Israel's brutal assault on the Gaza Strip has prompted a wave of reprisal attacks against Jewish targets in Europe and community leaders fear a wider resurgence of anti-Semitic feeling.
In the most serious incident, assailants rammed a burning car into the gates of a synagogue in Toulouse, southwest France, last night.
There has other arson attack against Jewish congregation in Sweden and the UK and an organisation that provides self-defence advice for British Jews said that as many as 25 racist incidents over the past week could be linked to the Gaza conflict.
The latest attacks come after a hardline Hamas leader, Mahmoud Zahar, warned that the Islamists would kill Jewish children anywhere in the world in revenge for an assault in which more than 500 Palestinians have been killed, including at least 40 people taking shelter in a UN-run school hit in an air strike today.
[...]
In Denmark, a 27-year-old Dane born in Lebanon of Palestinian parents is alleged to have injured two young Israelis last week, opening fire with a handgun in a shooting that police suspect could be linked to the Gaza crisis.
Last night a Jewish congregation in Helsingborg, in southern Sweden, was attacked by someone who “broke a window and threw in something that was burning,” a police spokesman said. Neighbors alerted rescue services before the fire took
On Sunday slogans including “murderers ... You broke the cease-fire" and “don’t subject Palestine to ethnic cleansing" were daubed on Israel’s embassy in Stockholm.
When I was living in Austin TX I belonged to PCWF (Palestine Children's Welfare Fund) Many of our members were anti-Zionist Jews. In fact in the summer of 2007 we sent a delegation of Anti-Zionist Jews to Israel in order to protest the treatment of Palestinians by Zionists. An American Muslim can not get a visa to enter Israel.
I wasn't aware US citizens required a visa to enter Israel?
Last edited by Whatsthepoint; 01-08-2009 at 08:37 PM.
Moreover, Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, a contemporary Muslim scholar, states the following:
A clear separating line should be drawn here between the teachings of Islam, which prohibit attacking non-Muslim places of worship, and the acts of some Muslims who possess a narrow-minded view of Islam.
Those people harm Islam and Muslims with their wrong behavior; as the threat they pose to Islam is much more than that of the enemies of Islam.
Along the same line, a traditional Arabic proverb reads, "A wise enemy is better than a foolish friend."
The fanaticism we see in some certain people is often due to reasons that have nothing to do with religion, even if it takes the form of religion. In fact, its reasons may turn out to be social, economic, or political after thorough study. That is why we see it appearing in certain areas and not others; as some social circumstances and inherited traditions sow the seed of fanaticism and help it grow. Therefore, it is unfair to accuse religion of being responsible for such fanatic acts.
On the same note, Dr. `Abdus-Sattar F. Sa`eed, a professor of tafseer at Al-Azhar University, says the following:
Islam respects other religions and prohibits attacking their places of worship. Allah Almighty says, [For had it not been for Allah's repelling some men by means of others, cloisters and churches and oratories and mosques, wherein the name of Allah is oft mentioned, would assuredly have been pulled down] (Al-Hajj 22:40). Moreover, in the hadith reported by Al-Bayhaqi in his Sunan, Abu Bakr gives orders to his governors, saying, "Do not drown or burn date palm trees; do not kill an animal or a fruit tree; do not destroy markets; do not kill children, old men, or women. You will find some people who have retired in places of worship, so leave them there to practice in peace."
Sheikh Muhammad`Abdullah Al-Khatib, a prominent scholar from Al-Azhar, adds the following:
Places of worship that belong to non-Muslims have a special position in the Qur'an, which mentions protecting them before mosques. The Almighty says, [For had it not been for Allah's repelling some men by means of others, cloisters and churches and oratories and mosques, wherein the name of Allah is oft-mentioned, would assuredly have been pulled down] (Al-Hajj 22:40). This precedence is intended to place stress on caring for and protecting non-Muslims' places of worship.
Since the beginning of Islam, Muslims have protected non-Muslims' places of worship; the order for the all commanders in all battles and conquests was not to attack places of worship and the people inside them, "You will find people who have devoted themselves to worship, so leave them."
Islam is a religion that allows for all religions to coexist as long as there is no aggression against Muslims. If there is aggression against Muslims, then only the transgressors would be punished, as the Qur'an says, [And no bearer of burdens shall bear the burden of another] (Al-An`am 6:164).
I wasn't aware US citizens required a visa to enter Israel?
They sure do if it is public knowledge they are Muslim and the visa gets denied automatically. I do not know if non-Muslim American citizens face the same thing.
They sure do if it is public knowledge they are Muslim and the visa gets denied automatically. I do not know if non-Muslim American citizens face the same thing.
My error. I goofed and misunderstood my friends.
I just checked with my friends in Austin that tried to go to Israel and I was wrong about the visa. The visa was not needed.
But, they got a hassle that they would get blocked from visiting Saudi for Hajj if they went. They declined going to Israel as they feared it might prevent them from doing Hajj in the future.
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