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A Friend of Israel in the Islamic World

(Ha'aretz) Micha Odenheimer - Abdurrahman Wahid, who served as Indonesia's president from 1999 until 2001, has visited Israel six times and is known for his outspoken and courageous advocacy of Islamic moderation. Wahid: "I think there is a wrong perception that Islam is in disagreement with Israel. This is caused by Arab propaganda. We have to distinguish between Arabs and Islam." "China and the Soviet Union have or had atheism as part of their constitution, but we have long-term relationships with both these countries....Israel has a reputation as a nation with a high regard for God and religion - there is then no reason we have to be against Israel." "Indonesian Muslims respond to moderation, not fundamentalism. And even the majority of the Arabs are against what is being broadcast or printed in the news. When you think that the Palestinians are ruled by the so-called suicidal bombers, you are wrong. The problem is how to cope with the militant minority. What is needed is moral courage, which Yasser Arafat has not shown." Q: Does the existence of a Jewish state in the Middle East pose a problem for Islam? Wahid: "Only if you think Islam dictates that we have an Islamic state. All the states that claim to be Islamic are in trouble. Muslims everywhere, if they could vote, would reject an Islamic state. Not because they are against Islam. I am for Islam. But I am against an Islamic state."
2004-07-08 00:00:00
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