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A Muslim Wakeup

(Christian Science Monitor) Ahmed Nassef - When I lived in Amman, Jordan, last year, the anti-Jewish diatribes that usually followed the calls for justice for Palestinians during Friday sermons disturbed me a great deal. Out of disgust, I eventually stopped going to the congregational prayers there. Sadly, I encountered much of the same at mosques throughout the Arab world. For many Muslims today, the government of Israel has become synonymous with the Jewish people. This phenomenon is complicated by the fact that Israel invites this association by calling itself a "Jewish" state. But as Tariq Ramadan, European Muslim scholar and grandson of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood founder Hasan El Banna, states, "There is nothing in Islam that gives legitimization to Judeophobia, xenophobia, and the rejection of any human being because of his religion or the group to which he belongs." Muslim-Americans, especially, face a critical challenge that demands an unequivocal stand against the trap of ignorance and bigotry. Muslims must speak out forcefully against anti-Jewish hate speech in our institutions and mosques.
2003-07-09 00:00:00
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