Reform leader to Muslim Americans: Together we will fight the opportunists who demonize you

Rabbi Eric Yoffie, leader of the Reform movement, spoke this afternoon to the annual convention of the Islamic Society of North America. The leadership of ISNA and the Union for Reform Judaism are planning a joint dialogue and education program for synagogues and mosques, Yoffie said. He asked the ISNA to help solve the Middle East crisis.

This is a compilation of his remarks plus some commentary.

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"There exists in this country a huge and profound ignorance about Islam," Yoffie said. Hard to argue with that. Yoffie added that it is "not that stories about Islam are missing from our media; there is no shortage of voices prepared to tell us that fanaticism and intolerance are fundamental to Islamic religion, and that violence and even suicide bombing have deep Koranic roots". Thus, "it has been far too easy to spread the image of Islam as enemy".

How did this ignorance happen? Yoffie asks and does not hesitate to name names.

"How did it happen that Christian fundamentalists, such as Pat Robertson and Franklin Graham, make vicious and public attacks against your religious tradition?"

"How did it happen that when a Muslim congressman takes his oath of office while holding the Koran, Dennis Prager suggests that the congressman is more dangerous to America than the terrorists of 9/11?"
"How did it happen that a member of Congress, Tom Tancredo, now running for President, calls for the bombing of Mecca and Medina?"

How?

His explanation could be a matter of some debate: He mentions the "profound ignorance" towards Islam in the U.S., but finds fault both with "the terrorists who too often dominate the media, subverting Islam?s image" and with the "opportunists in our midst ? the media figures, religious leaders, and politicians who demonize Muslims and bash Islam".

Profile

Yoffie calls for an end to "racial profiling" and "legal discrimination." While these concepts both deal with race, they are not necessarily the same: Profiling is a tool, problematic but sometimes almost unavoidable. Discrimination is always bad.

He says that "the dialogue" the organizations will be conducting "will not be one way, of course. You will teach us about Islam and we will teach you about Judaism. We will help you to overcome stereotyping of Muslims, and you will help us to overcome stereotyping of Jews".

"As a Jew I know that our sacred texts, including the Hebrew Bible, are filled with contradictory propositions, and these include passages that appear to promote violence and thus offend our ethical sensibilities. Such texts are to be found in all religions, including Christianity and Islam", Yoffie admits. However, he says, "the overwhelming majority of Jews reject violence by interpreting these texts in a constructive way".

He believes that similar dynamics work in all religions, but falls short of a full-fledged comparison. In the Jewish faith, he says, there is "a tiny, extremist minority". For Islam he chooses somewhat broader definition: "as we know from the headlines, you have what I know must be for you as well as for us an alarming number of extremists of your own."

Mission

Yoffie concluded with a few words about the situation in the Middle East:
"American Jews", he told the crowd, "Have a deep, profound, and unshakable commitment to the State of Israel" ? a statement that probably did not come as a shock to the audience. At the same time, he said, "we understand the ties of Muslim Americans and Arab Americans to the Palestinian people."

He preached against importing "the conflicts of the Middle East into America", and suggested Jews and Muslims "work toward the day when a democratic Palestinian state lives side by side, in peace and security, with the democratic State of Israel."

How can this be done?

According to Yoffie, we must first "urge our government to commit itself to active, high-level engagement."

Second, we are obligated "to do everything in our power to prevent a political battle from being transformed into a holy war."

Finally, we must condemn all forms of "terrorist attacks."


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