meaning of Kaffir, in reply to Xavier

Submitted by yuval Brandstetter MD (Israel), Nov 26, 2005 at 15:39

many Arabic words are basicaly transmutations of words in Hebrew, which has been around, essentially unchanged for about 2700 years. In Hebrew Koffer means someone who denies the Lord. Now that term cannot be attached to a non-Jew, because a non Jew is not required to know the Lord. It is only employed in the perjorative against a fellow Jew who has had the benefit of education, and has chosen to reject the Essence. Such a person is worthy of a very severe punishment, the collective cold shoulder.
The Arabs, as usual, have taken this word and transmuted it into the ultimate perjorative. Being ultimate, it demands the ultimate punishment, death in the case of a man, rape and death in the case of a woman.
Words kill, it seems.

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".