33 thoughts on “Jews and Muslims, Confronting Islamophobia, Finding Common Cause – Tikun Olam תיקון עולם إصلاح العالم
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  1. It was a fantastic event. I was so very, very pleased to hear you speak. Well done to all of you, from speakers/presenters to organizers and volunteers. I hope that the conference’s message really has an impact.

  2. Very sorry to read about your SPLC experience, an organization I have supported for many years. Of course I shall contact them and request a response to what you have written. If indeed they have behaved foolishly and cowardly to an all too usual Israel-whatever pressure, actual or anticipated, then they will have lost at least one supporter.

  3. Interesting how you keep pointing out how Yerushalmi is “devout Orthodox” or “Ultra-Orthodox”. Why is that relevant? Is it because you are drawing a picture for the audience to really emphasize how despicable he is? What about the two Muslims not allowed to board the plane? They are “devout Ultra-Muslims”‘ or whatever, yet you are complaining that they should NOT be judged on that basis. So is it okay to tar Jews by saying they are “ultra-Orthodox” but NOT to do the same for Muslims?

    1. That sentence contained much more information than you’re acknowledging so pls. quote the full context which linked his ultra Orthodox beliefs to the extreme settlerists. There are MANY Orthodox Jews I respect and I’ve profiled and referred to them here (did you miss that?). But I do not respect ultra Orthodox Jews affiliated with the more extreme of the settler movement.

  4. un able to attend.

    did the muslims let the jews know that zionist jews and their quiet brothers are responsible for islam o phobia.

    1. I have idea what this inarticulate snark means. But if you keep it up you’ll be moderated. If you had attended you might’ve learned something, but I doubt it’s possible having views like these.

  5. This seems to be a great event. and i was very impressed with your speech. can you provide a link to a single Muslim who carried a similar speech to yours ?

    1. Imam Rauf was the keynote & his message mirrored mine precisely. I object to the tone of yr comment which presumed there were no such speakers. Every single one I heard preached moderation, compromise, tolerance, dialogue & peace. Can you point me to a single current Israeli government official who’s preached as consistently in support of these virtues?

      1. Richard, voicing objection to “tone” of people’s questions, even when tone DOES border on objectionable, is ill-conceived.
        Meet the meat of it head-on and forego unnecessary crud such as “the Israelis are worser, worser, worsest ever”

        Tell Hala and other scoffers that there are a billion Muslims who speak for peace daily, who live in peace every day of their lives, and who stand for peace even while bearing the wounds from those fellow Muslims who speak and act otherwise AND the wounds left by those non-Muslims too obtuse to note that it’s a minority who hate and act violently.

        Arab, Iranian, and Pakistani misguided militants are a minority among Muslims and a minority among even the Arabs, the Iranians and the Pakistanis…. and they wouldn’t have to inflict daily violence upon their countrymen in order to remain at large otherwise.

        I don’t know where the heck Hala is from, but I live among a great number of Muslims, quite peacefully and happily.
        There is no problem here.

        And Richard stop trying to make out that every single Israeli is like Lieberman or Netanyahu or the other far rightists. It leaves you sounding no more informed or decent or fair than those who spew every Muslim is a militant.

      2. You object the tone ? i am trying to learn.

        as for your question “Can you point me to a single current Israeli government official”

        i thought the event took place in the US, and involved Muslims and Jews that are trying to fight Islamophobia in the US, what do Israeli government officials have to do with it ?

        1. I asked you a question about which current Israeli gov’t figure speaks as peacefully & tolerantly about Islam as the Muslims at this conference spoke about Jews & instead of answering, you ask what Israel has to do with anything. Now, why don’t you try to answer my actual question? As for Islamophobia, you clearly didn’t read my talk because many Israelis have a massive level of Islamophobia & this nasty habit poisons discourse not just in the U.S. when it rears its ugly head. IT does so inside Israel as well.

          1. To the best of my knowledge no Jewish politician with the exception of the Far Right Crazy’s such as Ben-Ari no one speaks in terms of Muslim non Muslims, so your question doesn’t really have a toe to stand on.

          2. I’m afraid you are the one without toes. Every major poll of Israeli Jewish attitudes notes a profound fear & distrust of Israeli Palestinians and Islam in general. Most Israeli Jewish MKs feel roughly the same way.

