We are passing through a season of singular national distemper where, for reasons best understood by social psychiatrists, the American people have entered into what can only be described as "open season" on Islam. Mosques everywhere, not just the "Ground Zero" mosque, are under attack; voters in Oklahoma have amended their state constitution to forbid state courts from considering Sharia law in their decisions (not that they had any intention of mastering that sophisticated legal corpus); otherwise "liberal" communicators debate whether First Amendment protections extend to followers of the Prophet Mohammed; and Muslims everywhere worry (rightfully) whether they have a place in the American mosaic.
Saddest to me, as a Jew, are the number of my co-religionists who are riding point on this peculiar crusade. I think of the likes of Pamela Geller ('Stop Islamization of America') and, I am sorry to say, The New Republic publisher Martin Peretz, who dress up contempt for Islam as part of the defense of Israel; and Tea Party Rabbi Nachum Shifren proclaims, "We are at war with Islam." For its part, the Anti-Defamation League seems to want it both ways -- oppose the Ground Zero mosque, but support the idea that Muslims should have other places to pray. And we should not forget Orthodox groups like Aish HaTorah, which distributed through subsidiaries hundreds of thousands of DVDs of the "documentary" Obsession during the 2008 presidential campaign in an effort to scare American Jews and brand Democrats as weak on Islamic terrorism.
This is why I was so pleased to organize a visit to Dachau and Auschwitz for eight American Muslim leaders last summer. This journey of reconciliation gives the lie to the caricatures of Islam that have become so prevalent among American Jews. At the death camps, the Muslims spoke out forthrightly against Holocaust denial and anti-Semitism. And they have continued to do so since their return.
The trip was premised on the view that although knowledge about the Holocaust is central to both the modern Jewish and European experience, it is tangential to the experience of many in the Muslim world. They may be aware of the bare facts of the Shoah, but they likely do not relate to it personally. This is not surprising. I was aware that there was an earthquake in Lisbon in 1755 -- after all, Voltaire wrote about it. But the reality of the earthquake never resonated with me until I actually walked the city's cobblestone streets and visualized the fire and tsunami engulfing the city. That was the purpose of the camp visits. To learn the history and social context leading to the Nazi genocide, we met with survivors and heard their stories, which provided us with a powerful experiential reality.
Some say knowledge is not an antidote to prejudice or irrational hatred. But this trip proved that notion incorrect. On their return, the imams spoke about the trip at their mosques and at Ramadan iftars (evening meals). They raised the possibility of leading youth groups to the camps. They are writing about this trip in mosque newsletters and in Muslim magazines and have discussed it in Arabic with Al-Jazeera and other Arab media. They have proposed additional trips by imams from Europe and the Middle East. They have discussed holding panels on the infamous anti-Semitic forgery The Protocols of the Elders of Zion at their various conventions, and they have urged the creation of a Muslim-Jewish Scholars Conference to discuss substantive issues between the communities.
The most important result that already has come out of this trip is the statement the participating imams issued on anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial, which is reprinted in The Forward and The Washington Post online. In that statement, the imams testify to the historical accuracy of the Holocaust and condemn Holocaust denial as contrary to Islam: "We bear witness to the absolute horror and tragedy of the Holocaust where over twelve million human souls perished, including six million Jews. We condemn any attempts to deny this historical reality and declare such denials or any justification of this tragedy as against the Islamic code of ethics." Further, they condemn anti-Semitism as forcefully as one possibly can: "We condemn anti-Semitism in any form. No creation of Almighty God should face discrimination based on his or her faith or religious conviction."
And they spoke plainly about the killing of innocents. "In Islam, the destruction of one innocent life is like the destruction of the whole of humanity and the saving of one life is like the saving of the whole of humanity" (Holy Qu'ran, al-Ma'idah "the Tablespread" 5:32). In so doing, they were reiterating the position taken by the Fiqh Council of North America, which advises Muslim organizations on how to apply Islamic law, in a 2005 fatwa condemning Islamic extremism, which stated, "There is no justification in Islam for extremism or terrorism. Targeting civilians' life and property through suicide bombings or any other method of attack is haram -- or forbidden -- and those who commit these barbaric acts are criminals, not martyrs."
