"Well, they have enough non-central leadership to all be against Israel and the US. And to have been at war against the Israelies since Bible times..."

OK, Mike, this is a good example of the kind of "facts" that lead to fairly easy (though erroneous) conclusions.

Let's have some history here. The "Muslims" have not been at war against the "Israelites" since Biblical times. That is completely wrong. Hell, there haven't been any "Israelites" for nearly two millenia.

This doesn't mean there haven't been plenty of Jewish people spread throughout the Middle East. These Jewish people, known as "Sephardic Jews", have lived and STILL live in places like Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Morroco, and throughout the Middle East. These people have lived in relative harmony for centuries (technically, according to the Koran, they are "people of the book" and are not to be bothered). And in most of these countries (eg, Iran) it is very hard to determine who is Jewish and who is not...the practices and so on are very similar in swome cases to the point of being indistinguishable in certain contexts (my recently immigrated Iranian Jewish friend once told me that one major difference between Jews and Muslims is that Jewish women are allowed to show their real hair until they are married, but do not do so in Iran in obedience to Muslim law.)

What is not often appreciated here in the US is that the Ashkenazi, European-descent Jewish folks 1) Don't look semitic 2) Come from Europe 3) Come armed and money-ed by their friends the US, who by wild coincident need LOTS and LOTS of oil for their giant, gas-guzzling nation of suburbs and SUVs. The "war" between Muslims and Israel is perceived by them as a war against western imperialism, and by (what they believe to be) "fake" non-semitic Jews. (Let's not argue the veracity of these statements, but I would ask that you take me word that this is a common perception among educated people in the region, including some Jews!--read the Chomsky quote.)

And again, let us remember that Muslims in China, or Indonesia (two of the biggest Muslim nations) consider the question of Israel a non-question. It's not something that really has anything to do with them.
What we are seeing, then, is not a religious "war" or issue here. It's one of pure local politics, economics, and imperialism that our media (as well as some Muslim extremist groups I admit) have painted as a religious one. And why? Because our Media have allowed themselves to become merely another propaganda arm of our government and armed forces (which are practically the same thing in the US).

Sorry Mike, I can't help bu think you swallowed some stuff hook, line, and sinker.








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