Dear cj, Just received this impassioned plea for relief from the anti-muslim sentiment that seems to be increasingly prevalent in the West. The first Crusades were by Euro invaders, who, among other things, demolished cities and massacred their citizens - all in the name of the invaders' religion, but perhaps more motivated by the appeal of loot, glory, and plunder. Today's constant media demonization of the Arab world, in news, commentary, and feature films, smacks of a Second Crusade, and the rhetoric today is hardly on a higher plane than the bygone cry of "Kill the Infidel!" The US sacking of Iraq (an atrocity worthy of war-crimes prosecution) and the continuing starvation-terrorism aimed at Iraqi citizens reveal that the same bloodthirsty mentality reigns in Washington today that possessed the Norman Knights of the twelfth century. So much history, so little progress. Fr. Kobti's prose is not easy to follow - English is clearly not his first tongue. And his perspective is quite at odds with our normal media fare, and may therefore seem extreme. Nonetheless his is a voice desparately trying to reach across a chasm, and it is, I believe, worthy of the effort to try to understand his perspective. I'd be glad to post responses, which would at least demonstrate to him that someone somewhere at least heard what he said. In Solidarity, rkm BTW> I'll be out of town for a week - much-needed holiday in France. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ Date: Fri, 11 Jul 1997 Sender: •••@••.••• Subject: Please, help us to stop cold war against Islam My Dear Friends, Just those two last months. We heard about Muslims in Jerusalem taking a room from the Orthodox Chruch in the Holy Sepulchre. We heard and/or some of us saw the Anti-Muslim, and ant-Arab film worked by HBO "Path to Paradise. We read on many American and Israeli News papers about Persecutions (Muslim, Christian, Jews or about fundamentalism etc). Mainly they were accusing our Brothers and sisters the MUSLIMS!! A lot of us tried to send E amils and chat about those things... Then we had that thing in Hebron depicting the Founder of Islam, the Virgin Mary with things that we did not like and we all condamned. Then the Koran was desecrated, then the question of the Orthodox Church in Hebron, and in every time the Israelis seem to help and try to intervene to put peace and/or sometimes the P.A are blamed, the Muslim Palestinians are feared etc...etc. AND EVERYBODY as always is speaking about it; SOMBODY is trying to PREPARE THE PUBLIC OPPINON FOR SOMETHING, when the main issue is our RIGHTS is JERUSALEM, our People there are loosing their ID's, their homes and lands and what remains of their FUTURE... Do you see, with me, that someone intelligently is preparing something? Please, try to look on your hearts. We Christians and Muslims, we love each other. We lived for centuries in Harmony everywhere. We build together our national aspirations and countries: Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Palestine, Jordan etc. Muslims and Christian martyres offered together their lives for the future of our sons and daughters in our home countries. Muslim and Christians refuse and refused fundamentalism that was feeded from outside... Muslims and Christians want to live in peace with Jews, they have already lived in peace with them; Muslim and Jews: in Egypt, Syria, Marocco, Tunisia, Palestine before and after the creation of Israel etc. Christian and Jews: in the West, Asia and the Americas. We are all innocent of what Extremisms and Fundamentalism (religious or as ideology) did in the past against Jews, Christians and Muslims and is trying to do today. Please let us stop that SOMEONE for that SOMETHING that he is intelligently preparing. We cannot accept to build that NEW COLD WAR AGINST ISLAM. They are our BROTHERS AND SISTERS. We cannot condamn the mass for some fanatic individuals. We should be fair in condaming at the same time and the same way the JEWISH, CHRISTIAN fundamentalism and name them the way were are labelling sometimes the Muslim fundamentalists: Terrorism. Some Jewish and Christian fundamentalism acting as terrorists as well. Just look around you and read facts on the ground you will find it not only in the Holy Land but also in the USA and Europe. We shoud stand with the TRUTH. Please stop feeding the Public Opinion with things that speak to that SOMEONE who is tring to build in us hatred and violence, and build in stead love, cooperation and sharing. The Moderate Head of Christian, Muslim and Jewish communities in the Holy Land (They are the Majority there) are tring to build bridges. The Catholic, the Orthdox, some Protestant and some Christian Communities are trying build trust. Please, STAND against that COLD WAR against our Brothers and Sisters the MUSLIMS. Stand with the TRUTH. Fr. Labib Kobti, A roman Catholic Priest from the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem Al-Bushra:http://www.al-bushra.org @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
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