Our History Of Religious Intolerance Must Come To An End

By Rev. Gary R. Hall, Amb. Thomas R. Pickering and Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf:

Although religious freedom is enshrined in the Bill of Rights, religious intolerance still exists in this country. Thanksgiving reminds us that the Pilgrims came to America to escape religious persecution. But the Puritans did not welcome other religions into their colony. All through American history, most religions arriving on our shores have had to fight suspicion and intolerance.

Look at Catholic and Jewish Americans. They faced widespread discrimination and demands that the doors to America be closed to them. Even so, some anti-Semitism and anti-Catholic sentiment persists, but both communities are thriving today. Now it's Muslim Americans who grapple with persistent challenges to their loyalty as Americans.

Since 9/11, bias toward American Muslims has been fueled by fear of terrorism and ignorance about Islam as a religion and tradition. Well-funded individuals and groups fan this intolerance by spreading distortions and sowing distrust. They aim to exclude Muslims from American civic life.

Lost in all of this are the contributions Muslims have made, from our intellectual life to military service and -- more importantly -- the loyalty and support that America's 7 million Muslims have shown since 9/11 to help build and defend the United States.

This discrimination cannot go uncontested. As people of faith, we have a responsibility to embrace America's commitment to freedom of religion by counteracting this growing intolerance not just with talk, but with action.

At a recent gathering of religious scholars and leaders convened by Washington National Cathedral and the Center for the Study of the Presidency & Congress, our aim was an honest understanding of how Muslims have been caricatured and marginalized since 9/11. We grasped the need to expand an interfaith outreach to Muslim organizations to help them counter these challenges. 

A Pew Research poll reported that nearly four in 10 Americans have an unfavorable opinion of Islam, and an equal number link Islam with acts of violence. With such shocking religious illiteracy about Islam in our society, it's no small wonder that intolerance thrives.

What should be done?

First, we need to recover civic discourse. When a pastor burns a Quran, for instance, or anti-Muslim slogans appear in subway ads, we need to reject such actions as a failure to recognize the full humanity of our fellow-citizens -- an assertion that some people do not belong in the same way that "we" do.

But we cannot just react to incivility. We must engage audiences with real human stories out of the Muslim community; stories that stress our shared humanity and the role of Muslims in building our rich and diverse society.

We must act together through interfaith cooperation, especially with our young people, through organizations such as the Interfaith Youth Core that teaches a new generation how to come together and challenge the world. The Interfaith Alliance champions religious freedom while fighting extremism. Productions by BoomGen Studios highlight stories of interfaith cooperation in film and online media.

The religious rights of American Muslims are threatened every time anyone seeks to limit how Muslims participate in our society. Such limits contradict the religious imperative to work for social justice and provide all of God's creatures with the chance to grow and flourish as members of the community. We commit ourselves to honoring through word and deed the contribution of American Muslims. We also commit ourselves to work for justice because we believe justice is essential to create a more peaceful and equitable society.

The American Muslim identity has been forged within the same challenges that face all Americans: the need to belong and contribute to society as a whole while nurturing our own values of justice and acceptance. If we listen closely on Thanksgiving Day, we will hear so many Muslim-Americans giving thanks to God for the opportunity to live in America and practice Islam perhaps more freely than they did in their home countries.

We have a moral duty -- as both people of faith and Americans -- to take a stand for religious liberty and to make space for the Muslim-American identity to grow and prosper. Indeed, we will fail the guiding principles of this nation if we do not.

The Very Reverend Gary R. Hall is dean of Washington National Cathedral. Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering is chair of the Center for the Study of the Presidency & Congress. Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf is chairman of the Cordoba Initiative and author of Moving the Mountain.

Via: "The Huffington Post"

Israel Needs A Few More Lessons In Apartheid

Zionism Did Not Merely Pave Paths Of Ethnic Discrimination In The Occupied Territories. Discrimination Against Civilians Exists In Every Corner Of The Country. 

By Salman Masalha 
Published 03:01 30.01.12 
Latest update 03:01 30.01.12 
Courtesy Of "Haaretz Newspaper"

Scholars of the social sciences know how to defend a public opinion survey. In their way of thinking, this is a scientific tool with which it is possible to assess feelings and understand positions and trends at any given time. Together with these "quiz shows" that supply the masses with a glimpse of the mood of the public, we are also able to familiarize ourselves with the personal feelings, points of view and tendencies of those who conduct the polls.

