Many of us have our origins in countries that have been plagued by terrorist violence perpetrated in the name of Islam, writes Reihan Salam.
In Molly Ball’s recent report on the American left’s divisions over Israel, “Democrats’ Fractures on Israel Laid Bare by War” (Page One, Nov. 1), a progressive strategist seems to suggest that President Biden’s defense of Israel’s right to exist is somehow alienating Muslim Americans. I have no doubt that this is true for some number of Muslim Americans, and I frankly find that deeply troubling. But it must be said that many Muslim Americans, myself included, have their origins in countries that have been plagued by terrorist violence perpetrated in the name of Islam, violence that has been directed chiefly at Muslims.
Many of us understand that Hamas and other organizations devoted to the extermination of the Jewish people are also committed to brutalizing and murdering Muslims who stand in the way of their totalitarian designs. In short, Muslim Americans who stand with Israel and the Jewish people in their struggle for survival do exist—as convenient as it might be for self-described progressive humanitarians to pretend otherwise.
Continue reading the entire piece here at The Wall Street Journal (paywall)
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Reihan Salam is the president of the Manhattan Institute. Follow him on Twitter here.
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