The knee-jerk desire to not admit that there are Arabs who hate all Jews is almost comical.
From AP:
al-Qaida No. 2 Says Attack Israel, US
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) — Al-Qaida deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri is calling on Muslims to strike Israeli and American interests to avenge Israel’s recent offensive in the Gaza Strip, according to a new audiotape.In the 4-minute tape, posted on a Web site Monday, al-Zawahri accuses Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak of helping Israel in its offensive by sealing off the border between Egypt and Gaza.
He calls on Muslims to “strike the interests of the Jews, the Americans, and all of those who participated in the attack on the Muslims,” and says attacks should not be limited to areas in Israel or the Palestinian territories.
AFP‘s headline also emphasizes Israel but at least it gets it right in the first paragraph:
Al-Qaeda number two calls for strikes against US, Israel
WASHINGTON, March 24, 2008 (AFP) — The second-ranking leader of Al-Qaeda, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, called for new strikes against Jewish and American interests in a new radio address monitored here.
“Muslims, today is your day. Strike the interests of the Jews, the Americans, and all of those who participated in the attack on the Muslims,” Zawahiri said in an audio speech issued by Al-Qaeda’s As-Sahab information network on Sunday and monitored here by SITE Intelligence Group.
Zawahiri urged the faithful to “monitor the targets, collect the money, bring the equipment, plan accurately, and then — while depending on Allah — storm, seeking martyrdom and paradise.”
…”Let us strike their interests everywhere, just like they gathered against us from everywhere,” Zawahiri said. “Let it be known to them that they will get blood for every dollar they spend in the killing of the Muslims, and for every bullet they fire against us, a volcano will turn back on them.”
He insisted that Israeli warplanes were bombing people in Gaza “based on the American decision, the Egyptian siege, and Arab collusion.”
“They will never be able to insult and make a mockery out of our Prophet, peace and prayers of Allah upon him,” Zawahiri went on to conclude. “They cannot expect to support Israel, then live in peace and enjoyment while the Jews are killing our fugitive and surrounded people.”
Reuters’ latest version also chooses to downplay his remarks about Jews:
Zawahri urges anti-Israel attacks over Gaza
Al Qaeda’s second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri called for attacks on Israeli and Western targets to avenge Israel’s raids on the Gaza Strip, in an audio tape posted on the Internet on Monday. “O Muslims. Today is your day. Hit the interest of the Jews and the Americans and all those who participated in the aggression against Muslims,” said the speaker on the tape who sounded like Zawahri.
“Monitor the targets, collect the money, prepare the hardware, plan accurately and then attack,” he added, without specifically naming any targets. “No one can say today that we should fight the Jews in Palestine only.”
The cognitive dissonance that much of the media has is amazing. Even when the terrorists say explicitly that they want to attack Jews worldwide – and even when they do! – the MSM often wants to place it in purely political terms.
To too many journalists, political opposition makes sense, while pure bigotry does not. Since bigotry is so abhorrent, so is the accusation of bigotry. So even when we have Al-Qaeda, responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocents, saying purely bigoted statements – the “enlightened” reporters just cannot believe their ears, and cognitive dissonance creeps in to replace straight facts.
Most Palestinian Arab supporters play this game according to MSM rules and are careful in English to ensure that they do not say anything anti-Jewish – they relegate that talk to the madrassas and mosques. And the reporters are more than happy to go along with that charade. But here, we see that even when Arabs publicly announce their bigotry, the natural reaction of at least some in the media is to whitewash it.