The heart of Rabbi Marc Schneier’s Opinion column, “A New Paradigm For Muslim-Jewish Dialogue” (Aug. 22), can be found, in my opinion, in the last paragraph, next to the last sentence, which reads, “Without a doubt, it is high time for the Muslims marching and even rioting in the streets of Paris and London to take a sober lesson from the playbook of their fellow Muslims in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan.”.
Rabbi Schneier clearly misreads the Muslim world. Saudi Arabia was and still is operating on the basis of Wahhabi theology. In other words, it is a Salafist kind of Islam. America and the Saudis have been allies for decades, but only because of their mutual interest; namely, oil.
As for Egypt, what would have been the state of the Middle East if Mohammed Morsi (Muslim Brotherhood) hadn’t been overthrown by Abdel Sisi. (The majority of Egyptians clearly supported Sisi, but he hardly rose to his position of leadership through an election.) And Jordan would vanish in a heartbeat if not for Israel.
Unlike the Muslims in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt, European Muslims know their countries will protect them regardless of what kind of Muslim they are. The prejudices and anti-Semitism that they brought with them from their countries of origin can flower freely in Europe.
In this world, unfortunately, one has to operate on several levels at one time.
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