Yusuf al-Qaradawi endorses the Holocaust, The Guardian endorses him as an Egyptian democrat

H/T Harry’s Place and Just Journalism

In a previous post on the leading Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader, Yusuf al-Qaradawi, we failed to note a speech he gave in 2009 where he argued, to a rapt audience, that Hitler’s annihilation of the Jews should be seen as Allah’s punishment for their evil ways.

Here’s the quote, and you can see the video below:

‘Throughout history, Allah has imposed upon the (Jews) people who would punish them for their corruption. The last punishment was carried out by Hitler. By means of all the things he did to them – even though they exaggerated this issue – he managed to put them in their place. This was divine punishment for them. Allah willing, the next time will be at the hand of the believers.’

But, it’s all cool, because the Guardian yesterday blogged the following:

‘Qaradawi…who was banned from entering the United States, had previously visited the UK in 2004 at the invitation of the London mayor, Ken Livingstone, sparking protests from Jewish groups and gay people, who regard him as anti-Semitic and homophobic.

‘However, he is also arguably the most influential Sunni Muslim cleric in the world and has regularly spoken in the past in support of democracy.’ [emphasis mine]

So, in the moral world inhabited by the Guardian, since he’s popular in the (Sunni Muslim) “Arab Street” how bad could he possibly be?

Further, it seems, Qaradawi’s endorsement of the Holocaust simply isn’t sufficient to confirm with any degree of certainty that he’s an anti-Semite and shouldn’t in any way detract from his democratic credentials.

(Also, see this profile of Qaradawi by The Investigative Project.)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HStliOnVl6Q]

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