#20 - The President’s Speech to the Muslim World from Egypt - Part II

[The following contains excerpts from a commentary posted on Newsmax.com written by Rabbi Dr. Morton H. Pomerant. Rabbi Pomerant is a member of the Reform movement of Judaism and serves as a chaplain for the State of New York. A former Navy and Marine Corps officer and chaplain, he has also served as deputy national chaplain for the Jewish War Veterans of the United States.]

“…While [President] Obama acknowledged that “six million Jews were killed — more than the entire Jewish population of Israel today” — his discussion about the Holocaust was followed by this statement: ‘On the other hand, it is also undeniable that the Palestinian people — Muslims and Christians — have suffered in pursuit of a homeland.’ ‘On the other hand . . . ’? Obama’s clever construct comparing the mass genocide of six million Jews to the Palestinian struggle will not be lost on the estimated 100 million Muslims who tuned into to hear him.” Rabbi Pomerant went on to say that the President talked of Islam’s “peaceful” intent throughout his speech, and that while there are verses in the Koran that support this view, “…Islam has a long and bloody history of violence against fellow Muslims, Jews and Christians.” He points out the violent conquest by Muslims of the Middle East, Spain, and half of Western Europe and of how “…the Crusades sought to turn back this Muslim onslaught that demanded subjugated populations to convert or die.”

“In [the President’s] almost hour-long speech, there is not a single word about Islam’s well known and checkered past. Ironically, the American president offered plenty of references to what he sees are America’s evils, such as its ‘colonialism’ and history of slavery. ‘For centuries, black people in America suffered the lash of the whip as slaves and the humiliation of segregation,’ [President] Obama told his audience, citing a litany of American shortcomings. He failed to mention that Arab Muslims were the greatest slave traders in the history of humanity. According to Obama, Israelis, too, are guilty of wrongdoing, especially when it comes to their supposed maltreatment of the Palestinians. Isn’t it odd an American president would go to a foreign country and slander his own country and its long-time ally?”
“… [President] Obama not only ignores the gross subjugation of women in many Arab societies — he does not mention even once the almost total religious intolerance throughout the Muslim world against Christians and Jews. In his speech, [the President’s] only plea for Muslim women living in Muslim countries is that they should be afforded an education. How about a discussion of the beheading of Arab women for ‘crimes’ such as adultery? How about the malicious treatment of women in Muslim countries who choose not to wear the hijab? [President] Obama insists that Islam has promoted tolerance and that in Islamic societies such ideals have flourished. [He] claimed that ‘as a student of history’ he understands more than most the truth about ‘civilization's debt to Islam.’ He added, ‘And throughout history, Islam has demonstrated through words and deeds the possibilities of religious tolerance and racial equality.’”

Rabbi Pomerant further questions how this can be when a Jew or a Christian can be beheaded in Saudi Arabia for practicing their religion. He further wonders why the President could not offer a single example of where religious freedom is truly honored in the Muslim world today. He spoke with pride how there is mosque in each state in the U.S. and that there exists more than 1,200 mosques in our country. And yet, the President did not speak to there being NOT ONE Christian church or Jewish synagogue within the nation of Saudi Arabia. He goes on to ask: “Why in many countries, including your host Egypt, Christian churches have suffered vicious and continual persecution? Why is a once vibrant Cairo Jewish community — a home for the likes of Maimonides — today practically extinct? Why, dear president, has the ancient. Christian community in the West Bank and places like Bethlehem been almost completely wiped out by the modern Muslim onslaught?”

“ ‘On the other hand,’ to quote you Mr. President, you avoided mentioning some other truths. Let’s start with the Israeli Arabs who can claim one of the highest standards of living in the Arab world. Indeed, they have more rights than Arabs in any Muslim country, their religious freedom is completely protected, and they even vote in free elections. Tell me what Muslim country matches Israel’s record in protecting its minorities? Even Arabs in the West Bank, during the time of Israeli control, saw their standard of living rise dramatically. Today, Arabs there are among the best educated in the world, thanks to Israel. In your revisionist view, Israel has acted to harm these people. But it was not Israel that could not abide by United Nations resolutions clearly setting borders for both the state of Israel and an entity that had never existed before named Palestine. You cleverly omitted any discussion of these facts, or the continual attacks against the state of Israel over six decades by its Muslim neighbors. Nor is it the Israelis who persecute from time to time the Coptic Christians of Egypt.”

“You profess to be a Christian. But you seem more intent on protecting Muslims. In your speech you talked openly of your Muslim heritage, your admiration of their way of life, and so forth. You said in your speech that you have made one of your chief aims of your presidency repairing the image of Islam. Why did you hide these views from the American public during the recent presidential campaign? Why, as president, did you fully bow to the Saudi king, who refuses to allow any religious freedom for any Christian or Jew? …You have made clear, by your words and assertions, that you are re-positioning the United States away from Israel, America’s lone democratic ally in the Mid-East. You have made clear through your statements and those of your minions that Israel should, under no circumstances, prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons. And yes, you have promised to retaliate against Iran if it ever attacks Israel with nuclear weapons. But you know full well that if Iran succeeds in its admitted goal of ‘wiping the Jewish state off the map’ — and hits this tiny nation with nuclear warheads — there will be no Israel for the U.S. to retaliate on behalf of. Some Jews may be naïve, but we are not stupid.”