Proof that a smart man can also be an idiot

I’ve always been a great fan of History and it’s handmaiden, Archeology. And, like so many History buffs, I have a strong interest in Ancient Egypt, whose civilization was old while my European ancestors were still living in crude villages.

So, it’s with some distress -though, sadly, with little surprise- that I learn that someone whose work I’ve admired, Dr. Zahi Hawass, a renowned archaeologist and an Egyptian vice-minister of culture, is a flaming antisemite. Just listen to his own words:

Transcript.

Anyone else get a “Peter Lorre” vibe from that weaselly host? The guy probably hangs around schoolyards.

Of course, it’s neither uncommon nor unique to Islam for intelligent, well-educated people to hold hateful, false beliefs. Many devout Nazis and Communists also held advanced degrees, and to this day one can find advocates of “Jewish conspiracy” theories in American academia.

But Islam takes antisemitism to whole new levels of respectability, hardwired as it is throughout the religion, including the Qur’an, itself. Dr. Hawass is just repeating what “everyone knows,” including from non-Islamic hate-tracts such as The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which was even displayed in an Egyptian museum alongside a Torah as a genuine work. What makes this even more disgusting, however, is that his position as an internationally respected scholar lends credence to these poisonous beliefs within the Islamic world.

In the clip, Dr. Hawass and his interviewer wonder how it is the Muslim world can exert less influence than a small Jewish nation. I suggest to the gentlemen that they begin their investigations with their own sick beliefs.

(Crossposted at Public Secrets)

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