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Source: http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Muslim-writer-touts-Israeli-tolerance-of-minorities-314241
Muslim Writer Lauds Israeli Tolerance of Minorities
(Jerusalem Post) Ariel Ben Solomon - British author Dr. Qanta Ahmed spoke on Wednesday at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem about the difficulties for minorities in Islamic societies and how Israel is the only country in the Middle East that tolerates them, in an event organized by the B'nai B'rith World Center in Jerusalem, and cosponsored by the Ecumenical Theological Research Fraternity. The rise of political Islam, which has been particularly pronounced as a result of the Arab uprisings, is a threat to minorities and to Muslims who do not agree with the ascendant radical ideology, Ahmed said. She said that it was only when she went to the Al-Aqsa Mosque that she was asked to prove she was a Muslim in order to enter. She did so by reciting the shahada - the Muslim declaration of faith. Ahmed discussed her experience working in Saudi Arabia - the topic of her book, In the Land of Invisible Women: A Female Doctor's Journey in the Saudi Kingdom, which documented the rampant anti-Semitism in the country and lack of women's rights. It is the radical Islamic ideology that has "corrupted" Islam as it was practiced throughout history, said Ahmed.