A Lost Pope, A Gracious Rabbi, A Dour Shaikh

Did the Pope Change the Subject in the Middle East?

Pope Benedict's speechwriters slipped, and in the process handed Arab, Iranian, and other assorted Moslem leaders a welcome change of subject. Browsing through the Arab media, it is clear that everybody has rushed to get in on the act. Potentates, academics, fundamentalists, pious people, secularists, former communists and others. The only Arab newspaper I could find that took a pass on the issue was the mouthpiece of the Iraqi Communist Party. It is always good to be on the right side of an issue, especially if everybody else is. In the Middle East it is called jumping on the lead caravan- but watch out for that hump.

Even Rabbi Shlomo Amar, chief Sephardic Rabbi in Israel, graciously sent a letter to Shaikh al-Qardhawi, a top Sunni Moslem honcho, expressing sympathy and his regret at the Pope's slip. The dour Shaikh, perhaps not appreciating the humor and ever suspicious of dastardly Jewish conspiracies, declined to respond to the letter.

Most protesters have not seen a copy of the Pope's actual speech. This reminds me of the furor over Slaman Rushdie's Satanic Verses. True, that book had outrageous symbolisms that could only enrage the pious Moslem. Yet most people whom I knew at the time who were loudest in condemning it had not read it, and many of them were academic types. They also claimed to have no intention of ever reading it. (Disclaimer: I did smuggle a copy back into my undisclosed Middle East location at that time. Unlike Clinton, I inhaled it and I enjoyed it- In fact I read it twice, although I also understood the cause of all the rage at the time).

As I said, this furor has been a (welcome?) change of subject. Even in distracted Baghdad there were protests. Unfortunately it did not induce the Jihadist homicide bombers or those who kill on identity to take a sabbatical- not even for the sake of Islamic solidarity in the face of the world wide web of infidel conspiracies to undermine the faith and distract our wise leaders, may they live forever, from the task of serving their peoples diligently.

Cheers
Mohammed