Zionism did not merely pave paths of ethnic discrimination in the occupied territories. Discrimination against civilians exists in every corner of the country. Research institutes and the media, whether intentionally or not, cooperate with this discrimination and also perpetuate it. In parallel to that, the slogan "a light unto the nations" is repeated here ad nauseum. It is therefore worthwhile comparing the situation in Israel with that among "the nations."

Take, for example, the Population Registry Law. During the era of apartheid in South Africa, the citizens of that country were forced to register themselves with the authorities on the basis of their skin color: white, black or colored. In Israel it is not possible to oblige people to sign up in the registry according to their race or color, since the Jews themselves belong to assorted colors and races: Some are white because they came from Poland or Russia, and others are dark skinned - from Yemen or Ethiopia. With no other option, the Zionist mind was forced to invent a unique solution that was suitable to this place, and which answers the need for separation, and thus it was that the registration was born, of Jews, Arabs, Druze and so forth, in the Israeli Interior Ministry.

Another discriminatory law that was enacted in South Africa allotted separate living areas to different races. One can compare it with the local law about selection committees, whose entire objective is to make it possible for various community settlements to chose who will be allowed to become members - based on ethnic background.

Recently the state has managed to peek into the bedrooms of the Arab citizens via the Citizenship Law, which places restrictions on their marriages. And the last word has not been said on this matter.

The election season is drawing close here. This will no doubt bring blessings and money to all who deal with it, first and foremost the polling institutes. From reports about the surveys we can learn that ethnic separation is alive and well, both in these institutes themselves as well as in most of the Israeli media. Indeed, the latter will pounce on the polls' findings. Politicians will rush to check their popularity among herds of voters. The disappointed politicians who lack inspiration and intelligence will turn to recipes supplied to them by the witch doctors known as media advisers. These witch doctors will instruct the aspiring politicians how to win the support of the masses. Between them and their followers, they will no doubt explain that a political platform is not as important as the show: The more the hopefuls sweat, run around and appear on every screen, the greater their chances of influencing the average voter.

The public opinion surveys also tell us, as noted, about those who conduct them. "If elections were to be held now," the pollsters tell us, this party would get this number of seats, and that party would get that number of seats. Then, at the very end of the detailed report about this and that, within the context of the "menu" of Jewish-democratic parties, will come the eternal sentence: "And the Arab parties will receive such and such a number of seats." Because in the eyes of every "educated" Zionist, every single Arab is an Ahmed, or is assumed to be an Ahmed.

It is therefore not clear why so much time and money is being spent. After all, the election results are a forgone conclusion: 110 Knesset seats to the Jewish parties and 10 seats to the Arab parties - is that not so? Here is yet another lesson in the apartheid sciences.

Orthodox Judaism Treats Women Like Filthy Little Things

If a man and a woman are drowning in a river, first they'll save the man, 'who is obligated to perform more commandments,' whereas a woman's 'wisdom is only in the spindle.' In fact, 'words of Torah should be burned rather than being given to women.' 

By Yossi Sarid 
Published 02:48 30.12.11 
Latest update 02:48 30.12.11 
Courtesy Of "Haaretz Newspaper"

If you would like to know the source from which your brothers derive their brazen behavior, go over to the study hall and open a page of Talmud. It's true that the Torah has 70 faces, but the trend of these faces is clear: The source of the pollution is in halakha (Jewish law ) itself. What is happening in Beit Shemesh and its satellites is not "contrary to halakha," it is mandated by halakha. And the rest will be told to the grandmothers, daughters and granddaughters.

Anyone ignoramus knows that the Torah's "ways are ways of pleasantness," that "the honor of a king's daughter is within," and that "proper behavior comes before the Torah," but it's worth knowing more. It's worth knowing that a woman is unfit to be a judge, and is also unfit to give testimony. She is unfit for any public position with authority. "Thou shalt appoint a king over thee" - a king and not a queen.

A daughter, commanded the sages, must not be taught Torah, because "the mind of woman is not suited to be taught, but [only] to words of nonsense." Women are light-minded and have little knowledge.

And if a man and a woman are drowning in a river, first they'll save the man, "who is obligated to perform more commandments," whereas a woman's "wisdom is only in the spindle." In fact, "words of Torah should be burned rather than being given to women."

A man must say three blessings every day during morning prayers: He thanks God "that He didn't make me a gentile, that He didn't make me a woman, that He didn't make me an ignoramus." And it's not proper to speak to a woman too much, since "all her conversation is nothing but words of adultery," and whoever talks to her too much "causes evil to himself and will end up inheriting hell." And let's not even talk about the fate of someone "who looks even at a woman's little finger."

