22 May 2007
Israel's ambassador to the United Nations in New York, Dan Gillerman, has accused moderate Muslim and Arab leaders of standing by in "eerie silence" while Islamic extremists terrorize people around the world. "We live in a world where when Christians kill Muslims, it's a crusade. When Jews kill Muslims, it's a massacre. When Muslims kill Muslims, it's the weather channel. Nobody cares," Dan Gillerman told reporters at a press lunch at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York. Gillerman said moderate leaders from Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt had not done enough to stem violence between Muslims. He cited recent incidents in Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt, Kenya, Jordan, Turkey, Algeria and Morocco. Gillerman compared the muted reaction to the uproar triggered across the Muslim world last year over Danish newspaper cartoons picturing the Prophet Muhammad.
"Hundreds of Muslims are killed by Muslims and you don't see a single Muslim leader that stands up and says enough is enough," the ambassador said, adding: "What we are witnessing today truly is a clash of civilization, in the singular... because most of the horror, most of the bloodshed, most of the terror and most of the killings are within Islam. And the vast majority of victims are Muslims."