There is no doubt that continuing tension in the Arab-Israeli conflict has increased the level of anti-Semitism in the Muslim world. For centuries there was a legal place in the Islamic universe for Jews -- they were considered dhimmi (people of the book) -- although the practical restrictions accompanying that status varied significantly across time and place. Recently, however, we have seen in the Muslim world a spate of attacks on Jews -- odious references, for example, in Saudi textbooks, teaching that Jews look like "pigs and monkeys" -- all suggesting that there is no place for Jewish communities in the House of Islam. Some, like anti-Semitism scholar Robert Wistrich, have argued that this anti-Semitism is rooted in the origins of Islam, not merely its modern fanatical wings. This reductionist approach ignores the multiple worlds that encompass Islamic or indeed any religious civilization. And it ignores the possibility of mutual engagement and growth exemplified by journeys such as the one I took with American imams to the death camps.
Read the full statement from the Muslim American leaders here.
This article first appeared in Moment Magazine.
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A week before Hitler invaded Poland in 1939 she escaped with friends
to summer camp in Eastern Poland and eventually on to Russia where she helped with the Russian war effort against the Nazis.She never saw her family again.All her family and my father's family died either on the spot,shot or were taken to Auschwitz where most died horrible deaths.
The weight of her death inside this History weighs heavily on my psyche.Deniers can go away forever and however it may be possible to do so
I was heartened by reading about an exposition at the Holocaust Museum in Houston named "Besa", which chronicled the Albanian Muslims' successful efforts at hiding Jews from the Nazis during WWII. My local Islamic school board had its second meeting ever last week, at which the guest speaker was a member of the local Jewish school board who shared his experiences with his hosts. Every year, local mosques 'twin' with a synagogue over a weekend, building relationships and understanding. This is the way forward, not hatred in isolation.
The Holocaust wiped out at least half the Jewish people in the world. I haven't seen the stats in a while so my memory isn't exact but I recall reading just a few years ago the the Jewish population of the world had just reached what it was pre Holocaust or had not yet reached it but was coming close. The fact that Jewish people remember it as a Jewish event is because almost the entire Jewish population of Europe came close to being wiped out. Nobody is denying that millions of other innocent people were killed as well.
Then there are people who bring up the Palestinians as a reason to denigrate Holocaust remembrances. Why? I am not sympathetic to their cause but I think the death of each innocent individual killed in this endless conflict is a tragedy,
News articles about Holocaust remembrances bring out the haters in this world and I'm still surprised how many of them there are.
"Lest we forget". Everyday people die because we forget everyday.
on a more cogent level ,the anti holocaust deniel law is like prohibition of alcohol and prohibition of drugs futile or unnnessassry[ like proper spelling well maybe not ] in a enlightened and natural society
denying memory of a unplaesant event is part of human instincts. it s not likely media and huffpost can distinquish between blocking unpleasant memory [ e.g. vietnam and iraq ] and active holocaust denial.
one comment said "jews were not at war with germany " [ the correct phrasing is with the nazi party ] this reminded me of more real history [ not victimology [which like bad science] is not history]
FDR wanted to enter the war against the Nazis much sooner but congress as obama knows is stubborn
in 1940 it was mainly anti semitism mainly from the south in congress which didnt allow america to defacto as a lengthy analysis might show avoid pearl harbour by enteriing the war in 1940 and probably avoid the holocaust because the war would have been over sooner if america had entered in early 1940 . another cause of america not entering the war was no doubt communism. the nazis were fighting stalin "society"
as in afghnaistan and pakistan policy and cold war policy ,america has to abandon use of proxy armies
same thing happened in China [in every nation Russia Libya afhnaistan egypt spain italy] when its monarchy disintegrated,no stable substitute was found until it was overun by extreme right wing then extreme left wing strong man
somehistorians belief england should have stayed out of WW1 it would have defeated the ottomans more quickly;on the continent germany would have become the stable powerhouse with ideally a strong parliament under a increasingly nominal Kaiser.
whether conflict between british empire and this very strong central europe [if germany had expanded into the french empire there would have been a wider war anyhow so if one gets into more than 250 words then one has to also blame napolean for the nazis]
but USA made the problem of handing british and french a victory they couldnt win. america won WW1 and should have acted like the real winner by supporting germany and russia[their stability] also
so any analysis comes up against the real cause of war and hatred: stress in body brain, in the motivational machinery [part of stress problem is alcohol and harsh living conditions] which readers of Living section know requires meditation real meditation not contemplation or beleif but transcendental meditation (TM) to cure
Incidentally the cause of all the dead and all the wars throughout human history can be traced to one single source, Man's continuing sins and the offense they are to Almighty God.
I found there was a whole lot of injustice against the German People after WW1. The industry did well not for the German People, but the Rothschild's. And this advantage was not just for Rothschild's but rich Germans too.
