‘My hostility to Islam is rational’

Thus the title to another anti-Islam article by Geoffrey Alderman, who claims that Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri are motivated by a hatred of non-Muslims that is inspired by the Qur’an. “Of course, these views do not reflect the totality of Islamic thought on infidels, Jews and the West”, writes Alderman. “But they appear to mirror an important part of that thinking, enthusiastically embraced by Muslims the world over.”

Jewish Chronicle, 5 October 2007

Yes, and it’s not difficult to predict what Alderman’s reaction would be if the Muslim press published an article entitled “My hostility to Judaism is rational”, which argued that Baruch Goldstein took his ideological inspiration from the Torah and concluded: “Of course, these views do not reflect the totality of Jewish thought on Palestinians, Arabs and the Muslim world. But they appear to mirror an important part of that thinking, enthusiastically embraced by Jews the world over.”