Are all muslims cursed? Or do we make ourselves cursed with hatred?
Reader comment on item: Omran Salman v. CAIR and MPAC
in response to reader comment: Failure of 'Moderate' Muslim organizations

Submitted by zzazzeefrazzee (United States), Sep 27, 2006 at 23:24

Dear Ezra,

Would you care to take a trip here to the US and come have a look at some moderate American Muslims, BEFORE you imply that they are all collectively "cursed"?

http://www.islamdenouncesantisemitism.com/

Note- whle I sympathize with the views promote here, I don't wholeheartedly agree with the theory they espouse that "darwinism is the origin of terror". Yes, the theories of Charles Darwin did give rise to the pseudo philospy of "Social Dariwnism" that inspired Hitler. Yet Charles Darwin never seemed to support such ideas, though I could be wrong.

My Muslim Sufi friends here in the US come from many Muslim countries, where they have often been persecuted and deemed heretical, or even banned, such as in Saudi Arabia. Turkey has technically continued a ban as well, but there is a widening tolerance of it there on the part of the Nationalist government. My sufi friends are NO FRIEND of terrorists, anywhere, period. Perhaps, you would like to visit Turkey, as my friend Yehuda who lives in Israel, did last year? He was able to visit my Jewish friends who live in the Sisli (pronounced "Shishli"- meaning wher kebab skewers are made) section of Istanbul.

It is the place that suffered a tragic bombing of a synagogue in 2003. My friends reported to me that they felt nothing but warmest sympathy and support and from their Turkish and muslim neighbors. they were not harmed in any way. the suport they received was astonishing to them. No, they did not tell me this at the point of a gun!

After the bombings, the local rabbis marched arm-in-arm with Muslim leaders, in defiant protest of terrorism to eagerly supportive crowds. No, they were not all there due to some goverment call. They were there because some do, believe it or not, bear some dignified respect for their fellow human beings. The father of one of the "irhabi" terorists publicly decried the radical Islamist propoganda that seduced his son to terrorism. I only wish that more Muslims who live in Isreal and Palestine followed suit, but you know as well as I, that Hamas thugs, among others, would only kill them for daring to do so.

By the way, my Jewish friends in Istanbul trace their ancestry to Spain, as they were kicked out of that country by religious absolutist Catholics during the Inquisition, with eth full support of the Pope, Sultan Beyazit in Istanbul was smart. He invited the Jews to settle in Istanbul, where they were allowed to maintain their culture and faith, and made valuable contributions to Turkish society. Yes, for a time they did pay a jizya tax, but Ii rare hear it mentioned that Muslims also tax themselves, and the rates SHOULD have been similar, and it was SUPPOSED to be spent on charity, though it was not alwyas done (I'm NOT apologizing for the ottomans here!, just making a point that some generalizations about Muslims hating Jews are always valid). I have heard that before the creation of Israel, Istanbul had an approximately 35% Jewish population. that changed after 1948.

In, did you know that some still known the Ladino langauge! You may hear it in Israel, but there are other countries where people speak it. This is a kind of Spanish dialect, written in Hebrew, which has survived in places like Istanbul, Bukhara, and even Sarajevo. Remarkable to say the least.

No, it was not all fun and games in the ensuing years under the ottomans, but suffice it to say, my friends do live in Istanbul, in MODERN Turkey and don't really care to leave it, nor feel threatened in any way, shape, or form. Threats made by muslims are usually against other Muslims. They feel their presence there is important and feel it underscores a point- that it is possible, if people are willing to live with eachother in peace.

Perhaps there is something to this, and maybe there is something to learn here? Daniel Pipes regulalry cites Turkey as an example of a modern Muslim state with some promise of modernity. i'm not saying that they don't have problems of their own, but they are much like America was about 50 years ago, before the Civil Rights era. Elif Shaffak was acquitted the her day. I like many Turks, but am no fan of their current PM, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060922/ap_on_re_as/turkey_novelist_s_trial_lh1

The problems that led to her arrest still are there, but I can say that there are in fact cracks appearing in the rampant nationalism. it has been the domninant paradigm in that country for a long time now, and it is beginning to split apart. Look to the young people to continue the trend. There is hope, if you care to look.

I know that such actions on the part of Muslims, like those I mention above, are exceedingly rare in Israel nowadays, and that is extremely sad to me. I wish I could personally do something to change this situation, but given the recent war in lebanon, I expect that attitudes have only hardended further. Some moderate muslims at

www.freemuslims.org

have suggested that next time, Israel bomb huzbullah, and not all of lebanon. Maybe some Maronite Christians would be more supportive?

Yet I frankly wonder how much of this is really due to religion, combined with nationlism, and if the problem is not exacerbated on both sides? Saying that does not make me racist. I bear no hatred towards Jews, and have a significant number of jewish friends. I only bear hatred of hate, and enimnty towards malice, and animosity towards religious absolutism , in all the various forms we find it. My point it to simply drawing attentiont to the fact that much as there are some people in Palestine who call for the destruction of Israel, and behave in an undiginified manner towards jews, there are also a considerable number of Israelis who call for the destruction of the Al Aqsa mosque, and behave in an undignified manner towards Arabs, both Muslims and Christians. Would the flow of blood be stemmed a bit if both sides, swimming in a vast cauldron of vitriol, much of it of their own making, were somehow nullified?

zzazzeefrazzee

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