various forms, documents how Arabs and Muslims speak, write about, and refer to Jews. Why, he asks, does no one question the way the Arab world refers to Jews? Why has almost everyone, from world leaders to the press and even Arabs themselves, been silent about this very public hateful attitude?
Kressel asserts that he is a staunch liberal and would never be considered part of the conspiratorial movement. He does not have to be to be astonished by what he reads and hears; the examples are nothing short of shocking. And it is not just religious or political rhetoric: Arab hatred of the Jews is imbued in the culture — even in programming for children. For instance, on Palestinian children’s television, the Mickey Mouse-like character and the Bugs Bunny-like character are killed by the Jews.
Kressel asserts that when the president of Iran threatens to wipe Israel off the map and his statements become a common expression in discourse in Iran and throughout the Middle East, something is very wrong. What disturbs the author most is that the hatred is downplayed by the West, especially by the leaders of the West.
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