Editor's Letter WOMEN'S EUROPEAN & AMERICAN Muslim Conversion Tactics m uslim missionaries present the newest threat to Israel's survival as a Jewish state. Diaspora Jews must wake up to this danger. I was surprised to read that Yad L'Achim, the counter-mis- sionary organization in Israel, has zeroed in on a Muslim group that aims to, and has actually succeeded in, converting Jews. Over the last three years, Yad L'Achim has identified 10 conversions, a byprod- uct of personal distress or brainwash- ing, with untold numbers of Israeli Jews approached. Muslim terrorists have tested Israel's resolve with suicide bombers, roadside bombs, sniper fire and Kassam rock- ets. But Muslims also are becoming feared on the spiritual battlefield as well. Clearly, Christian cults don't have a stranglehold on that phenomenon. In an e-mail alert, Rabbi Moshe Cohen, who heads a special unit of Jerusalem-based Yad L'Achim, warned that in the past year, he has seen stepped-up efforts by an Islamic network that seeks to influence Jews to become Muslims. "After several months of intensive field work," he declared, "we've managed to make direct contact with a number of Jews who have gone over to the other side. They've been converted in Islamic religious courts, live in Arab villages and carry papers that identify them as Muslims." That's scary given the backdrop. It takes proselytizing to the next level. Yad L'Achim was founded in 1950, two years after statehood, to combat missionaries who view Israel as fertile ground because of its concentration of Jews. In recent years, it has targeted the rescue of Jewish girls duped by Arab men. Who Is Vulnerable? The story that Rabbi Cohen tells is both haunting and daunt- ing. He gives this example: One field operator, Salim Tawill, is a nurse in a Jerusalem hospital. While extending care, he iden- tifies Jews in distress and offers them Islamic literature. Those who want more information are referred to another activist, named Abdullah, who then is responsible for the potential converts and winning them over. "Yad L'Achim has learned that Abdullah recently gave up his job as a cab driver in Hebron and now works full time for Al Dawaa," Rabbi Cohen said. "His job includes traveling to Egypt, Jordan and Turkey where he raises significant funding for Al Dawaa's activities." Yad L'Achim also has identified three more Al Dawaa activists, all from Hebron, who seek to enlist Jews. "One of them sells building supplies in the Old City of Jerusalem and does small construction jobs in the haredi [fer- vently Orthodox] community',' Rabbi Cohen said. "In recent weeks, he has been spotted by Yad L'Achim, together with his brother, in the Neve Yaakov neighborhood of Jerusalem:' Fighting Back Yad L'Achim knows of 15 missionaries. Its quick response to the campaign has scuttled seven conversion attempts. Al Dawaa is bold enough to run centers not just in outlying areas, but also in Givat Shaul, at the entrance to Jerusalem. The centers house a sharia court where Jews are brought for conversion and receive new names. "Yad L'Achim has maintained intensive contacts with five Jews who converted to Islam in an attempt to bring them back',' Rabbi Cohen said. "They lived until recently in Jerusalem, Beersheva and Ashkelon." Rabbi Sholom Dov Lipshitz chairs Yad L'Achim. He said the motive in releasing details of Al Dawaa's activities is "to save these five Jews who have already converted and to make people aware of the new kind of missionary — the Muslim mission- Yad L'Achim warned that in the past year, there have been stepped-up efforts by an Islamic network that seeks to influence Jews to become Muslims. The Conversion Spur The Muslim conversion campaign is the work of Al Dawaa headed by Sheik Abu Yassin of Kafr Manda, an Arab Muslim community of 15,000 people in northern Israel's Lower Galilee. A key accomplice is Ibrahim Naader of Shechem, a biblical area near modern-day Nablus in the West Bank. Naader served jail time in Israel for murdering an Israeli girl. This Middle East Muslim group, partially funded through World Al Dawaa in New Delhi, grew from Yassin's conversion of Yosef Cohen. The American Jew arrived in Beersheva a few years ago and converted to Islam. "Cohen, who today calls himself Yusaf al-Hattab, forced his wife and three children to convert:" Rabbi Cohen said. The family lives in the A-Tur neighborhood in Jerusalem at the foot of the Mount of Olives, a biblical mountain. And at- Hattab isn't an innocent convert. "In interviews with the news media" Rabbi Cohen said,"al- Hattab presents himself as a Hamas member who sends his children to Hamas educational institutions and hopes that some day they will be shaheeds [martyrs] for the sake of the jihad." That means al-Hattab hopes his kids, one day serving as sui- cide bombers on behalf of Allah, murder Jews. It's admirable that Yad L'Achim hopes to rescue these five Jews and spotlight their stories in a public relations blitz to deter other potential converts. While I'm skeptical that a PR campaign is the answer, it certainly can't hurt. Jews continue to be attacked not only by terrorist and anti- Semitic acts, but now also by an expanding missionary front that we must confront to counter its seeds of deception and vitriol. If we can't protect our own from spiritual attacks, let alone terrorism, our future as a people indeed doesn't bode well. C] 0 : Can Jews fend off conversion efforts on I — • tn 1 6 multiple fronts? 0 Z z How can diaspora Jews bolster Jewish 0 0 pride in Israel? a. 0- DESIGNER CLOTHING COLLECTIONS ACCESSORIES HANDBAGS SHOES SALE TENDER 271 WEST MAPLE DOWNTOWN BIRMINGHAM 248.258.0212 SUNDAY 12-5 MONDAY—SATURDAY 10-6 THURSDAY 10-9 1312550 January 24 . 2008 A5