First we need respect

In Mike Boehm’s article (“In the Cause of Tolerance,” Sept. 28), he reports that a new Museum of Tolerance is proposed to be built in Jerusalem, despite objections by Israeli-Arab groups who have sued to stop it. Their objection stems from the discovery of an abandoned Muslim cemetery on the site “said to date from the time of the Crusades.”

It is not impossible the ancients to whom these remains belonged were themselves victims of intolerance perpetrated by Crusaders. Were not Muslims victims of the same violence and intolerance as Jews in Nazi Germany? And while the magnitude may be less, the impulse to dehumanize and murder springs from the same human source, the same lack of understanding and tolerance. This is the lesson we are taught to remember.

Tolerance cannot exist unless it’s preceded by respect. It seems incongruous that proponents of tolerance and protectors of the past can be so selective in their choices, so lacking in respect. Let us not, in our rush to remember the past, forget the past.

Anthony Motzenbacker

Los Angeles