A "Small Minority of Extremists?" GUEST POST

This guest post is by my son, Moshe Epstein, 17 years-old, and newly graduated from high school. English is his second language. The views expressed here are his own. This is his first blog.

"Strive hard against the unbelievers and the hypocrites and be
unyielding to them; and their abode is hell, and evil is their destination."
Quran 9:73

A common argument repeated many times by Muslim apologists is that, "It's only a small minority," of Muslims who become violent political extremists. In the wake of so many horrific murders around the world, the most recent one a murder of a British soldier in London, the apologists are on the defensive, once again spouting the idea that we shouldn't blame or condemn ALL Muslims, because those who engage in terror are a minority.

Unfortunately, attributing terror to a small minority of Muslims is like saying that only a small number of white supremacists hurt anyone. Also, this faulty theory of a radical minority in Islam fails to explain why religious violence is largely endemic to Islam, witness the tremendous persecution of religious minorities in Muslim countries.

 

No Major Problem

In other words, Muslim apologists brush aside the increased Islamic terrorism threat, resultant increases in loss of liberties and privacy rights because, "Most Muslims are not terrorists." By implication, the apologists would have us all believe that Islamic terrorism isn't really a major problem for western countries, like Britain or Australia, and that a growing Muslim population isn't really a bad thing. Of course, many Muslim extremists do not actually get to the point where they manage to carry out their plans of terrorism, but we should certainly not ignore their intent.

In truth, even a tiny minority of 1% of Muslims worldwide translates to 15 million believers - hardly an insignificant number. However, the "minority" of Muslims who approve of terrorists, their goals, or their means of achieving them is much greater than this. In fact, it isn't even a true minority in some cases, depending on how goals and targets are defined.

The following polls convey what Muslims say are their attitudes toward terrorism, al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, the 9/11 attacks, violence in defense of Islam, Sharia, honor killings, and matters concerning assimilation in Western society. The results are all the more astonishing because most of the polls were conducted by organizations with an obvious interest in "discovering" agreeable statistics that downplay any cause for concern:

Pew Global:
(61%) of Egyptians approve of attacks on Americans
(32%) of Indonesians approve of attacks on Americans
(41%) of Pakistanis approve of attacks on Americans
(38%) of Moroccans approve of attacks on Americans
(83%) of Palestinians approve of some or most groups that attack Americans (only 14% oppose)
62%) of Jordanians approve of some or most groups that attack Americans (21% oppose)
(42%) of Turks approve of some or most groups that attack Americans (45% oppose)
A minority of Muslims disagreed entirely with terror attacks on Americans:
(Egypt 34%; Indonesia 45%; Pakistan 33%)

About half of those opposed to attacking Americans were sympathetic with al-Qaeda’s attitude toward the U.S.

Now, what about the Muslims who believe they are doing such things because they're defending Islam against other extremists?

(74%) in the Middle East, the strongest supporting of "Sharia Law" coming from countries such as:
(56%) in Tunisia
(83%) in Morocco
(44%) in Turkey
(74%) in the South Asia region
(77%) in Southeast Asia
(84%) in Pakistan

The following countries support the notion that suicide bombing is justified:
(26%) in Bangladesh
(29%) in Egypt
(39%) in Afghanistan
(40%) in the Palestinian territories

Muslims in the following countries say that tensions between more religiously observant and less observant Muslims are a very big problem in their country:
(34%) in Pakistan
(38%) in Lebanon
(74%) in Afghanistan

Asked if they support Iran acquiring nuclear weapons
(61%) in Egypt said they do.

Asked if they have a favorable opinion of Hamas
(34%) in Egypt said they do.

To use a somewhat crude analogy – Islam is like a type of virus. Now, it's true that not all carriers of this virus will necessarily fall ill to a full-blown serious health condition, but as long as the virus has infected some Muslims and is spreading, there will always be serious outbreaks of the manifestations of this virus. That makes the virus dangerous in and of itself.

That virus is Islam and it must be contained before it is too late.

Sources:
http://www.pewforum.org/uploadedFiles/Topics/Religious_Affiliation/Muslim/worlds-muslims-religion-politics-society-full-report.pdf
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/arabs/egyptpoll.html

Conflict Resolution

For months now, I have been watching the relationship between America and Israel crumble. I have listened to what Ed Koch calls, "…the deafening silence," of American Jews to the stance their elected president has chosen to adopt toward the only country the U.S. can depend on without question as a true and unwavering friend. I have been waiting for Americans to speak out.

The wait has been sheer torture for someone like me, who cannot separate politics from the mundane, who cannot maintain the apathy toward the roiling of the Middle East arena that seems to be associated with a certain type of maturity I do not possess.

I know how I appear: I am someone on a soapbox for a cause that is not popular, for a cause that for some, has become an embarrassment. My cause is the 27 state peace plan: 26 states for the Moslems, one small state for the Jews.

