Muslim Leaders Ban Pokemon

* “Arabs See Jewish Conspiracy in Pokemon” (April 24), on the trend to demonize and ban Pokemon in Arab Muslim countries and blame a “Jewish conspiracy” for Pokemon, contains many of the themes that limit the chances for Middle East peace at the present time.

Arab leaders fear modernization and Western influences (even Pokemon, which is actually Eastern, or Japanese). Arabs blame these influences for their societal problems. They try to connect these to Jews or Israel in one way or the other (even when there is no connection). Authoritarian leaders and religious authorities work together to demonize these influences and their alleged Jewish connections. A new generation of children grows up with this hateful propaganda.

Think of how much easier it would be to achieve peace in the Middle East if these same Arab leaders devoted their energies not to legislating against Pokemon but to solving the problems of their growing poor and uneducated populations.

DAVID SCHECHTER

Los Angeles

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Pokemon is now considered a Jewish conspiracy to corrupt young, impressionable Islamic minds in the Arab world, promoting gambling and evolution theory. Although neither of these attributes are Jewish ones, I have to confess there is a greater Jewish conspiracy afoot in the Islamic world. Yes, their conception of a monotheistic God is a Jewish plot. After all, Muhammad adopted the concept from the Jews and spread it throughout the Arab world. Will Islam ever survive this one?

AARON SHUSTER

Los Angeles