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Old 11-21-2005, 12:18 AM   #22 (permalink)
hiredgun
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My thoughts:

I think we should remember that the fact that this particular child is television-worthy probably indicates that she is at least something of an exception. At the same time, I am duly aware that hardcore anti-Semitism remains a huge problem in many parts of the Muslim world.

From my personal travel and experiences, I find this indoctrination to take its most extreme forms in the rich Gulf countries, where the process of state-formation has been warped by dynastic rule (enabled by a single highly valuable resource) and stunted by foreign intervention in this strategically vital region. The other place where I have witnessed numbingly blind hatred was in the West Bank (although I should stress that this point of view was far from universal there). In Egypt, on the other hand, while anti-Israeli sentiment in the sense of political opposition to Israeli policy in the Occupied Territories remains high, and while politically charged propaganda to this end is readily available and visible in the form of literature, I have very rarely seen a hatred of Jews as such.

I will agree with filtherton's assessment that every society, including post-modern, urban, Western society is premised on a host of assumptions and biases that become a part of our identity. At the same time, there is a qualitative difference between our own biases in favor of Western or American values - whatever those may be - and the willful deemphasis of critical thinking in Gulf education. In part this is an attempt by rulers to pre-empt the rise of any dissent. In addition, the specific promulgation of anti-Semitism and the promotion of a strong Islamic identity boosts the rulers' ability to legitimize themselves as defenders of Islam against perceived Western or Zionist encroachment.

To end on a caveat, these ideas are intended by way of explanation, not apology. I agree that the indoctrination of children with these sorts of views is both morally reprehensible and highly dangerous. What I am more uncomfortable with is the blame laid on an entire society or civilization for processes over which ordinary people have little control.
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