This past Friday evening in the small Itamar settlement in the Northern West Bank, a family of five was brutally killed by a knife wielding murderer. The victims include a husband, a wife and their three children including a four-month-old baby. This attack comes as the Israeli government is doing its best to create a workable peace agreement with the Palestinians.
We can all appreciate the hard feelings between two groups, Israelis and Palestinians, who are all vying for the same piece of land, or at least a peaceful way of sharing it. Some may say that if there is not peace there is war. The reality is that it’s not always the case. However, no matter the current situation there is never a situation that would allow for one individual to cold bloodedly murder an entire family.
The beauty of the America we live in is that we can debate the value of life, when it begins and when it ends and when or if a mother may abort that life. Most devoutly religious Jews, Christians and Muslims will tell you that abortion, especially late term abortion is wrong. So certainly everyone should agree that aborting the lives of two grown adults and three young children is nothing less than murder.
The beauty of our free country is that we may live, shop, eat, pray and even play where we want. Not everyone is so lucky to have such freedom. When our freedoms are threatened, most of us are willing to stand up and fight for it. Many people are willing to stand up and fight for other’s freedoms as well. The true test of our character is when we are willing to stand up and fight our own brothers and sisters when they threaten other’s freedoms.
There are approximately 1.2 billion Muslims in the world today. I have no doubt that a large number of those love peace and detest violence. They are Americans who happen to be Muslim, like I am an American who happens to be Jewish. Those are the same Muslims who scream afoul when radio show hosts spend time pointing out potential or even proven Muslim Brotherhood groups, or when a member of congress holds hearings about potential home-grown Islamic extremist threats. Their reasoning is that these shows and hearings will only bring more hate and animosity towards the Muslim community. It is not fair to assume or make it appear that all Muslims are terrorists.
Let’s be clear, it’s not the hearings or the radio shows that cause people to think that all Muslims are tied to terrorism, it’s that we can’t tell the difference. Until the day comes when these peace-loving all-American patriotic Muslims stand-up and shout from the rooftops against the murder of a 4-month-old baby and her family, there will be no way to know the difference. It is now the time for peace loving Muslims to stand up the same way the peace-loving Jews across the world stood up to condemn the Jewish man who killed 29 Muslims outside Abraham’s tomb in 1994.
When the day comes that a Muslim member of congress will not only testify that a man of his faith ran into the twin towers to save human lives, but also testify to condemn the atrocities of men of his faith, will we be able to start to differentiate those who love peace and those who condone violence.