If you’ve read any of our entries about Abou Jahjah, the leader of the violence-prone, confrontational Arab European League in Belgium, this very sympathetic article about him at the Washington Post will come as a bit of a surprise. One of the disheartening things about our current situation is the willingness … no, the eagerness of Western media to whitewash and make excuses for the actions of intolerant, aggressive thugs like Jahjah, and here is a prime example: An Arab Activist Forces Belgians to Look in the Mirror. (Hat tip: Joel Nickelson.)

The face of Abou Jahjah, 31, has flashed across Belgian television screens often in recent months. Dressed in sharply cut suits, he gives a fresh voice to the rage felt by many Arabs in this country and across Europe. He is also forcing Belgium into a deeper conversation about whether the country welcomes immigrants and, more broadly, just who is a Belgian.

There it is again, that seething, unexplained “Arab rage” that is described as if it were a force of nature, not subject to any human laws of morality or behavior. No action is so loathsome, no crime so heinous, that it can’t be attributed to “Arab rage,” absolving the perpetrators of responsibility.

And besides, he may be filled with rage, but he’s wearing a sharp suit. Contrast this fawning, somewhat patronizing description with the way his opposition is portrayed:

One of Abou Jahjah’s biggest critics is Belgium’s third-largest political party, Vlaams Blok. Like maverick parties elsewhere in Europe, it is tapping sentiment that newcomers are overpowering local society and bringing a rise in street crime, and perhaps terrorism. Across the continent, these feelings appear to have grown since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.

In other words, if you criticize people like Jahjah, you are a reactionary maverick. And the worst crime of all to our self-hating liberal media—you actually see the September 11 attacks as a wake-up call, instead of a golden opportunity to demonstrate your superior understanding and tolerance.

“Our cities have changed into, well, Islamic neighborhoods, with mosques instead of churches, like it’s some kind of Islamic state,” said a spokesman for Vlaams Blok, Philippe Vander Sande. He denied the party was racist.

Oh sure, he can deny it all he likes. There’s no fooling the Washington Post!

And what would an article about a rejectionist Arab thug be without a nasty, unsubtle threat?

Abou Jahjah said that his Nov. 26 arrest, along with 160 youths allegedly involved in rioting, sent the wrong message to the Muslim community. “Some people in this organization are, shall we say, less patient than I am. So if they eliminate me, what will you have?”