The following dispatch, recorded and translated by MEMRI’s TV Monitor Project, are excerpts from a show on Saudi Arabia’s IQRA TV Channel of September 26, 2004, which featured “man on the street” interviews about feelings about Jews.
The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) is an independent, non-profit organization that translates and analyzes the media of the Middle East.
Interviewer: ‘Would you, as a human being, be willing to shake hands with a Jew?’
Respondent 1:
“Of course I wouldn’t be willing to shake hands with a Jew, for religious reasons and because of what is happening now in Palestine, and for many reasons that don’t allow me to shake a Jew’s hand.”
Respondent 2:
“No. Because the Jews are eternal enemies. The murderous Jews violate all agreements. I can’t shake hands with someone who I know is full of hatred towards me.”
Respondent 3:
“No, the Jew is an enemy. How can I shake my enemy’s hand?”
Interviewer: “Would you refuse to shake hands with a Jew?”
Respondent 4:
“Of course, so I wouldn’t have to consider amputating my hand afterwards.”
Interviewer: ‘If a child asks you ‘Who are the Jews,’ what would you answer?’
Respondent 5:
“The enemies of Allah and His Prophet.”
Respondent 6:
“The Jew is the occupier of our lands.”
Respondent 7:
“The murderers of prophets. Our eternal enemies, of course.”
Respondent 2:
“The murderers of prophets, that’s it.”
Respondent 8:
“Allah’s wrath is upon them, as the Koran says. Allah’s wrath is upon them and they all stray from the path of righteousness. They are the filthiest people on the face of this earth because they care only about themselves – not the Christians, not the Muslims, nor any other religion.
“The solution is clear, not only to me but to everyone. If only [the Muslims] declared Jihad, we would see who stays home. We have a few countries. There is one country with a population of over 60-70 million people.
If we let them only march, with no weapons even, they would completely trample the Jews, they would turn them into rotten carcasses under their feet.
There is another country that donated money, saying, ‘I am behind you, I’ll support you with weapons, just wage [Jihad].’
“But the cowardice inside us, deep within our hearts, was instilled by the Arab leaders, may Allah forgive them. They breast-fed us with it from the day we were born to this very day it has grown with us.”
