ZOA says it doesn’t endorse letter it forwarded arguing West is ‘at war with Islam’

An email from the Zionist Organization of America landed in my inbox this morning.

This is not unusual in of itself, and not just because the ZOA will at times have comments on our stories. Its officials also (entirely reasonably) periodically write Jewish media outlets letters about the issues of the day.

This was different, first because the signatory — Robert Lappin — had no ZOA identifier attached to his signature.

More substantively, the letter’s content was like nothing I’d ever seen from the organization. (I’ve cut and pasted the whole letter below the jump.)

The letter said that "Western civilization is at war with Islam." It warned U.S. Muslims that they were on their way to pariah status:

Islam is not a religion of peace.  It is and has been a religion of violence, vengeance, and conquest for 1400 years.  Western Civilization is at war with Islam.  Saying that we are at war with terror, or radical Islam, or Islamic extremists, provides American Muslims with a rationale to do nothing.

Our American Muslim community is at great risk. It is a great tribute to the tradition of tolerance of the American people that in the face of repeated Muslim atrocities, committed in the name of Allah, in the United States and worldwide, that acts of hatred or vengeance against American Muslims have been virtually non-existent. However, it is only a matter-of-time, before this remarkable forbearance will wear thin. It will be a sad day for America, but, the way things are going, American Muslims will become a pariah community, unless they act to reform Islam in America.

My colleague Zach Silberman spoke with Morton Klein, ZOA’s president. Klein said he sent the letter out to a news media letters-to-the-editor listserve as a favor; Lappin is a donor. He had not intended for "ZOA" to appear in the sender field.

"This has zero to do with ZOA," Klein said. "I’m not endorsing not condemning, it’s purely a favor to a donor. I regret the mistake that it looks like ZOA thing."

Lappin, from Swampscott, Mass., signs his letter as a past president of the Jewish Federation of the North Shore.

He also includes this URL, which links to a Jewish education charitable foundation in his name.

Here’s the full text of the letter:

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To the Editor:

Islam is not a religion of peace.  It is and has been a religion of violence, vengeance, and conquest for 1400 years.  Western Civilization is at war with Islam.  Saying that we are at war with terror, or radical Islam, or Islamic extremists, provides American Muslims with a rationale to do nothing.

Our American Muslim community is at great risk.  It is a great tribute to the tradition of tolerance of the American people that in the face of repeated Muslim atrocities, committed in the name of Allah, in the United States and worldwide, that acts of hatred or vengeance against American Muslims have been virtually non-existent.  However, it is only a matter-of-time, before this remarkable forbearance will wear thin.  It will be a sad day for America, but, the way things are going, American Muslims will become a pariah community, unless they act to reform Islam in America.

To those who say Islam cannot be reformed, consider the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, and the Sufi Orders.  These Islamic movements divest Islam of fanatical beliefs and practices, and condemn religious wars and violence.  The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is said to be a growing international movement with membership in the tens of millions. 

If Islamic violence is to be stopped, and if our American Muslim community is to escape pariah status, political correctness and religious sensitivity must be put aside, and we must openly acknowledge and declare that we are at war with Islam.

Robert I. Lappin

Swampscott, Massachusetts

Past President of the Jewish Federation of the North Shore