For decades, the Muslim world has been in thrall to the concept of victimhood. The claim that Muslims have been wronged by the avarice of the West, by the crusading Christians, and especially by the Jewish people reclaiming their ancient homeland from the Muslims, is now established dogma. They contend that the world's 1 billion Muslims suffer from imperialism, discrimination, and exploitation, and therefore their anger and violence towards the West and towards Jews in particular is justified.

It is disheartening that many Western academics and journalists have adopted this noxious viewpoint. Somehow Muslims are depicted as pure, innocent and guilt—free when it comes to inconvenient facts like their anti—Semitism and racism. The fallacy of this perspective is illustrated by witnessing the racism of the Arab world directed against blacks, and in particular, the Arab efforts in the Sudan to commit genocide against their black co—religionists. Apparently, being a Muslim will not protect you from Arab depredations and murder if your skin is black.  Contrast this behavior with that of the reviled Jews who are now mobilizing to protect and offer succor to these same black Muslims (as will be seen below).

Why does the Arab world remain indifferent or actively promote the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Muslims in the Sudan, while expressing outrage at the deaths of a much, much smaller number of Muslims in Israel and Iraq (or the physical abuse a few suffered at Abu Ghraib)? The silence emanating from the UN Human Rights Commission, chaired by Arab Libya, is deafening. Khartoum remains represented on the Commission itself, while overseeing this persecution. Yesterday, a United States government official finally spoke up about the matter.

'We are very disappointed we have not seen a reaction from the Muslim world generally,' Roger Winter told The New York Sun yesterday. 'Right now this is Muslim on Muslim violence.'

Part of the reason for this apathy may be because this genocide is simply the latest expression of the racism towards blacks endemic in the Arab world, and therefore surprises no one. Slavery and abuse of blacks in the Arab world has a long history, and such slavery is sanctioned in the Koran .

The Anti—Slavery society and Africa Watch have pointed out the existence of at least 100,000 full—time slaves and an additional 300,000 near—slaves, working under extreme oppression, all of them black, still being held by the Arab—Mauritanians. Slavery was technically abolished only in 1962 in Saudi Arabia, yet years later this "nation" was estimated to contain at least 250,000
slaves. Furthermore, the Saudi cleric responsible for educating that "nation's" youth has said

"Slavery is part of jihad, and jihad will remain as long as there is Islam."  

There is every indication that slavery of blacks continues to exist in Sudan and other places in the Arab world, despite the media's (and NGOs') refusal to publicize this fact. The Saudis have long refused to sign UN treaties on slavery and the President of Indonesia in 2000 stated, "The Saudi people still believe in the old Islamic teaching, which is belief in slavery".

While the Arab world practices and promotes the enslavement of Muslim blacks and continues to support their murder in the Sudan, American Jews have stepped up to help save black Sudanese from their fellow Muslims. In a time of dire need in the Jewish communities around the world, due to Islamic extremism, Jews have taken it upon themselves to help Muslims. Public protests have occurred regarding the genocide ongoing in Sudan, some 45 Jewish groups set up a mailbox for humanitarian relief for the Sudanese, and the Holocaust Museum has made special efforts to bring this African catastrophe to the attention of politicians and diplomats in Washington, DC.
 
This goes beyond the Christian maxim to "turn the other cheek," and shows that there remains in the Jewish world a strong compulsion to help the needy and the afflicted, despite the world's indifference to Jewish suffering.

Will the Jewish people get a break from Islamic extremism and hatred?  Will the Congressional Black Caucus —— increasingly antagonistic to Israel —— appreciate these efforts? Will anti—Semitism continue to sway blacks in America? Surveys show that African Americans express higher levels of anti—Semitism than any other single group in America.
 
For decades the Muslim world has refused to express gratitude to the efforts by America to help Muslims around the world. America has risked the lives of its soldiers and spent its treasure to save Muslims from destruction in the former Yugoslavia. We have saved Muslims in Kuwait from the depredations of Saddam Hussein. We have attempted to save Muslims in Somalia, and lost the lives of brave soldiers bringing humanitarian assistance there. We have freed Muslims in Afghanistan and Iraq from the murderous ways of the despots that ruled those nations.

We are the largest aid givers to the Palestinians, and President Bush was the first President to openly support the establishment of a Palestinian state. Yet al—Jazeera and the Arab rulers and religious leaders refuse to recognize our efforts, and condemn us and call for our destruction. If anything, they savor even more hatred for Israel and the world's Jews. One can be assured, al Jazeera will not find time to discuss the Sudanese misery, and certainly won't find time to cover Jewish efforts to  alleviate Muslim suffering and to stop this Muslim catastrophe.