A freedom reality check

It is illegal to be Jewish (or Christian, or anything but Muslim) in Saudi Arabia. It is deadly to be a Muslim apostate in Afghanistan. It's fatal to be Christian in Indonesia. With scattered exceptions, Jews were long ago evicted from Iraq. I won't belabor my point: Jews (and other non-Muslims) have no freedom or safety in the Islamic world. Of course, with all the world's press (or, should I say, the world's Leftist press) concentrated in Israel, the message that's getting out is that Israel has completely destroyed any freedom or safety for Muslims within Israel's borders. Certainly, the 30,000 Muslims who freely gathered at a soccer stadium in Israel seem to think so:

More than 30,000 Arab-Israeli Muslims participated in a massive protest Saturday night at the Kfar Kana soccer stadium marking the anniversary of the prophet Muhammad’s birth.

The event was organized by the Islamic Movement, headed by Sheikh Sheikh Raed Salah. A huge stage in the shape of a heart was set up at the center of the site, and the words “Prophet Muhammad” were written across the center of it, Israel’s leading newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported Sunday.

The event was broadcast live on television throughout the Middle East and elsewhere by Al-Jazeera, and Sheikh Salah addressed the Arab world, calling on them to "save Jerusalem from the hands of the Jews," who, he said, were collecting millions of dollars to reinforce their grip on the city.

“Jerusalem will soon be the capital of the world Islamic nation, and it will be governed by a caliph,” Salah said. “The Six Days War hasn’t ended since 1967, and it continues in Jerusalem,” he added.

According to the Muslim leader, the millions of dollars invested by Israel in Jerusalem will be for naught.“They want to build a temple instead of the al-Aqsa mosque, and that will never happen,” he said, and appealed to the Arab world to establish a fund to “save Jerusalem” from the Jews and restore it as an exclusively Arab, Palestinian and Muslim city.

Regarding the Palestinian situation, Salah expounded at length about the Israeli siege of the Palestinian territories, especially since Hamas’ victory in the parliamentary elections.“They want to starve our people. Will you let them?” Salah demanded of his audience. [Emphasis mine.]

I checked where Kfar Kana is. Although it is an Arab village, it is within Israel proper and is, in fact, a major archeological site. That is, it's under Israel's mandate, and it was Israel that allowed this perfect example of freedom of speech to take place.

I hope I'm not the only one struck by the irony of Israel playing host to a major rally calling for her destruction. Or by the fact that she is being castigated for tyranny by people who have their allegiance with the Saudis, Afghanis, Iraqis, etc.

UPDATE: Welcome, Little Green Football readers. I would, of course, be delighted if you took some time to check out the rest of my blog.

Talking to Technorati: Israel, Arabs, Muslims, Islam