{"id":2646,"date":"2009-06-20T22:17:38","date_gmt":"2009-06-20T22:17:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/victorhanson.com.108-166-28-151.mdgnetworks.com\/wordpress\/?p=2646"},"modified":"2013-03-20T22:18:23","modified_gmt":"2013-03-20T22:18:23","slug":"criticism-and-conciliation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/criticism-and-conciliation\/","title":{"rendered":"Criticism and Conciliation"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Raymond Ibrahim<\/p>\n

National Review Online<\/em><\/p>\n

Though he early indicated that this would be an honest, heart-to-heart talk \u2014 “we must say openly the things we hold in our hearts, and that too often are said only behind closed doors” and “let me speak as clearly and plainly as I can about some specific issues that I believe we must finally confront together” \u2014 Obama did not follow through.<\/p>\n

A heart-to-heart talk revealing what is “said only behind closed doors” would have included any number of issues pitting the Islamic world on a collision course with the West \u2014 from that business of jihad and enmity for infidels, to sharia law and dhimmi status of non-Muslim minorities, etc. \u2014 issues that have led to a majority of Americans having a\u00a0negative view of the Muslim world<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Instead, for every mild admonishment directed at the Islamic world, Obama immediately followed by several admissions of American mistakes, including reactions to 9\/11, which “in some cases, led us to act contrary to our ideals.” That’s to say nothing of the constant adulation he offered the Muslim world.<\/p>\n

This double-standard is typified by the way he equivocated on the topic of Muslim persecution vis-\u00e0-vis religious minorities, while repeatedly gushing over how he’s helping American Muslims fulfill their\u00a0zakat<\/em>\u00a0obligation and Muslim women wear the hijab vis-\u00e0-vis a non-friendly American system.<\/p>\n

All fine platitudes, including his talk of “hope” and “change” (yes, he managed to sneak those hackneyed words in, forgetting he’s not talking to Americans) \u2014 but will any of it be effective? Probably not \u2014 since he did not have the heart-to-heart he promised, but, once again, sought to placate and humor, under the delusion that the problem between the Islamic world and the West revolves around temporal issues that can be easily ameliorated.<\/p>\n

In the long run, of course, nothing Obama said today makes any difference. After all, he \u2014 and the naive notion he embodies that all conflict is a product of “misunderstanding” and the need for “mutual respect” \u2014 is but a dot in that long continuum of stark history, one that he neither addressed nor understands.<\/p>\n

In short, we need more than platitudes, or even a “blessing” \u2014 the Arabic meaning of Barack’s name \u2014 to make a difference. We need the heart-to-heart Obama promised but failed to deliver.<\/p>\n

Raymond Ibrahim<\/a>\u00a0is the associate director of the Middle East Forum and the author of The Al Qaeda Reader, translations of religious texts and propaganda<\/strong><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Raymond Ibrahim National Review Online Though he early indicated that this would be an honest, heart-to-heart talk \u2014 “we must say openly the things we hold in our hearts, and that too often are said only behind closed doors” and “let me speak as clearly and plainly as I can about some specific issues […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[227,715],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p466Sb-GG","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2581,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/obamas-puzzling-approach-to-the-muslim-world\/","url_meta":{"origin":2646,"position":0},"title":"Obama’s Puzzling Approach to the Muslim World","author":"victorhanson","date":"July 26, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim PJ Media President Barack Obama and I have one thing in common shared by few Americans: we were brought up by at least one parent \u2014 biological or step is irrelevant \u2014 who was born and raised in an Islamic milieu. 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Invited on \"Morning Joe\" last Tuesday to discuss Christian persecution, the hosts turned the focus to interrogating Graham on whether he thought President Barack Obama was Christian or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Islam"","block_context":{"text":"Islam","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/islam\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5377,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/our-ailing-meritocracy\/","url_meta":{"origin":2646,"position":2},"title":"Our Ailing Meritocracy","author":"victorhanson","date":"February 15, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Merit takes second place to gender and religion by Raymond Ibrahim Private Papers When all the political sophistry is said and done, there is no denying that the claim to fame of the Democratic Party\u2019s two superstar candidates, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, is that the one is a woman,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Raymond Ibrahim"","block_context":{"text":"Raymond Ibrahim","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/our-contributors\/raymond-ibrahim\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6219,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/crucified-again-venn-institute-interviews-raymond-ibrahim\/","url_meta":{"origin":2646,"position":3},"title":"Crucified Again — Venn Institute Interviews Raymond Ibrahim","author":"victorhanson","date":"July 18, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Raymond Ibrahim [Note: The following interview was conducted by the\u00a0Venn Institute\u00a0with Raymond Ibrahim] Raymond Ibrahim is a widely published author, public speaker, and Middle East and Islam expert, and author most recently of\u00a0Crucified Again: Exposing Islam\u2019s New War on Christians. Follow him on Twitter\u00a0@RaymondIbrahim5 Venn Institute: Most Americans see persecution\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Raymond Ibrahim"","block_context":{"text":"Raymond Ibrahim","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/our-contributors\/raymond-ibrahim\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Crucified-Again-Cover.jpg?fit=797%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Crucified-Again-Cover.jpg?fit=797%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Crucified-Again-Cover.jpg?fit=797%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Crucified-Again-Cover.jpg?fit=797%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2349,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/why-muslim-charities-fund-the-jihad\/","url_meta":{"origin":2646,"position":4},"title":"Why Muslim Charities Fund the Jihad","author":"victorhanson","date":"August 16, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim PJ Media From what American schoolchildren are being\u00a0taught\u00a0[1] by their teachers to what Americans are being told by their presidents, concepts unique to Islam are nowadays almost always \u201cWesternized.\u201d Whether the product of naivety, arrogance, or downright disingenuousness, this phenomenon has resulted in epistemic (and thus endemic)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Raymond Ibrahim"","block_context":{"text":"Raymond Ibrahim","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/our-contributors\/raymond-ibrahim\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1213,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/the-ultimate-lesson-of-egypts-fake-photo\/","url_meta":{"origin":2646,"position":5},"title":"The Ultimate Lesson of Egypt’s Fake Photo","author":"victorhanson","date":"October 19, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim PJ Media One of the most\u00a0widely circulated\u00a0newspapers in the world, Egypt's\u00a0Al Ahram, recently ran a\u00a0fake picture\u00a0depicting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak walking in front of US President Barack Obama and a pack of other Mideast leaders. 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