Editor's Letter The Wrong Context s o it's Israel's fault that the Iranian president called for the Jewish state, "this stain of dis- grace,' to "vanish from the center of the Islamic world"? "The tensions between Iran and Israel will cease with Israel's fulfillment of its humanitarian and inter- national obligations:' a suburban Detroit imam wrote in an essay about the "World Without Zionism" conference keynoted by President Moumoud Ahmadinejad of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Tehran on Oct. 25. The president's statement Robert A. Sklar "reflects the growing frustration of billions of people who are weary of Ed itor Israel's refusal to fulfill its legal obligations to the Arabs," wrote Imam Mohammad All Elahi of the Islamic House of Wisdom in Dearborn Heights. "Iran's provocative words:' the imam wrote,"offer a basis for a real dialogue and lasting peace. We must deal with Israel honestly and stop walking on eggshells." In the essay "Place Anti-Israel Remarks In Context',' published by the Detroit News on Nov. 5, the imam weaves a disingenuous argument. He ignores the pro- posed 1947 U.N. partition of Palestine and wants us to believe that "Israel was created by war and expul- sion of the Palestinian people." He cites Jews in Iran's parliament, but how many truly feel free? That minimal role is no reason to con- tend the Iranian president's speech wasn't hateful to Jews. Inexplicably, the imam said the speech was merely a slap at Israel's "unjust" political system. He amazingly described Israel's crackdown on Palestinians during their intifada as "racist" while dis- missing the Iranian president's call for religious geno- cide as "a few angry words." The imam's column should unnerve every Jew. Iran — which is Persian, not Arab — is a repressive regime built on a foundation of radical Islam, which fuels terrorist groups like Hezbollah in Lebanon. Iran's aim to acquire nuclear capability is a potential lethal threat to Israel, its Arab neighbors and the West. Iran also funds Islamic Jihad, the Palestinian terrorist group. Nowhere in his essay does the imam condemn the horror and grief of Palestinian terror against Israel. The ancestral homeland for Jews continues to fend off Palestinian-provoked and Iran-financed sui- cide bombings. "Israel must end the property confiscation of eth- nic groups considered 'inferior' to Jews': the imam wrote. "Israel must stop instigating violent conflicts in the Muslim world. Israel must return the occupied territories back to their original owners." The violent conflicts he's referring to, in Iraq or elsewhere, were not Israel's doing. And giving all of the West Bank to the Palestinians would uproot large Jewish neighborhoods and leave no buffer. In letters to local newspapers, the local presidents of the Jewish Community Council and the American N November 17 2005 Jewish Committee brand the imam's column a blatant attempt to rationalize the Iranian president's call to destroy Israel. "A peacemaker," AJCommittee President Andrew Doctoroff wrote, "would not whitewash a demand for mass murder by calling it a quip. A person seeking constructive dialogue would not compare Iran's oppressive regime to the freedom-loving principles of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, which Iran rejects in its own homeland and seeks to destroy in ours." Recently, the AJCommittee condemned vandalism and bigotry aimed at the imam's mosque. It also has interacted with the imam and his mosque. "Our inter- actions with Imam Elahi had led us to believe that he would consider and respect the complexity of the issues in the Middle Ease,' Doctoroff said. 1 Nowhere does the imam condemn the horror and grief of Palestinian terrorism against Israel. I've previously zinged the JCCouncil for taking too long to denounce Jew baiting, but this time President Wendy Wagenheim acted quickly to deem the imam's column the "ugly head" of anti-Semitism. Our communal leaders must continue to be ever vigilant and strong willed to avoid hollow outreach with people whose actions insult Jewish interests. President Ahmadinejad imagined a world without America or Zionism. By saying "the refugees must return to their homes:' he almost declared war against Israel. A full "right of return" would doom Israel's large Jewish majority. Yet Imam Elahi didn't see it that way even though many world leaders rejected President Ahmadinejad's virulent anti-Israel message. The Middle East "peace and prosperity" that the imam says he seeks won't arise until Israel is accepted as a partner by its neigh- bors, like the Palestinians, and by people of influence here in the United States, like himself. I abhor the Palestinian situation, but I blame Arab leaders solely focused on the goal of the Iranian presi- dent: the end of Israel. ❑ How do you size up the imam's dismissal of the Iranian president's hate-filled message as "a few angry words"? 0 0 I—. cn 0 Do local Jewish political watchdog organizations do enough to expose and correct Arab propaganda? E-mail your thoughts to: letters@thejewishnews.com 271 WEST MAPLE DOWNTOWN BIRMINGHAM 248.258.0212 SUNDAY 12-5 MONDAY—SATURDAY 10-6 THURSDAY EVENINGS 'TIL 9