OBSESSION

I opened up the Jerusalem Post (and yes, I mean opening a real paper, not a website or e-mail) this morning to a picture of Libyan protesters defacing a billboard of Gaddafi with the Star of David.  According to the Post, other graffiti read "Gaddafi, you Jew."  Although some have taken comfort in  what was perceived as not being an overwhelming focus on Jews during the current Arab uprisings, the fact of the matter is that the focus we have witnessed is a lot more than insignificant.

 And then the question arises as to what Jew hatred has been part of the uprisings that we have not seen because of lack of media access and language barriers.  And then there is this question:  what is an acceptable underwhelming level of Jew-hatred in the Arab world?  When is an irrational focus on Jews as the source of one's problems o.k.?  When it comes to Jew-hatred in the Muslim world, the rest of the world seems to grade on a low curve. 

If I had to do it over again, one of my several Ph.D theses would explore what causes a people who number one billion to be so obsessively focused on a people who number about 14 million.  Contrary to what many Western political pundits often assert, it is not the Israelis' alleged abuse of the Palestinian people.  There is a lot of evidence to support the fact that many Muslim nations exploit the Palestinian issue to their advantage.  There is little evidence to support the notion that they really care much about the Palestinian people.