Reprinted from IsraelNationalNews.com.
And so, the American Jewish Committee has chosen the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) to launch a “Muslim-Jewish Advisory Council.” Many distinguished (liberal) Jewish names have signed on but the Muslim signatories are not exactly their counterparts.
Only (liberal) Jews “reach out” to understand the Other. Only (liberal) Jews “reach out” to appease the Other.
Only (liberal) Jews in America—who have just lost their fabled access to the White House, are making common cause, not with Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists or with secular humanists in America, but with the very religion in whose name Jews and other infidels are being slaughtered right now in Israel and world-wide, including in America; the very religion whose record on human rights, women’s rights, and gay rights leaves everything to be desired; the very religion in whose name a Holy War is being waged against both Muslims and infidels—and against Western civilization.
To the best of my knowledge, these Muslim signatories have not disavowed Jihad or proudly and loudly supported Israel as other Muslim-Americans have done. These liberal Jews have not signed up our most prominent religious Muslim-American reformers such as Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, Ali Alyami or Asra Nomani. Further, I do not see the names of Muslim feminists or Muslim dissidents, who are apostates or secularists, such as Ibn Warraq or Ayaan HIrsi Ali.
Frankly, I am tired of writing this again and again but clearly, it still needs to be said.
This desire to “appear tolerant” and to build bridges must be based on real, not imagined commonalities. Jewish history and values could not be more different than Islamic history and historical Islamic values.
Contrary to Sandy Bergman, the Co-Chair of the Council, the two communities do not “share much in common.”
Jewish-Americans are, by definition, left-liberals. Muslim-Americans—a lot less so.
Most Jewish-American left-liberals do not believe in obeying Jewish religious courts or Jewish religious law. According to opinion polls, European-Muslims fervently believe in Muslim religious (Sharia) Law. I am not sure about Muslim-Americans but to the extent to which an increasing number of Muslim-American women are face-veiled and/or wearing heavy hijab, I fear that they may be more fundamentalist than liberal.
Wearing a head-covering like a kippah is not equivalent to wearing a face veil or a burqa. Despite some instinctive or reflexive Jewish fears, Catholic, Jewish, and Sikh head-coverings are not equivalent to a Muslim face-veil. One’s identity is not obscured, one can engage with others in society.
Historically, Jews have not waged violent and bloody war against other Jews or against non-Jews because they are not Jewish. Terrorism has not been a preferred mode of Jewish warfare. More important: Judaism has engaged in a long evolutionary process of religious decisions. Islam has yet to do so.
Jews and Christians never attacked Muslims because they were Muslims; Christian Crusaders stood by for centuries while Muslims devastated Eastern Christianity before trying to defend their Christian brethren.
Fear about Islamic terrorism does not equal “anti-Muslim bigotry” nor does it equal anti-Semitism. In fact, according to FBI statistics, the rise in religious hate crimes in America has been against Jews, hardly against Muslims.
But forget about all this. Just focus on the fact that the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) is a Muslim Brotherhood linked group. Signatory Daisy Khan, and her husband, Imam Feisal Rauf, were leaders in the fight to create the Ground Zero Mosque.
ISNA have defended Jihadists (Mousa Abu Marzook, Sami-Al Arian, comes to mind) and were themselves found to be un-indicted co-conspirators in the Holy Land Foundation trial. They are Hamas supporters.
In 2001, the ISNA hosted Sami Al-Arian as a speaker at their national convention—and many times thereafter. According to Daniel Greenfield, in his recent expose, Al-Arian was found guilty of “conspiring to fund the terrorist organization Palestinian Islamic Jihad.”
Is the announcement of this Council, which has been in the works for some time, a complete accident—or is it related to the prevailing Democratic Party winds that may appoint Muslim-American Congressman Keith Ellison as the new Chairman of the Democratic National Committee?
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