Willful denial of Jihadist goals is a psychosis

Today, as every day, many prominent Muslims are calling for the utter destruction of Israel as well as Jihad against the West:

Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat- Supreme Guide of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood (MB), Muhammad Mahdi 'Akif, called on all Muslims to "help the resistance in all its forms," both in Lebanon and in the Palestinian areas, describing the current "official" Arab position as "shameful." .

The Islamist leader praised Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the Palestinian areas, and Hezbollah in Lebanon, calling on his followers to prepare themselves to fight "the Zionist gangs." According to 'Akif, Israel was "planted within the Palestinian lands by the Western crusaders, to perform as representatives of the Western superpowers headed by the United States."

TEHRAN –– Iran's hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday the answer to the conflict in south Lebanon was the "elimination of the Zionist regime," ISNA agency reported.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei blasted United States policy in the Middle East and warned of an impending Muslim “jihad”, or holy war, against the West.

“Today, it is clear for everyone that the aggression against Lebanon was a premeditated U.S.-Zionist action as a key step in the path of dominating the Middle East and the Islamic world”, Khamenei said. His comments were reported in the official news agency IRNA and aired in part on state television on Wednesday.

“Today, Muslim nations more than ever despise the U.S.”, he said.

“With its support of the Zionists crimes and criminals and its blatant aggression against the rights of Muslim nations, the U.S. regime must be prepared for a hard slap and a destructive punch by Muslims”, Khamenei said.

The mainstream media reports these things occasionally, but always in a sort of secondary, backhanded way, in one of the bottom paragraphs and glossed over as if it is not really news when the "supreme leader" of a nation threatens the entire Western world.

The liberals read things like this and think, "well, it is just rhetoric, just Arab bluster, it is not serious." No matter how many terror attacks occur against the West, no matter how many 9/11s and Balis and Madrids and Londons and Bombays, no matter how clear the Islamists make their position that they are not distinguishing between Western liberals and Western conservatives, and that we are all targets for death - the left remains in utter denial. If they are forced to confront real terror, they are unable to see that the jihadists are to blame for their actions.

Because the truth is hard to take. It is easier to belittle those who see evil for what it is, those who see that Lebanon is not a regional spat over land but a spark of a global conflagration between Islamists and the Western world. It is hard to accept that hundreds of millions of people want to see you dead or subjugated - even if you accept that fewer than half of worldwide Islam subscribes to these views.

It is an understandable psychological defense mechanism, to try to take the easy way out. If only Israel would agree to all Arab demands then the Arabs won't bother us, they say. If only we do what they say, it won't affect my life right now today. The direct jihadist threats are not to be taken seriously.

Because to believe the threats means that something must be done about it, and all the other justifications for appeasement and blaming of Israel and US policy is an intellectual equivalent of hiding one's head in the sand.

If there is one thing that Jews have learned through history, it is that if someone says they want to kill you, take them seriously. It is a lesson that the "enlightened" West needs to learn very badly.