counter to their hopes

Regarding some photos I asked people their opinions of which depicted demonstrating Muslims threatening Europe and all non-Muslims with another Holocaust, beheadings, and other such violent cries of vile and insulting nature for the "insult to Islam" of the cartoons publish in the Danish newspaper. One particularly "classy" sign read "Europe is the cancer; Islam is the answer." Jewish comedians are funnier, but considering that levity isn't a Muslim thing, a rhyme like that isn't too bad from the humour angle. Other signs had phrases whose words should not be repeated and so I shan't do so here, but if you want to see the photos and haven't already drop me an email or leave me a comment. I received the following comment which poked at me and I felt compelled to share. "The apparent inability [of the Muslims] to detect the logical implications [of their actions and comments] is pretty amazing. The worst part of this sort of thing [the demonstrations and riots] is that it just leads to escalation of rhetoric, and polarization and hardening of attitudes. As a colleague pointed out, if people really want to get rid of the Jews, it would be much more effective to stop threatening them and let them assimilate."

YetiThinker sent me comments too, but he promises a post of his own on the subject so I shan't spoil it.

Recently at Northwestern University there was a whole hubbub surrounding the anti-Semitic comments of Arthur Butz, a member of the electrical enginnering faculty. The electrical engineering, computer engineering, and religion faculty all wrote letters calling for his resignation and decrying his lack of scholarship. The students of the Kellogg School of Management wanted to get him fired, which though many others feel that way the university feels they cannot do such a thing, officially because it would set an otherwise poor precedent for other schools. (One might wonder if it is because there is a self-hating Jew as the university's president and he is surrounded with staff in the administration who are Jew-hating non-Jews... but oh, well. We shouldn't dwell on that idea.) Anyway, that being said, one thing that has always made me laugh a bit is that, when things like this happen, the more virulent the attack, the more likely the Jewish community is to bond and strengthen. Perhaps these rascists, Holocaust-deniers, and anti-Semites are doing their part to help and strengthen the Jewish people... counter to their hopes.