Monday Dec 10, 2007
Posted by David Harris
Let me see if I get this straight. Saeb Erekat, the Palestinian chief negotiator, summarily dismissed the prospect of recognizing Israel as a Jewish state.
His reasoning? "No state in the world connects its national identity to its religious identity." That, of course, is utterly preposterous. What, for example, do Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei, Comoros, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen have in common? You guessed it. Islam is the official religion, though many, such as Malaysia, have significant non-Muslim minorities.
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In the Trenches
American Jewish Committee (AJC) Executive Director David Harris assesses challenges to Jewish security worldwide.
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- Et tu, Mr. Erekat?
EEEE MMM dd, yyyy
- Et tu, Mr. Erekat?
EEEE MMM dd, yyyy
- Et tu, Mr. Erekat?
EEEE MMM dd, yyyy
- Et tu, Mr. Erekat?
EEEE MMM dd, yyyy
- Et tu, Mr. Erekat?
EEEE MMM dd, yyyy
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Recent Comments
Joan Moira Peters: My 2nd comment (my 1st was not published, that's OK): One could comment that perhaps one could think more globally & that's probably what negative critics would say (The article could have pointed out that Jews give a lot to other causes, also, yet I know it's not a Jewish custom to mention such philanthropy). Jewish people, having suffered severe persecution throughout history as well as in the present, have needed to develop the attitude that all Jewish people are part of one big family, in order to survive the terrible intellectual, religious & physical onslaught which has been perpetuated.
Laurence Winer: Mr. Harris,
Wake up and smell the roses! One people, in theory sure. In reality? Yet we are divided by religious practice, by economics, by politics, by philosophy, even by skin color. And today, I would argue, by generation. Israel, assimilation, the Holocaust, each carries different meaning to different Jews. Things are not what they were years ago. Then again, were they ever?
George, Geneva: I agree with Alejandro, but would go a step further. Even if we were all to become "frum," we still wouldn't be alike. Then the argument would be what sub-group. For example, the gap between Neturei Karta, whose members embrace Israel's enemies, including Iran's president, and Religious Zionists surely is wider -- and far more ominous -- than the difference between Modern Orthodoxy and, say, Conservative Judaism. In other words, let's face obvious facts. We're a variegated people. Always have been, always will be. That's a strength, not a weakness. Let's embrace our creative diversity.
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