I started writing an open diary comment on this, but it started getting long, so I decided to turn it into a diary.
A cousin of my mother-in-law sent out some e-mail nonsense about a movement to end teaching of the Holocaust in the UK. Like most right-wing crap, it took one morsel of truth (there was one school in the UK that opted not to teach the subject for fear of anti-Semitic responses from Muslim students), and blew it up into 90%+ fiction.
When the e-mail made it's way to me via my father-in-law, I pointed out that this was a fallacy. My FIL is a really sweet and bright man, but he tends to afford unsourced e-mail forwards more credibility than they're due.
In forwarding this e-mail to his kids and me, he said he didn't care who the subject offends, "[t]his is a dark piece of history that needs to be told." He was right of course--it does need to be told, but those seeking to prevent it are marginalized extremists and bigots. I gave the accurate information as dispassionately as possible, knowing that he had CC'd the aforementioned cousin who forwarded (and edited) the original e-mail:
While the history obviously must be told, the UK bit is based mostly on a hoax. A couple years ago, there was one school cited in a report that avoided teaching the Holocaust "fear of confronting anti-Semitic sentiment and Holocaust denial among some Muslim pupils." The school also avoided several other touchy subjects. It's hardly true that "the Muslim population...claims it never occurred."
The older version of this e-mail claimed that the UK dropped the Holocaust from its curriculum altogether--it looks like the new version has been address that and say that there is some movement to remove it. Either way, it's just another one of those e-mails that gets circulated widely based on a myth.
If you're interested in the genesis of this one: http://www.snopes.com/...
After I sent this, the original author cousin also decided to reply to all. I'll spare you most of the text, but here are some "highlights" to give you a flavor of her commentary:
But my point, and the much larger point the piece is making, however, is that there are many -- many! -- morons, trolls and bastards out there who deny that the Holocaust happened, and the ranks are swelling every day. And yes, most of the Muslim world, and certainly their leaders, "elected" or not, deny the Holocaust.
Frankly, if nations aren't planning to "just say no," why not simply agree to convert to Islam now, and avoid a lot of future bloodshed, as incrementally, step by step and year by year, the Muslims wear away at countries' traditional freedoms and cultures, with a riot here, a bombing there, the destruction of a church, a Hindu temple, a synagogue somewhere else, a kidnapping and beheading in another place?
Because they're gonna keep on trying, [Red Sox], and you know it as well as I do. So someone needs to draw the line in the sand, and make them understand -- forcefully, because that's the only thing they listen to -- that this is not going to happen. You don't keep a murderous bully in line by reasoning with him. You do it by standing up to him, and either disarming him and making him back down, or killing him before he kills you.
What is there about this that is so difficult for the Left to understand? How stupid are they that they don't recognize that the Muslim world sees the wish to "dialogue" as nothing but an admission of weakness and cowardice? How many times must our offers be thrown back in our face, and our nation's founding beliefs spat upon?
Ordinarily, when receiving this kind of claptrap, my only act is to delete it and ignore it. There's often little point in arguing one-on-one with someone so dead-set in their beliefs in right-wing fantasies. But because this was CC'd to family, I couldn't hold my tongue:
Yes, there are a number of folks who engage in Holocaust denial, sometimes out of ignorance, but usually out of hate. However, if you do some digging--you'll find the vast majority of Holocaust deniers are white Christians. Check out nizkor.org, which is a site dedicated to cataloging and fighting Holocaust denial. You'll see scant Arab and/or Muslim names.
You say "most of the Muslim world, and certainly their leaders, 'elected' or not, deny the Holocaust." Absent any evidence--and I suspect there is none--that's simply a falsehood designed to elicit fear or worse. There are some 1.2 billion Muslims in the world, which would mean that 600+ million of them deny the Holocaust and several thousand "leaders" do as well, depending on how you define the term. There is absolutely nothing in the way of data to suggest that this is the case...or even close to it.
The far left's tendency to appease is matched only by the right's need to engage in extremist hatemongering about brown people and the dreaded Muslims. It's one of the many things that lead to the downfall of the GOP in 2006 and 2008. Just as many on the left want to stick their heads in the sand and pretend that there is no threat, there are at least as many on the right whose first instinct is to stir up fear and hate.
Let's change your words and direct them toward Jews. If we do, it sure sounds anti-Semitic to me:
The United States is caving in to Jewish demands and influence, whether it be Israeli apartheid, or the reasonableness of having the pro-Israel lobby control the Congress; and the speed of the capitulation to Jew demands will only depend upon how many of them are living in that country, and how much backbone the indigenous citizens have.
Frankly, if nations aren't planning to "just say no," why not simply agree to convert to Judaism now, and avoid a lot of future bloodshed, as incrementally, step by step and year by year, the Jews wear away at countries' traditional values and cultures, with a settlement here, an invasion there, the destruction of Gaza, a West Bank olive grove, a mosque somewhere else, and the elimination of the Palestinian people?
Because they're gonna keep on trying, [Cousin], and you know it as well as I do. So someone needs to draw the line in the sand, and make the Jews understand -- forcefully, because that's the only thing they listen to -- that this is not going to happen. You don't keep a murderous bully in line by reasoning with him. You do it by standing up to him, and either disarming him and making him back down, or killing him before he kills you.
