The president of Harvard invoked "context" when asked if antisemitism would be tolerated on her campus. So did now-former president of the University of Pennsylvania.
Israel haters love to invoke "context" to exonerate terror acts. They love saying that "history didn't begin on October 7." No matter how heinous the acts of Palestinian terrorists, they say, it is always a response to something that Israel did that was worse. Never mind that the IDF never engaged in mass rape, in gleeful burning of bodies, in suicide bombings of pizza shops, in putting powerful explosives on city buses, intentionally targeting civilians.
Jews are given no such luxury. If the IDF unfortunately kills civilians while trying to destroy Hamas, there is no "context" allowed, neither to October 7 nor to other wars nor to Israel's history and certainly not to Jewish history or the Holocaust or mentioning Arab antisemitism that preceded "Jewish colonialism."
At an American Muslims for Palestine convention over Thanksgiving weekend, there was an entire session - Session 3 - meant to invoke "context." It was called "Gaza in Context: The Genocide and Signs of Major Transformations in the Region."
Nihad Awad, the co-founder and executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), was one of the speakers at the convention. MEMRI captured what he said:
The people of Gaza only decided to break the siege, the walls of the concentration camp, on October 7. And yes, I was happy to see people breaking the siege and throwing down the shackles of their own land, and walk free into their land, which they were not allowed to walk in. And yes, the people of Gaza have the right to self-defense, have the right to defend themselves, and yes, Israel, as an occupying power, does not have that right to self-defense.Gaza became the liberation source, the inspiration for people.Gaza transformed many minds around the world, including people who are not Muslim. What kind of faith do these people have? They are thankful, they are not afraid.Israel did not scare them, because they knew their heaven is in Gaza, and if they would like to die, they will go to another heaven. That is the faith of the people of Gaza. That is why Gaza and the people of Gaza were able to transform everyone who is watching – they have learned from these people. Those who felt bad for Gaza – they don't understand the equation. Those who thought that Gazans are less than those who can help them, they are mistaken. They are mistaken. The Gazans were victorious.
The media took notice of the head of the major American Islamic organization saying he was "happy" to see the mass murders, the rapes, the burnings of people alive and the kidnappings - all of which were quite well known by the time of this speech.
In a statement Thursday, Awad said that he condemned violence against all civilians and all forms of bigotry and claimed his comments were taken out of context.“What I actually said while discussing international law: Ukrainians, Palestinians and other occupied people have the right to defend themselves and escape occupation by just and legal means, but targeting civilians is never an acceptable means of doing so, which is why I have again and again condemned the violence against Israeli civilians on Oct. 7th,” he said.
The only tweet that I can find where Nihad Awad even hints at condemning the October 7 attacks is where he whines that in his interviews everyone asks him if he condemns them. National CAIR never issued a statement condemning Hamas, for these or any other crimes, ever.
But was his speech at AMP was taken out of context? Was he really discussing international law and Ukrainians and other "occupied people"? Was his "happiness" divorced from what Hamas actually did?
I'd love to hear the context!
Unfortunately, the video of Session 3 has been taken down from the AMP YouTube channel. We have the introductory session, sessions 1-2, sessions 4-15, but no session 3!
If Awad's words were taken out of context, he should be eager to allow everyone to hear the context for themselves!
I guess this is a case where "context" is not on their side. The actual video is probably worse. And the only context we have for this is that Awad is an unrepentant Jew-hater who founded an organization that has had links to Hamas from its start, and is one of the most antisemitic organizations in the United States today.
There's the missing context - the context that Nihad Awad, CAIR and today's Israel haters do not want you to think about.
