WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2013
DRANCY, France (AP) — Dozens of French imams have visited a Holocaust memorial in Drancy in an effort to show that Islam is a tolerant religion.
The Muslim leaders, who traveled from all over France, gathered Monday night at the site of the former detention camp where around 65,000 Jews were held before being deported to extermination camps, mainly to Auschwitz, during World War II.
The event, the first of its kind since the Drancy memorial opened last September, was attended by Interior Minister Manuel Valls who said it “shows that dialogue, tolerance and the understanding of other religions is indispensable in fighting against anti-Semitism and fanaticism.”
Some imams present traveled to Israel last year to pray at the tomb of the Jewish children gunned down in Toulouse last March by Mohamed Merah.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/imams-visit-holocaust-site-to-show-tolerant-islam/
French Imams lay a wreath at the Holocaust memorial site in Yad Vashem, Tuesday (photo credit: Yoav Ari Dudkevitch/Flash90)
Muslims never had any issue against Jews on a religious level. (The Prophet, peace be on him even married a Jewish lady). Israelis taking over Palestinian lands is another issue.
Muslim leaders from all over France gather at Drancy memorial, site of former detention camp is a heart warming news which should give some food for thought to such critics who can not or would not see any progress in Jewish Muslim relations.
In my work with anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, I am often reminded by some of my Jewish brothers and sisters that Islam is inherently anti-Semitic and that many Imams preach hatred against Judaism.
While no one can deny that there are some people-both public and religious representative who may indulge in such despicable acts, the fact remains that majority of Muslims and Islam itself is not religiously anti-Semitic or abusive towards Judaism.
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