Editor's Letter
26TH ANNUAL FALL FUNDRAISER
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An electrifying
The Limits Of Dialogue
I is hypocritical to stand with non-Jews in the name of
interfaith relations if they won't denounce terrorism
because they fear alienating their more-militant peers.
It's useless to approach even moderate Muslims if they balk
at risking personal and political capital to publicly confront
the evils of radical Islam. There are only so many times the
Jewish people should have to justify
their self-defense against Hamas,
Hezbollah and other Arab terrorists.
I'm developing more of a separat-
ist attitude though I realize that some
dialogue, however lame, is better
than none with Muslim mosques and
organizations. You never know when
meaningful discussion might take root
and strike a chord responsive enough
to spur a change of heart.
American Jews must stand as sen-
tries in this ideological war to conquer
and subjugate the West. If we extend a pass to Muslim ideo-
logues that legitimize and mainstream extremists, we fuel the
anti-Zionism sweeping the Middle East and Europe.
My pent-up concern about local Muslim leadership for
largely standing pat as Israeli civilians have been murdered
by Islamic terrorists since the Palestinian
reign of terror began in September 2000 really
resounded as I read the Yom Kippur sermon
of Rabbi Joseph Klein of Temple Emanu-El in
Oak Park.
"I am suggesting, even advocating, that we
remove ourselves, as a congregation and as a
Jewish community, from Muslim-Christian-
Jewish dialogue, activities and programs," Rabbi Klein
declared on Oct. 2.
Stand only with Christians who
also stand with Israel, he said.
His message is potent. He pro-
claimed that the "time has come
when we must pointedly and
purposefully oppose the political
correctness of pretending that this
terrorist threat is not from radi-
cal, militant Islamists driven by a
dangerous, fundamental theology
emanating from the Arab Middle
Rabbi Klein
East in general and [Persian] Iran
specifically"
He said this religious extremism is a danger to the West
— and he's right. If local mosques truly were partners for
peace, they would have roundly condemned Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last year when he imagined a Middle
East without Israel and they would have distanced themselves
from the pro-Hezbollah rallies held in Dearborn this summer.
The same general silence followed the Muslim firebombings
of Palestinian churches in September after Pope Benedict XVI
cited obscure anti-Islam medieval teachings.
the benefit of the doubt.
In contrast, the Jewish world stood together against Baruch
Goldstein, an American-Israeli settler who-perpetrated the
Caves of the Patriarchs massacre of Muslims in Hebron in
1994. Rabbi Klein also acknowledged Prime Minister David
Ben-Gurion's swift denouncing of the Lechi and Irgun gangs
in pre-state Israel.
"In the year past:' Rabbi Klein said, "the line separating our
American Jewish community and the American Muslim com-
munity has been more clearly and definitively drawn than
ever before."
Lest we hide the obvious: Dearborn rhetoric has esca-
lated in the past year amid chants of "Death to the Zionists:'
"Occupied Palestine" and "Hezbollah's Freedom Fighters."
American Muslims who are less strident reject Hezbollah's
cries for Israel's destruction. But when so few of their leaders
have the resolve to repel such cries, the Muslim community as
a whole comes under suspicion.
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What provoked Rabbi Klein was the turnoff he experienced
from Imam Hassan Qazwini of the Islamic Center of America
in Dearborn. Last fall, the rabbi served on an interfaith panel
with the imam, who said terrorism was evil. Their congrega-
There are rules for dialogue, and one clear
rule is that one side should not be advocat-
ing the destruction of the other.
Prickly Questions
Does such Muslim destruction validate a link between Islam
and violence? Does the noticeable silence among most local
Muslim leaders reflect what Rabbi Klein calls "tacit approval
of this mob brutality?" I hope not, but I no longer will allow
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tions also visited each other's house of worship. A few weeks
later, the Iranian president declared war against the "World
of Arrogance" and envisioned a world without America and
Zionism. To foster religious bridge building, Rabbi Klein
tried in vain to ask Imam Qazwini to condemn President
Ahmadinejad's rant. In that disconnect crumbled the rabbi's
hope for a moderate Islam emerging in Dearborn.
I respect Rabbi Klein and his convictions, but he was too
trusting of Qazwini. The imam has condemned Zionists and
Zionism. And his mosque has advocated an Iranian theocracy
and has supported Hezbollah. Case closed.
Rabbi Klein is ready to walk away from any cross-cultural
initiative involving Muslims as long as there is no desire
among their leaders to get along with Jews. "I cannot forgive
these clerics for tacitly condoning what they ought to be . con-
demning," he said.
Rabbi Klein's courage should radiate enough of an energy
field to cause local Muslims, and Jews, to take notice. There
are rules for dialogue, and one clear rule is that one side
should not be advocating the destruction of the other.
Dialogue should not be war by other means, but a path to
coexistence marked by integrity and good will.
I don't share Rabbi Klein's call to totally separate from the
local Muslim community. Muslims and Jews no longer can
"together affirm values of truth and righteousness and jus-
tice," he said. Where there's a glimmer of hope for stirring the
soul of moderate Muslims, however, I'll remain a player.
I will say that Detroit Jewry is harming itself and living a
fantasy if it embraces interfaith dialogue without a mutually
beneficial commitment from each party.
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October 12 2006
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