Horowitz Did Us A Favor

If I understand Anthony’s arguments, he is saying that

1. (some) Arabs, angered over Israel’s injustices, incorrectly associate all Jews and all Americans with support for these injustices, and as a result direct their hatred and violence towards these groups
2. Horowitz makes the same incorrect association by assuming that all people who fail to condemn terrorist organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah are in league with the terrorists.
3. Therefore, just as terrorist organizations are wrong to target all Jews and Americans, Horowitz is wrong to associate terrorist sympathizers with terrorist organizations.

I’ll try to outline my problems with this:

First, the root cause of Muslim extremist violence towards Jews and Christians isn’t Israel, it’s theology. The Barbary war in the Mediterranean exemplifies this- during the prelude to the war, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson met with an ambassador from Tripoli in London, who told them “it was written in the Koran, that all Nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon whoever they could find and to make Slaves of all they could take as prisoners, and that every [Muslim] who should be slain in battle was sure to go to Paradise.” The 1797 treaty emphasized this, as the American diplomats were careful to emphasize that the USA was not, in fact, a strictly ‘Christian’ nation, hoping to get better terms.

Second, the irrationality of their motives is irrelevant. For the young lady in the video, it is likely that she is influenced by the situation in Israel, as she was sporting a PLO scarf. But she not only failed to condemn Hamas and Hezbollah, she expressed support for their stated goal of killing all Jews. The fact that her reasoning may be faulty (i.e., all Jews support Israel’s injustices, which Anthony assumed was her reasoning) doesn’t change the fact that she is a terrorist sympathizer. (Anthony- would you say that some terrorist action against Israel is legitimate?)

Third, as for MSA’s relationship with the Muslim Brotherhood, I don’t know and I don’t care. I believe this was Horowitz’s point in changing the question on her- even if there is no official relationship between MSA and the Brotherhood, they share the same ideology.

Fourth- how does Horowitz demonstrate anger towards the Middle East?

Fifth- do you have an historical example of a ‘better relationship’ between a Muslim nation resulting in less violence?

Sixth- “But can we win this complex war by being more extreme and having large bullets, or do we win by rising above these irrational arguments of hatred?” My point exactly. The fact that we see their arguments as irrational is immaterial- and they don’t care if we’re persuaded by their logic.

Seventh- Your p.s.s.- There is no evidence of Horowitz hating all Arabs, and if he did, I would gladly condemn that sentiment.

To conclude, I posted the video on YouTube because it demonstrates that even well-off Americans in higher education are not free from extremist philosophies, and I was impressed with the way that Horowitz turned the question back on the girl. She was arguing that the MSA has no connections with extremist groups, and by the end admitted that she wanted the killing of all Jews.

Horowitz’s question didn’t pose a fallacy- either you oppose the extremism of groups like Hamas, or you support them. You write tongue-in-cheek “Do you condemn Hezebolla? Do you Hate Hamas? Because if you don't you're a terrorist and should be targeted as one,” but this makes sense to me. If you are unwilling to condemn a terrorist organization (and remember- she went beyond this, to express support), you are at least a sympathizer.