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Raised on Hatred
(New York Times) Ayaan Hersi Ali - As a child growing up in a Muslim family, I constantly heard my mother, other relatives and neighbors wish for the death of Jews, who were considered our darkest enemy. Our religious tutors and the preachers in our mosques set aside extra time to pray for the destruction of Jews. Those Muslims who think of Jews as friends and fellow human beings with a right to their own state are a minority, and are under intense pressure to change their minds. Millions of Muslims have been conditioned to regard Jews not only as the enemies of Palestine but as the enemies of all Muslims, of God and of all humanity. In 2011, a Pew survey found that 95% of Jordanians, 94% of Egyptians and 95% of Lebanese hold a "very unfavorable" view of Jews. The writer is a fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School.