What is there about this that is so difficult for Americans to understand? How stupid are they that they don't recognize that the Jewish world sees the wish to "dialogue" as nothing but an admission of weakness and cowardice? How many times must we let them control our media and our government, and our nation's Christian founding beliefs spat upon?
"Muslims" are no more of a monolith than Jews, Christians, atheists, or anyone else. It wasn't that long ago when these generalizations about Jews were acceptable discourse in this country. They should be no more acceptable with Muslims. The right feeds off of fear--their extreme is no better than the left's and is usually worse.
On one hand, I was glad I countered her wingnuttiness, and did so in a way that I think was respectful and also included the other recipients of her e-mail. On the other hand, it's my extended in-law family and I don't really feel like engaging in a long political debate, especially when most of them are either liberal or disinterested in politics and we have just the occasional black sheep. Plus, who wants to out and out call their family racist?
Unfortunately, it didn't end there. Instead of replying to all, I got the following to me alone:
[Red Sox], you make some very interesting points, but only they're only marginally correct, and largely sophistry. If, in fact, the Israelis -- not "Jews" as a whole -- are threatening, or even (to use your hypothetical) destroying the Palestinians, how come the Israelis have been capitulating -- yes, capitulating -- to pressure from the U.S. since the Oslo accords of 1993, and gaining nothing from their efforts.
Everything Israel has done, including complete withdrawal from Gaza and handing it to the Palestinians with all its properties intact, has done nothing but get them more hatred for their pains, including the almost continual shelling of Sderot. All of the properties that the Israelis left for them, BTW, including the greenhouses that had been used to bring in millions of dollars of profits from growing exportable fruit and flowers, were trashed and stripped for their contents within hours of the Israelis pulling out. What clever, clever people, the Palestinians are, who never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.
You're talking the liberal line, [Red Sox], which you've seemed to swallow in its entirety. When was the last time you saw an Israeli -- or a Jew, to widen the blame, as the Muslims do -- boarding a passenger jet with explosive in his underwear, with the intention of taking it down? When was the last time Israelis or Jews blew up trains in London's Underground? When was the last time you saw Israeli, or Jewish, terrorists attempting to blow up two hotels in Mumbai, and simultaneously going out of their way to find and kill the young couple running a hostel for co-religionists, as the butchers in Mumbai did when they took time from their larger atrocities to find and destroy the local Chabad House? They would have killed the couple's two-year-old son as well, except that his nurse had hidden him.
When did Israelis/Jews fly planes into buildings, killing 3000 civilians? Do they defile Muslim holy sites, as Muslims have defiled Jewish ones? Do they blow up 2000 year old Hindu statues, because they are "offended" by their existence? Do Jews indiscriminately rain rockets down on Muslim towns without provocation, giving the inhabitants only a few seconds to find shelter? Have they beheaded Muslim journalists for being Muslim? Do they riot through the streets, burning, looting and killing because a newspaper has published satirical political cartoons depicting Moses, or Jews in general, in an unflattering light? Have they put out death warrants for those cartoonists, as well as for novelists, who they feel are "insulting" their faith?
The European Union, which is at most risk from the Muslim fundamentalists growing like cancers in their inner cities, consistently berates, insults and attempts to boycott Israel. The United Nations has accused Israel of more hate crimes than any other nation, while conveniently turning a blind eye to Sudan, North Korea, and Iran. Have you seen Israel striking out against UN member nations?
Ahmadinejad has repeatedly called for the annihilation of Israel, saying that it should be wiped off the earth. What do you think fundamentalist madrassas are teaching their students? Have you seen reports of what is taught in Saudi schools, and broadcast on Saudi TV, on al-Jazeera, on radio stations?
When and where have you EVER seen the kind of insane hatred that fundamentalist Muslims express, and not just against Israel and the Jews, but against anyone and everyone who does not subscribe to their religion? And what has Israel done in return, except fight back, in a very limited way, when their borders are threatened and breached?
Jews don't kill, except when they are defending their homes, their families and their lives. Fundamentalist Muslims "love death as much as you love life," as they themselves have declared loudly and often, and have no qualms whatsoever about wiping out dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of innocents, who simply happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. "L'chaim" is NOT a Muslim blessing!
I'm certain that you're right...a great percentage of the world's 1.2 or 1.3 billion Muslims aren't anti-Jewish, but that's only because their imams haven't fired them up, yet. The problem is that their religion is absolutist, and allows for no individual thought.
Sorry, [Red Sox]...your analogy is flawed.
The above is filled with such bigoted invective that I've been stewing over it since early Monday morning when I saw it. I haven't replied to it for a number of reasons. One, it was sent only to me, and it's not like I'm swayed by this kind of crap. Two, anything this repulsive deserves nothing in the way of a thoughtful response. Three, if someone is this prejudiced, there's little point in trying to engage them.
And yet, I'm having a hard time letting it go. I want to go piece by piece and point out just how ignorant this is. At the same time, I suspect there's little point to it.
I can't be the only one to get this kind of excrement in their inbox, nor can I be the only one from a mostly liberal family with the occasional wingnut. How would you go about it?
One final request: Please don't try to turn this into an I/P fight. It's not the point of the diary.