The Jewish case for the ground zero mosque by Rabbi Arthur Waskow

[Poll_Blind]

I read this piece on CNN and it sums up my feelings and my anger at the hypocrisy. His piece is short. Just a single page. All he really has to do to make his point is substitute the word "synogogue" but it's powerful stuff when you think on it. Here is an excerpt of his piece:

--snip--
Suppose we were to apply what the great Rabbi Hillel told us two thousand years ago is the very heart of Torah:

"Don't do to your neighbor what you would hate if your neighbor did it to you."

The following six paragraphs are not fact; they are fiction. But they have a nonfiction point. Please note your own reactions to this fictional story.

"Two major organizations of Arab-Americans and Muslim Americans today urged the city of Detroit to prevent the building of a new synagogue in the city.

“The two organizations said that while Jews have a legal "right” to build a synagogue there, it was not ethically " right” to do so in the face of the emotional upset it would cause the Palestinian and Arab residents of Detroit, many of whose families suffered from the Israeli government’s blockade and invasion of Gaza.

"Leaders of the new synagogue pointed out that, while deeply committed to the security and the flourishing of the State of Israel as a country with a special relationship to the Jewish people, they had often condemned specific policies of the Israeli government and had for many years actively supported a peace settlement between Israel and a new state of Palestine.

--snip--

I think people should read over those examples- not just the ones I posted but all the ones he gives in his article (it's very short) and really think about how you'd react to those statements.

No one is immune from bigotry.

PB

[mmonk]

1. Read it.

Good piece by the Rabbi.