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www.detroitiewishnews.com
Jewish leaders were uncharacteristically
silent last week as Islamic groups raged
against a Department of Defense deci-
sion to allow a notorious Islam basher
to deliver a Good Friday sermon at the
Pentagon.
Part of that silence was an accident
of timing: the controversy erupted at
the start of the Passover holiday, and
many Jewish organizations were not _
fully operational.
But it also reflected a disturbing
inconsistency in Jewish activism today.
Religious tolerance, traditionally a top
priority for Jewish groups, seems to be
not as much a priority when it comes to
a growing, vocal and, according to some,
increasingly radicalized Islamic commu-
nity. And Evangelical Christian leaders
who trash Islam apparently can be for-
given many sins just because they enthu-
siastically support Israel at a time when
the Jewish state has precious few friends.
The issue came into sharp focus last
week when the Defense Department
invited the Rev. Franklin Graham to
mark the religious holiday at the
Pentagon. Islamic groups quickly
protested, and their reasons were com-
pelling: Graham, son of evangelist Billy
Graham and heir to his
globe-spanning ministry,
characterized Islam as an
"evil religion" in the days
after September 11.
At a time when
Moslems feared a 15ack-
lash because of the terror
Graham
attacks and President
Bush was trying to con-
vince the Islamic world that his war on
terror was not a war on their religion, the
Rev. Graham added that Islam is
"wicked, violent and not of the same
God."
The Pentagon held firm, and the
Rev. Graham, who now wants to send
relief supplies to Baghdad and, pre-
sumably, Bible tracts, appeared as
scheduled on Good Friday.
And there was a peculiar silence
from the Jewish groups that have been
so prominent in the fight for religious
freedom — and not just religious free-
dom for Jews. In part, that silence was
a function of holiday schedules, but it
also reflected a growing discomfort
with the Moslem groups, including
the Council on American-Islamic
Relations (CAIR), that were protesting
the Rev. Graham's appearance. ❑