Religion of Peace update.

Let us congratulate the President of Pakistan for producing a welcome dose of reality in that great fever swamp known as the moslem world, even if it is built merely of words. Of course, he has likely ensured a bloody end for himself.

Musharraf's Historic Speech
by Daniel Pipes

When the Malaysian currency tanked in late 1997, the country's then-prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, said he had "definite information" that Jews were the cause. "We do not want to say that this is a plot by the Jews, but in reality it is a Jew who triggered the currency plunge, and coincidentally [financier George] Soros is a Jew." Mr. Mahathir went on to say that just as "the Jews would rob Palestinians … this is what they are doing to our country."

Mahathir's antisemitism is so typical of discourse in the Muslim world over the last generation that I have found an "uneasy parallel" between it and Nazi Germany of the 1930s.

This background makes clear the historic nature of a speech by the president of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, to the American Jewish Congress on September 17. More coincidentally, he too singled out George Soros as a symbol of Jewish financial prowess, but very differently.

Lauding Jewish groups in the United States, Mr. Musharraf remarked that they "were at the forefront in opposing the ethnic cleansing of Muslims in Bosnia," adding: "I am told that the largest contributor to the Bosnian cause was the Jewish-American businessman and philanthropist, George Soros."

Most news coverage of the Musharraf speech focused on the prospect of Pakistan opening diplomatic relations with Israel (Reuters: "Pakistan leader urges US Jews to help make peace"), but what is potentially of lasting importance about the Musharraf address – beyond the mere fact of its being delivered to a Jewish organization – was the president's respectful, accurate, and constructive comments about Jews.

He began with the important observation that Jews and Muslims "have many similarities and few divergences in their faith and culture," then listed three specifics: belief in the oneness of God, shared ways of greeting, and a common phrase in the Talmud and Koran. And Moses, he pointed out, is the prophet most often referred to in the Koran.

Mr. Musharraf noted how "our experiences and histories intertwine" and then elaborated on what he called the two communities' "rich and very long" history of interaction. He mentioned the "shining examples" of Cordova, Baghdad, Istanbul, and Bukhara, the golden period of Muslim Spain, and the joint experience of the Spanish Inquisition. Generalizing from the inquisition, he correctly asserted that Jews and Muslims "have not only lived together and shared prosperity, but also suffered together."

Against this background, Mr. Musharraf portrayed the period since 1945 as an aberration. As I have also noted, 1945 was the pivotal year when Jews stopped leaving Christendom for Islamdom and reversed directions. The past six decades, in other words, broke a pattern of 13 centuries. Mr. Musharraf resisted ascribing blame for this gulf but limited himself to noting that the problems occurred during the "bloodiest century in human history."

Then there is this bit of genius from across the pond:

Muslims and the Holocaust
UK government committee tries to nix "exclusive" memorial


Recently in England, four Muslim-staffed committees appointed to advise Prime Minister Tony Blair and his Cabinet on issues related to Islam have come up with a recommendation: Get rid of an official event viewed as offensive to Muslims. What event would that be? A celebration of the Crusades, perhaps? No, Holocaust Memorial Day. In the words of one committee member, "The very name Holocaust Memorial Day sounds too exclusive to many young Muslims. It sends out the wrong signals: that the lives of one people are to be remembered more than others."

That "one people," of course, are the Jews.

The committees aren't exactly proposing that the Holocaust commemoration be scrapped outright. They want it to be folded into a "Genocide Memorial Day" that will also include such crimes as the slaughter of the Tutsis in Rwanda and the massacres of Bosnian Muslims by the Milosevic regime.