A New York Times op—ed today by Abbas El—Zein concludes:

...the West has abandoned its claim to moral superiority based on respect for human rights and international law, and is pursuing instead a war based increasingly on tribal solidarity. What a tragedy this would be, especially for those of us who crave a modern, peaceful Middle East. And what a triumph for the varied strains of bin Ladenism — Muslim, Christian and Jewish alike.

Of course, the veracity of the writer of the op—ed who makes mention of his grandmother being killed in 1978 by Israel is not to be accepted at face value. How is this claim to be verified? The writer, after all, is a novelist.

It is an insult to compare Israeli actions to defend itself to "Jewish" bin Ladenism. Israel is Israel, Jews are Jews: by equating the two, the writer reveals that he has imbibed the anti—Semitism (blame all Jews for the problems of the world) that animates Jihadists. Incidentally, bin Ladenism is a uniquely Muslim ideology.

Ed Lasky   7 27 06