Historical note to “Afghan imams wage political battle against U.S.,” published 2/17/11 in the Washington Post: The small and brutally oppressed Afghan Jewish community was liquidated by 1950, shortly after the creation of Israel. According to a 1950 report, the Jews of Afghanistan were subjected to governmental anti-Jewish bias, and the religious zeal of local Muslim populations, right until their final exodus (typically escaping to India, and thence to Israel). This ongoing discrimination included their public humiliation during collection of the Koranic poll tax or jizya–the infidel tax paid in lieu of being slain:

…the Jews in Afghanistan are still subject to all the forms of discrimination which rigorous adherence to the Koran [9:29] requires. They have to pay the jizyah poll-tax imposed upon infidels, and the payment is accompanied by humiliating ceremonies

Theological/historical note: Koranic references to Jews as apes (2:65; 7:166), or apes and pigs (5:60), have been invoked since the advent of Islam. Just prior to orchestrating the mass execution of the adult males from the besieged Medinan Jewish tribe the Banu Qurayza (and distributing their women, children, and possessions as “booty” for the Muslims), Islam’s prophet, Muhammad, according to his earliest Muslim biographer, Ibn Ishaq (d. 767-770), addressed these Jews with menacing, hateful derision: “You brothers of monkeys, has God disgraced you and brought His vengeance upon you?” (Another early Muslim biographer of Muhammad Ibn Sa’d (d. 845), reports Muhammad stated, “brothers of monkeys and pigs, fear me, fear me!”). Many subsequent historical examples from diverse Islamic societies during a continuum of over 1100 years–the 9th century through the present–demonstrate that this Koranic motif has been employed against Jews as an outward sign of their physical humiliation, and more significantly, in polemical incitement against Jews, or odes celebrating their having been disgraced and slaughtered.

Below are extracts from the largely res ipsa loqitur Thursday February 17, 2011 Washington Post story.

Will the policy implications of the Jew- and broader non-Muslim infidel hatred that pervades irredentist Muslim societies such as Afghanistan ever penetrate the hubristic stupidity of our policymaking elites?

Under the weathered blue dome of Kabul’s largest mosque, a distinguished preacher, Enayatullah Balegh, pledged support for “any plan that can defeat” foreign military forces in Afghanistan, denouncing what he called “the political power of these children of Jews.” … Balegh, the preacher, who is also a professor of Islamic law at Kabul University, said in an interview. “I don’t think even a single Afghan is happy with the presence of the foreign military forces here.”

…Enayatullah Karimi said to dozens gathered at the Ayub Khan Mina mosque. “The Jews and Christians are training some Islamic scholars. They have beards and wear turbans just like us.” “The Jews and Christians are our enemies,” Karimi told the crowd. “No doubt about it.”

…Across town, a firebrand imam named Habibullah was even more blunt.

“Let these jackals leave this country,” the preacher, who uses only one name, declared of foreign troops. “Let these brothers of monkeys, gorillas and pigs leave this country. The people of Afghanistan should determine their own fate.”

It was a comment by Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) – calling for permanent U.S. bases in Afghanistan – that set Habibullah, the firebrand imam, off. “There are some nut cases with pro-West and pro-infidel ideas who are urging President Karzai to accept the Americans’ offer,” he said last Friday. “But no matter how well protected these people are in the arms of foreigners, they should know that God will take revenge on them and turn their bones and flesh into dried spiderweb powder.” He grew increasingly agitated, at times shouting into the microphone. The Afghans who support the U.S. troops, he said, “don’t have the patriotism of street animals.” “We brothers are Muslims and worship one God,” he concluded. “Let us hug each other.” Two elderly men in the front row nodded in appreciation. “God bless you,” they told Habibullah. “God bless you.”

Not to worry. Uncle Sam’s (Sucker’s) largesse will solve a millennium of Jew and infidel-hatred, and the related historic use of mosques to foment and physically supply murderous jihadism:

The United States has also sought to temper the mullahs’ rhetoric. The U.S. Embassy in Kabul has spent millions of dollars to fly mullahs to the United States and other countries to meet Muslims outside Afghanistan in the hope of encouraging a more moderate stance.

The U.S. military funds mosque refurbishment projects and is partnering with the Afghan religious affairs ministry to facilitate building an electronic database of mosques. A senior U.S. military official said dozens of mosques in key Afghan districts are used as “command-and-control nodes” for the Taliban, places where fighters can take refuge and stash weapons.

“The Taliban has used that network of mosques to extend their message,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to freely discuss U.S. intelligence information. “Many, many mosques are directly linked back to the madrassas [in Pakistan] and teachings of the Taliban.”