The extremists who spit at women, who call themselves Sikarikim, learned their lesson 101 times and learned it well: A husband would do well not to let his wife go outside, into the street, and should restrict her outings "to once or twice a month, as necessary, since a woman has no beauty except by sitting in the corner of her house."

Because inside the house - very deep inside - her glorious honor awaits her: "Every woman washes her husband's face and feet and pours him a cup and prepares his bed and stands and serves her husband. And any woman who refrains from doing any of these tasks that she is obligated to perform - is forced to do them." Some recommend forcing her with a whip or by starvation "until she gives in."

And needless to say, she is at her husband's disposal whenever he is overcome by a desire "to satisfy his urges with her." And if she continues to rebel, he always has the right "to divorce her without her consent."

And there are many similar halakhot, only a few of which we have collected here. Nor have we cited everything in the name of the ones who said them, for lack of space. The readers are invited to find the references on Shabbat - and to browse around - on their own; this is a good opportunity for study. We will direct your attention to Tractate Shabbat, which does a good job of summing up halakha's attitude toward women: "a sack full of excrement" with a bleeding hole.

Some people will seek to console themselves: It's true that this is the halakha both m'doraita (from the Torah ) and m'drabanan (from the rabbis ), but that is not what is taught nowadays. But it suffices to listen to the sermon the sage Rabbi Ovadia Yosef delivered five years ago, based on the well-known halakhic work "Kitzur Shulchan Aruch": "A man must take care not to walk between two women or between two dogs or two pigs, and men should also not allow a woman or a dog or a pig to walk between them."

Treating women as impure and filthy begins with halakha and continues with actions. As long as the religious and ultra-Orthodox parties - Shas, United Torah Judaism, Habayit Hayehudi and National Union, none of which have any women in the Knesset - are not disqualified, their nakedness will continue to sing out and the nakedness of the land will be revealed.

US Muslims 'Face Growing Discrimination'

Senator Lindsey Graham said US Muslims "must do more" to protect the country [GALLO/GETTY]


Anti-Muslim Bigotry Includes Inflammatory Rhetoric By Elected Officials, Congressional Panel Is Told.

Last Modified: 29 Mar 2011 21:53
Courtesy Of "Al-Jazeera"

Muslim citizens of the United States face growing discrimination in daily life, manifesting itself in violence, vandalism and arson, a US congressional panel has been told.

Speakers on Tuesday said that evidence of anti-Muslim bigotry included inflammatory remarks made by elected public officials.

"We continue to solicit and receive the support of many Muslim Americans who love this nation and work with our government to protect it," Democratic senator Dick Durbin, chair of the Senate judiciary subcommittee chair, said.

"At the same time, many law-abiding Muslim Americans face discrimination and charges that they're not real Americans simply because of their religion."

Earlier this month, Republican congressman Peter King held a hearing on "radicalisation in the US Muslim community", which Amnesty International, alongside a coalition of 50 other organisations, described as akin to senator Joe McCarthy's campaign against those suspected of having communist sympathies in the 1950s.

Efforts are also under way in several US states to ban Islamic legal practice as a perceived threat to the country's legal system.

Muhammed Malik, Muslim-American community advocate in Florida, said: "These 'anti-sharia' proposals are wild manifestations of an increasingly rabid Islamophobia which aims to cause division and mobilise the fear vote in 2012.

"That such measures are being introduced speaks volumes about how many of our politicians are more interested in distracting the public's attention away from more important issues, such as improving our economy and ending racial profiling."

Muslims 'Must Do More'

Republican senator Lindsey Graham told the congressional panel he supported "Muslim rights" - but called on Muslims to do more "to protect the United States from attack".

"Get in this fight," he said. "You're going to have to help your country, probably uniquely compared to anyone else - understand what's going on and fight back. The front lines of this war are in our own back door and our own neighbourhoods."

The number of federal discrimination cases brought by local authorities to prevent mosques from opening in their communities surged in May 2010, the committee was told . More than 800 incidents of violence, vandalism and arson against people believed to be Muslim, Arab or South Asian, have been investigated by the justice department in the past 10 years.

Thomas Perez, the assistant US attorney general for civil rights, said there had been a 150 per cent jump in workplace discrimination against Muslims since 2001, often over religious dress and worship schedules, while Muslim youth are often the victims of bullying in schools.

