Muslim leaders are calling for more rage at the Pope—in fact, an entire day of rage, this Friday (oddly, the day of worship for the Religion of Peace™). ABC News, of course, does their best to whitewash the story and portray jihadi cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi as a moderate who advocates “civility and dignity.”

LGF has plenty of background information on al-Qaradawi and his support for holy war, suicide bombing, Jew-hatred, and Islamic supremacy.

But don’t worry, kids. ABC says it’s Anger, Not Jihad. (Hat tip: Snapped Shot.)

This one is a classic of willful ignorance and multicultural doublespeak.

LONDON, Sept. 18, 2006 —�Three words suddenly have a lot of Westerners worried and, it must be said, likely making some wrong assumptions about modern Islam. “Yaum al Ghadab” is Arabic for “Day of Rage.”

When the Qatari Islamic scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi called for a Day of Rage this Friday in response to Pope Benedict XVI’s remarks about Muslims, it might have sounded like a call for street violence.

BUT if there is trouble Friday, and there could well be, it will not be because of language but because of what some people choose to do after they have answered the call for “Yaum al Ghadab.”

Political manipulation of protest crowds is not a uniquely Islamic idea. It happens in the West, as well.

But why do Islamic leaders use what many Westerners regard as inflammatory language?

Because it is not inflammatory, at least not in the context of Islamic culture. “We must not try to interpret Islamic terms and cultural signals by using our Western ideas,” said Fawaz Gerges, a professor in the department of international affairs and Middle Eastern studies at Sarah Lawrence College, and an ABC News consultant. Gerges pointed out that in Islamic culture “ghadab” means anger or frustration. A day of rage does not mean a day of jihad (war), added Gerges.

Mimi Daher, a Muslim woman working in the ABC Jerusalem bureau, explained that the Grand Multi in Jerusalem reflected this cultural mindset today when he said, “Muslims have to express their anger. Was the pope expecting Muslims to clap their hands to him while hurting their faith and prophet? Of course not. We call on Muslims throughout the world to react in a disciplined manner, according to our Islamic faith.”

“Disciplined manner” is a repeated theme among Islamic moderate leaders who encourage people to protest. As Gerges reminded me, when the cleric al-Qaradawi called for a day of rage, he stressed repeatedly that it should be civilized, urging Muslims to behave with civility and dignity. “We must show the world that we are still civilized even when we are aggrieved,” he said.

UPDATE at 9/21/06 10:22:01 am:

Here’s some background information on ABC’s “consultant” for this story, Fawaz Gerges: Who Is Fawaz Gerges?Another problem Mideast scholar.

Gerges consistently downplays the threat of militant Islam in general and Osama bin Laden in particular. One year before 9/11, he found that Osama bin Laden was “exceptionally isolated,” and “preoccupied mainly with survival, not attacking American targets.” He also ridiculed “exaggerated rhetoric” in Washington about the Bin Laden threat. Al Qaeda was no longer more than a “shadow of its former self,” Gerges had the misfortune of writing, as bin Laden was “confined to Afghanistan, constantly on the run,” and, “hemmed in by the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt.” Not just that, but his “resources are depleting rapidly.” Gerges drew the bizarre conclusion that the U.S. government must have its reasons for “inflating his importance.” Six months before 9/11, Gerges publicly ridiculed what he called “the terror industry” — his term for specialists voicing concerns about militant Islam — for fomenting an “irrational fear of terrorism by focusing too much on far-fetched horrible scenarios.”

And he’s still at it today.

UPDATE at 9/21/06 11:51:02 am:

In 2004, Newsweek also had a piece whitewashing al-Qaradawi, but they were forced to issue a correction acknowledging his extremism after the truth was publicized by LGF and Allahpundit: lgf: Newsweek Corrects ‘Moderate’ Gaffe.

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