I lecture, I become strident, and I plead. I post too many pro-Israel articles on Facebook knowing that my friends may have "hidden" me. Some of my friends comment that there is no point to these efforts. Others just tell me straight out: they are sorry for my pain, but do not share my agenda.

But I feel such urgency that I cannot quit being a nudnik on behalf of Israel. Sometimes I fear my non-Jewish facebook friends find me "too Jewish," and then I chide myself for being a Jewish Uncle Tom. I am this person, this too Jewish person. It won't change and I can't be anyone else.

At last, the Jews made a rally. The attendance was paltry—a mere 3,000. The Jewish population of New York alone, where the rally took place, stands at 1,970,000. It hurts, hurts to the core. They said it was the driving rain. But I don't believe the rain kept too many people away. How can only 3,000 Americans plead the case of 6 million Israeli Jews?

When my friend Ann Goodman's son Yosef was buried after perishing in a military accident, a huge crowd of us did not let the wild storms keep us away from the cemetery. I remember feeling that we were all one, that soaking wet, frozen crowd, and that the rain was an initiation rite of sorts showing our caring for the Goodman family during the worst of an unspeakable tragedy and our devotion to giving Yosef the honor he deserved for serving and protecting us.

The rain over Har Herzl that day felt like the very heavens were crying over the loss of this defender. The more it rained, the more I felt comforted by what it meant that such large numbers would gather as one in spite of the inclement weather. The stormy weather seemed to fit the situation.

I feel let down by those Jews in America who chose not to attend the rally—rain does not come close to serving as a valid excuse for the nonattendance of most American Jews at what might have been a major event, but fell far short of this goal. I feel that their absence, silence, and expressed lack of concern have dealt a huge blow to the cause I hold most dear in my heart: the Land of Israel as a haven for all Jews, everywhere. I feel hurt, ashamed, let down, depressed, and angry.

Even through the gloom of these emotions, I want to thank the 3,000 who did brave the weather to show support for Israel.

Today, I took the time to listen to the video clips of several of the
speakers at the rally. Pamela Geller was the best of the bunch. She spoke irrefutable truths and is a rousing and gifted speaker--a gift from God to my cause! She asked the crowd, "Where does history start? Where should we start history? Who decides? Should it start 5, 768 years ago with the Jewish people? Should it start 1400 years ago with Mohammed when he beheaded an entire tribe, the Jews of Medina, the Qurayza tribe? Who decides?

Does it start in 1921 when the Palestinian Mufti of Jerusalem wiped out the Jews in Hebron? Does it start in 1929 when the Palestinian Mufti of Jerusalem wiped out the Jews again? Does it start in 1941 when the Mufti went to Iraq and aligned with Rashid Ali and wiped out the Jews of Iraq? Where does it start? I am asking you."


Rabbi David Algaze also spoke. His speech could not compare with Geller's for fire and passion. But I received a reward for staying with him until the end. "The Arab Israeli conflict is not about territory. The Arab Israeli conflict is about the destruction of any non-Islamic state in the Middle East. It is not about territory. Territory will not solve it … The only peace the Arabs will accept is the destruction of the State of Israel and that is not going to happen," said Algaze.

As Rabbi Algaze continued his speech, he wrapped up with an important point, one I have often pondered and have been unable to get across in an adequate manner to my friends: Sometimes there is no way to resolve a conflict. That is the case here. The conflict between Israel and the so-called Palestinians cannot be resolved. Pursuing the two-state solution, imposing a peace process, it's all wrong-headed and cannot have a positive outcome for the simple reason that the Arabs will never accept the State of Israel in any form. They will never accept our presence in the Middle East. We will always be an infidel nation. That is the Islamic dialogue. Period.

Over the summer, I took a trip to my hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. While there, I visited an old friend whom I had not seen in 30 years when both of us were teenagers. Leslie taught me guitar and had a huge impact on my musical tastes and preferences. She also woke up my political awareness, though we somehow ended up on opposite sides of the fence as adults.

Leslie and I have since been trying to find a way to dialogue without butting our heads too hard. Sometimes we fail. But there is one thing on which we agree in absolute faith: we will not apologize for Israel's right to exist.

Leslie and I discussed the conflict during my trip to Pittsburgh and at one point, she asked me, "So, what is the answer to the conflict? How can we achieve peace?"

I tried to tell her that there may not be a way to achieve a resolution but I fear I was not as articulate as Rav Algaze. Leslie looked at me in astonishment, like, "C'mon…there has to be a solution."

But Rav Algaze was right on when he said, "…you know the problem that we have in the world…the problem is the people who cannot accept that a conflict has no resolution. Not every disease can be cured, not every social ill can be resolved. Not every problem can be fixed. Sometimes, we have to learn that we are going to live with a problem. And to be able to deal with it, Israel, America, the world, have to accept the fact: we have an implacable enemy and that enemy is called Islam."

Islam is not only a religion. Islam is a political platform to control the world … those who propose a two-state solution are proposing the suicide of the State of Israel."