Extremists: ‘Reach Out and Listen a Little’

We can use last week’s events as an excuse to indict all Muslims or Jews uniformly and efficiently poison the well of interfaith discourse. If we do, the destruction by the extremists will expand beyond the thousands of innocent souls already murdered on the East Coast or the fear ignited by alleged bomb-wielding cowards here in Los Angeles. We can use the sickening video of Osama bin Laden (Dec. 14) or the disgusting allegations here in Southern California involving Jewish Defense League members (“JDL Leader Accused in Mosque Bomb Plot,” Dec. 13) to solidify our own prejudices and to posture against our enemies, real or imagined. Or, we can reach out to others and listen just a little.

As people of goodwill we should not tolerate, countenance or excuse terrorism against innocent men, women and children regardless of the cause. Terrorists, their organizations and resources must be incapacitated whether they are in the San Fernando Valley or southern Afghanistan. If, however, our physical battle against extremism is to be truly successful, it must also be accompanied by a unified psychic resolve. In the end, we will define ourselves not only by the evildoers we righteously fight against but by the pluralist ideals we must strive for.

Brian Levin

Director, Center for the Study

of Hate & Extremism

Cal State San Bernardino

*

Irv Rubin and his cohorts at the Jewish Defense League do not represent all Jews. As a young American Jewish woman who has learned about the Holocaust on personal, academic and professional levels, I am astonished that any Jew could [allegedly] conceive of anything so ignorant, misguided and dangerous. Every group has its crazies. Rubin and the JDL are ours. Shame on them for doing to Judaism what Al Qaeda and the Palestinian terrorists have done to Islam.

Andrea Kemp

Woodland Hills