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Moderate Islam's Real Litmus Test? Israel

(Tablet) Liel Leibovitz - How did the "moderate" father of San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook respond when his son ranted about Israel? In a recent interview with the Italian newspaper La Stampa, Syed Farook told his interviewer: "I told him he had to stay calm and be patient, because in two years Israel will not exist anymore. Geopolitics is changing: Russia, China and America don't want Jews there anymore. They are going to bring the Jews back to Ukraine. What is the point of fighting? We have already done it and we lost. Israel is not to be fought with weapons, but with politics. But he did not listen to me, he was obsessed." Imagine a so-called moderate white guy saying that while white Americans have tried and failed to keep blacks down by means of violence, there's nothing to worry about because sooner or later the blacks will all be stacked into boats and shipped back to Africa. If you heard this, you would likely be appalled, and then declare that while you can think of quite a few adjectives to describe the person in question, "moderate" is certainly not one of them. When it comes to moderate Muslims, we view Jew-hating as understandable, even acceptable. In Bedfordshire, England, for example, the local police launched a social media campaign to promote tolerance and diversity, featuring an officer standing side-by-side in solidarity with Qadeer Baskh, the chairman of the local Luton Islamic Center. Yet as that institution's website makes clear, Jews are the "brethren of swine and pigs," who "strive their utmost to corrupt the beliefs, morals, and manners of Muslims" and must therefore be vanquished. You can hear similar opinions from celebrated moderates in Amman, Cairo, and Brooklyn. It's time, then, for a new litmus test. No moderate Muslim should ever reject the State of Israel's right to exist. Criticism is fair and welcome; fantasies about huddled Jewish masses banished to the Ukraine aren't. if you fail to pass this simple test, it's only a matter of time before you or someone you love picks up a gun and goes gunning for the Jews, the Christians, and all the others who do not share your hateful worldview.
2015-12-10 00:00:00
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