'Too Many Mosques'

Tuesday's hearing quickly became split along party lines, after Congressman King told reporters the proceedings would "perpetuate the myth that there is a serious anti-Islam issue in this country".

Senarie Durbin responded by referring to controversial remarks attributed to King and Newt Gingrich, a former Republican House speaker now considering a bid for the White House.

"A leading member of Congress stated bluntly: 'There are too many mosques in this country'. A former speaker of the House falsely claimed: 'America's experiencing an Islamist cultural political offensive designed to undermine and destroy our civilisation'," Durbin said.

"Such inflammatory speech from prominent public leaders creates a fertile climate for discrimination."

Israel: One Law For All?

UPDATED ON: Wednesday, January 13, 2010
17:08 Mecca time, 14:08 GMT
Courtesy Of Al-Jazeera

I

In 1948, Israel's founding fathers issued a manifesto declaring among other things that the new state would uphold the equality of all its citizens, without distinction of race or creed. Six decades later that is not a principal that many of Israel's Arab citizens - who make up about 20 per cent of the population - believe applies to them, especially in matters involving law and order. In his film, One Law for All?, filmmaker Tony Stark investigates whether Israeli Arabs are regularly the victims of legal double standards. On August 4, 2005, a Jewish soldier in the Israeli army boarded a bus on its way to the northern Arab town of Shafr'Amr. It was just two weeks before Israel withdrew from Gaza and 19-year-old Eden Natan-Zada strongly opposed the plan. In depth Video: Palestinians evicted Standoff over settlement Holy Land Grab Israel: Rise of the right Q&A: Jewish settlements Riz Khan: The battle over Israeli settlements Inside Story: US and Israel poles apart As the bus entered the town, he began shooting passengers with his M16 rifle. "I was looking through a window when I suddenly heard shooting. I looked and saw someone shoot the driver. I hid under the seats. As I lay flat, the firing continued, and I saw someone's finger fall to the floor. That's when I realised he was on a mission to kill everyone," says Ha'El al-Janhawe, a passenger on the bus. "I didn't move a millimetre. I put my hands over my eyes and prayed and just waited for the bullets to hit my back." During a pause in the shooting, al-Janhawe decided to try to prevent further bloodshed. "I stood up and he had a chance to kill me. But, thank God, it seems that his magazine was empty. I pushed him near to the back of the bus. I got him onto his back and was on top of him - trying to hold the gun and stop him pulling the trigger. It was very hot and I burnt my hand." Al-Janhawe pulled the gun away from the soldier and got off the bus. By then four people, including the bus driver, had been killed and 12 others were wounded. 'Chaos' An angry crowd gathered after the shootings As news of the shootings spread, an angry crowd gathered. Natan-Zada was still on the bus - now being held by several police officers. "The bus was in chaos. People were falling over each other. Outside, people were screaming, climbing up trying to get on the bus. They didn't know if the killer was still alive. No one knew what was going on," says Amir Sabbah who witnessed it all. People stormed onto the bus and Natan-Zada was attacked and killed. "It wasn't a normal reaction. Someone had come to kill people in their hometown and they wanted to protect themselves and their town. We felt a kind of anger that can't be described," Sabbah explains. Seven local men are now being tried for his attempted murder and a further five for lesser offences. 'Double standard' The decision to charge anyone caught up in the events of that day has hit a very raw nerve among Arab Israelis. Sadness at the waste of life is now mingled with anger at the prosecutions. "This has been a racial decision at the highest level. It's obvious that the Israeli judiciary, security forces and police have two approaches: one for Arabs, another for Jews," says Morad Haddad who is part of a support committee for the 12 accused. The court case has brought into the open a simmering distrust of the forces of law and order among Israel's 1.5 million Arab citizens. Protests have been held outside the court in Haifa where the trial is taking place. The claim is that Jews who kill Arabs in Israel are treated in a very different way to the Arabs now being prosecuted for killing Natan-Zada. It is a view held by some of the most senior members of the Arab community. "Definitely there is a double standard and discrimination in applying the law towards Jews and Arabs," says Ahmad Tibi, the deputy speaker of the Knesset. 