          3. NO. Not how it works. Assume that anything I tell you here I’ve already written about in a post in which I’ve linked to a credible media source or poll. Now YOU do the work by doing a Google search and find the post or poll. Then you read it & absorb the data & return here to try to argue your way past the data. I don’t do the work for you. You do the work for yrself. And if you do that & still can’t find it then you ask & I’ll try to help. If I responded to every challenge like yours I’d do nothing but researching old blog posts & never write a new one. So get off your lazy duff & do some research & work for a change.

          4. Hala,

            Here you’ll find links to and discussion of some relevant polls: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism_in_Israel#Polls

            From my personal experience with my Jewish Iraeli family members (of Russian Jewish origin), most of them exhibit deep distrust and hateful feelings towards Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims in general. They don’t have any Muslim friends and don’t want anything to do with them. Even though they themselves came to Israel no more than 20 years ago, most advocate resetlement of native Palestinians to Jordan or wherever as a “solution” to the conflict.

            I sincerely hope that you are genuinely interested in investigating the truth about the matter, because otherwise no meaningful discussion or dialogue is possible.

            Stay human!

          5. I’m sorry. I forgot to mention that the percentage of Israeli Jews refusing to live in the same building as Arabs are higher now that the ‘only’ 68% in the 2006-poll. I think the latest poll indicated around 75%.

  6. Just letting folks know: many of the speeches, discussions, panels and workshops were digitally recorded, and will be available soon online. I am quite happy about that, because I could only be in one place at a time, and there were SO many good offerings!

  7. why under your donation link is there the statement, support “the wikileaks of israel” with the byline, Israel’s channel 10 news?

    can you link to the quote where they ask their viewers to support this site?

  8. “As for Islamophobia, you clearly didn’t read my talk because many Israelis have a massive level of Islamophobia”

    Islamophobia or just anti-Islamic Arab? As Hamas was democratically elected by Islamic Arabs and as Hamas is an Islamic Arab organization and as Hamas is dedicated to killing Jews… Sounds to me that Israel is justified in their concern.

    1. Palestine isn’t composed only of Muslims and the voters who supported Hamas were not only Muslim (though largely so). Saying Hamas is an “Islamic Arab organization” is almost meaningless. It is a political movement with Islamist tendencies. But politics are more important to the movement, esp. in its approach to the Israeli Palestinian conflict, than religion.

      Hamas isn’t dedicated to killing Israelis, let alone Jews. I find yr arguments offensive, trivial and propagandistic. Not to mention ignorant.

      1. Richard are you being serious?
        Hamas is overwhelmingly an organization of followers of Islam who are Arabs, not just largely so.
        If it’s not 99% or more overall, and 100% in leadership positions, please correct me.

        1. Any Palestinian can vote for Hamas & while its support is largely Muslim there are reasons why (notably disgust w Fatah) why non Muslims might vote for it.

          But again you’re losing track of the fact that it is primarily a political movement with religious overtones.

          1. The support for Hamas is overwhelmingly Islamic. Hamas’ charter calls for killing all Jews. Your penchant for insulting those who know better then you is rather childish.

            If politics were so important to Hamas, they would have amended their charter. Clearly, eventual destruction of Israel is a clear goal.

            Still hoping the croc eats you last?

          2. READ the comment rules. The Hamas covenant has been argued here so many times it’s grown old. In fact, it’s a dead horse. Don’t violate the comment rules. They’re there for a reason.

            eventual destruction of Israel is a clear goal.

            Clear to hasbarists like you who read documents written in 1988 & don’t bother to follow what real Hamas leaders alive in 2011 like Khaled Meshal have to say because it would prick you conveniently constructed bubble.

  9. The conference reminds me of Rabbi Haim Ovadia, Kahal Joseph Congregation in Los Angeles, California, who said in January, 2008:

    “I am a Jew of Islam becuase Judaism under the rule of the Crescent took a different course than that under the rule of the Cross. The Jews of Islam, although decreed by the Pact of Omar as dhimmis or second-class cirizen, never experienced the same level of hatred, anti-Semitism or persecution, which were their daily bread in Christendom. They were not demonized as god’s (Jesus) killers and did not have to defend their religion in public deputations. They were not expelled en-masse on religious grounds from a Muslim country as they were from England, France and Catholic Spain”.

    http://rehmat1.wordpress.com/2010/01/20/gods-house-muslims-saved-jews-from-nazis/

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