I found the British and French did much to punish the Germans for an alliance they pre WW1. That then and after they embargoed German Commerce. The prosperity of the German People if not a holocaust was serious pain. Then Britain and France attacked Germany and things got worse on each side. The rest is history.
But the LAW of Karma is not lost then or now
World War ONE was a huge mistake. The Germans LOST it.
The 2nd biggest mistake was America helping out the brits and the frogs.
We should have stayed out of it.
You think we support Israel because they are righteous and we love righteousness, neither is true
Read Further:
(5:33) “Those who make war upon Allah and His messenger .... will be killed or crucified, or have their hands and feet on alternate sides cut off ... and in the Hereafter theirs will be an awful doom.”
Read the entire chaper 5 of the Koran for yourself. I provide the link it in to the Scripture Project. You will find that the authors quote is entirely out of context. In actuality, chapter 5 of the Koran is nothing but an unrelenting stream of hatred towards Jews and Christians.
http://www.project-reason.org/scripture_project/The_Quran:5_The_Table_Spread
Quit judging the Fruit of the good words for injustice for the idealism of the Tree of justice. It is what is said not the deed that is done.
Dare to question the Rothschild's, Rockefeller's, JP Morgans, etc. they earned their wealth honestly for your measly sweat and genius that is worthless. Disgusting workers always wanting a fair wage and know nothing about renting people for good Profit. Slavery was mankind's first and last opportunity
Check it out n Pass it on.
The division isn't between Muslim and non-Muslim in today's sense of the term, in the Quran - but between righteous and unrighteous.
Example verse from chapter 5:
Those who believe in the Quran, and those who follow the Jewish scriptures, and the Christians and the Sabians; any who believe in Allah (God) and in the Last Day, and work righteousness, shall have their reward with their Lord, on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.
~Quran 5:69
Here's the whole Quran as a PDF file (searchable) for anyone who is interested:
http://www.hermetics.org/pdf/Quran.PDF
==================
Those who believe that Islam teaches that are in error. The widely recognized tafsir of 2:62 and 5:69 is this:
Umdat al Salik:
"THE ABROGATION OF PRREVIOUSLY REVEALED RELIGIONS
w4.3 (Imam Baghawi:) The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
“By Him in whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, any person of this Community, any Jew, or any Christian who hears of me and dies without believing in what I have been sent with will be an inhabitant of hell.”
This is a rigorously authenticated (sahih) hadith that was recorded by Muslim (Sharh al-sunna (y22), l.104-5)."
Before the arrival of Islam, Jews who abandoned Judaism for Christianity when it arrived and Christians who abandoned Christianity for Islam when Mohammed arrived were saved from hell. No others.
You are cherry-picking to make Islam appear better than it is. That's behaving just as badly as those you criticize for cherry-picking to make Islam appear worse than it is.
On the other hand, we are in danger of falling into the opposite trap & start lavishing praise on Muslims who (surprise!) just say & do normal things, like any other human being. We are in danger of promoting tokenism, rather than expecting (and demanding) that normal behavior of everybody.
I don't expect you to "organize a visit to Dachau and Auschwitz for eight American Muslim leaders". I expect them to organize it themselves, in vast numbers. The comparison with an 18th century earthquake is plain stupid: the Holocaust happened less than 70 years ago; it wasn't some "local event", but a cataclysm of global magnitude & resonance. Every community leader should educate him/herself on that subject; especially if troubling symptoms of denial & antisemitism are rearing their ugly heads within their own community. This should be a problem for them, not for you. I expect not a token number, but the vast majority of immams to condemn Holocaust denial & any other forms of antisemitism. I expect them to declare that reading, propagating & believing in the Protocols of Elders (a best-seller, unfortunately, in many Muslim countries) is incompatible with Islamic values.
Do you also demand every rabbi to denounce anti-Muslim attacks?
No one can assume the moral high ground here.
Regardless of evidence, people will believe what they want, and think what they want. Holocaust denial will not disappear simply because it is illegal, as in Austria, for example.
It is incumbent to anybody who values truth to fight Holocaust denial whenever and wherever it rears it's ugly head.
Here in the US we accept (and most people defend) the use of torture on people suspected of crimes. Our government has tortured people to death, we blow up entire families hoping to kill one suspected terrorist - how citizens of the US are "better" than the citizens of Germany in WW2 I fail to see.
We do? Nearly every liberal/progressive in the country is angry that there was no investigation into Bush/Cheney war crimes. It seems like a sizable chunk, if not a plurality is opposed to such actions.