'Institutional racism' Farah says that most cases involving Arab victims do not even make it to court Jafar Farah, a lawyer who runs a human rights group in Haifa, has been investigating incidents in which Jews kill Arabs and says that there have been 44 such killings since 2000 that raise very worrying questions. "The case of Imad Hamdoun, for example. He was killed in 2002. He was on his bicycle, a Jewish civilian was shooting at the bicycle. He died. The family was compensated by the police but no conviction against the Jewish civilian that shot the bicycle. "In the 44 cases we know for sure that the victims have not been involved in violence against state authorities or against Jewish civilians," says Farah. Israeli law is meant to apply to everyone equally. But Farah is particularly critical of the way police investigate cases where Jews kill Arab citizens in Israel. Some Israeli Jews working inside the legal system echo these concerns. Michael Sfard is a lawyer who acts for a number of Israeli and Palestinian human rights organisations. "I think institutional racism is evolving in my country and I am embarrassed and very sad to say that," he says. "The Israeli police, Israeli police investigators, they all are extremely professional and extremely motivated when it comes to catching Palestinians. They are much less motivated, much less rigorous when it has to do with Jews that operate on ideological grounds and their victims are Palestinians. "The danger is that the more discrimination will infiltrate our system, the less our system will be legitimate in the eyes of the people. That's where we are heading." Overlooked evidence Israeli Arabs mourn the death of two sisters who were killed in the attack [GALLO/GETTY] Just how far away Israel's Arab citizens are from receiving equal treatment is shown, some Arabs believe, by the police examination of Natan-Zada's attack. The police say he was a lone gunman, who acted without help, but that is not the view of Maher Talami, a lawyer representing one of those charged with taking part in his killing. Talami is conducting his own investigation into Natan-Zada with the help of a former Israeli secret service agent. The investigation has taken two years and has convinced him that the police overlooked evidence indicating that the attack was a pre-planned conspiracy. "The police investigation was reckless. They didn't investigate this case seriously. They just wanted to close this file immediately because it kind of embarrasses the state of Israel because having a soldier who is a terrorist is really embarrassing for the country," Talami says. Pre-planned attack? He says the evidence of police failings begin at the bus station in Haifa where Natan-Zada boarded the bus to Shafr'Amr. Just two weeks before the attack, Natan-Zada was spotted acting suspiciously at the same bus station. "He was seen by security guards in the central bus station and he was in his army uniform; he had his gun with him and he was looking around in the area where Arabs get the buses to go to the villages and towns. So that made the security guard really suspicious because he had no reason to be there," Talami explains. The bus station guard says he spoke with Natan-Zada and later recognised him when his picture was published in the press. Talami says he also discovered that Natan-Zada had travelled to Shafr'Amr on the same bus the day before the attack and that this is further evidence that the attack was pre-planned. When the bus reached the end of its journey, the bus driver found Natan-Zada asleep. "The bus driver asked him what are you doing here and he said 'oh I fell asleep'. So he gave him some water. The next day he got on the same bus, the same line at the same time and he shot first the bus driver in the head and then he started shooting at all the passengers," Talami says. Not working alone People protest against the court ruling against 12 Arabs related to the killing of Natan-Zada Talami also says that there is evidence that Natan-Zada had help in planning his attack. "Three eye witnesses at least saw a suspicious car during the time of the attack in Shafr'Amr. It had three people in it. They describe them as religious Jewish people and they had the orange ribbon in the car. "Now this ribbon used to represent the struggle of the settlers against disengagement in Gaza. The car was waiting and when they saw a police car coming they just swiftly raced out of the town." According to Talami, the strongest evidence that Natan-Zada did not act alone was found in his mobile phone records. The lawyer tracked down who he had been speaking to on the day before the attack. "We found out we're talking about really dangerous criminals. They are all Jews from settlements, some of them got indicted before for doing terrorist acts. So what was said in these conversations we don't know. But he didn't call for example his family or friends. He called people from Tapuah - which is a really Jewish extreme settlement in the West Bank." Democracy undermined Talami is now calling for the police to re-open their investigation into Natan-Zada. One in five Israeli citizens is Arab and if a growing number of them continue to feel alienated from the forces of law and order, the legitimacy of the country's democracy will eventually be undermined. "We think that the Jewish community have to share responsibility. We need to see the president of the state of Israel and the leaders of the police forces, all of them standing as one voice and say that we will not allow ongoing violence against the Arab citizens," says human rights lawyer Jafar Farah. "You have to know that everybody will be equal in front of the law and if people will be criminals and they are Jews or Arabs, they will face the same treatment in front of the law." One Law for All? can be seen from Wednesday, January 13, 2010 at the following times GMT: Wednesday: 1230; Thursday: 0130, 1400, 1930; Friday: 0630, 1630; Saturday: 0330, 2030; Sunday: 0030, 0530; Monday: 0830.

Source: Al Jazeera