More than just Muslims join ranks of world’s terrorists

I just finished reading Joey Korenman’s letter to the editor on Islam and terrorism (“Time to stop being politically correct,” Nov. 19, pg. 10). Shame on The Daily Free Press for printing such a jingoist and hateful piece.

Muslims are not the only ones who commit atrocious acts. What about Baruch Goldstein, who went into a mosque in 1994 and killed over 40 Muslims during prayer? He also says that many Palestinians want Israel destroyed. What do you say to people like Meir Kahane, who advocated the expulsion of all Palestinians from the occupied territories?

To say that Muslims should endure racial profiling for security reasons is absurd. Maybe you would have Muslims have national ID cards so we could be identified and ostracized anywhere they go. Or does that remind you too much of the Star of David Jews had to wear during Hitler’s reign in Germany? Everybody deserves the same rights as everybody else, regardless of their religion. True, terrorists don’t deserve the same rights as good people, but how do you know who is a terrorist?

There are over one billion Muslims in the world, making it the second largest organized religion in the world. So few people commit heinous acts like the few you mentioned that it’s unfair to the vast majority of good Muslims to have to bear the weight and guilt of those few evil ones.

How can you say the Koran says to kill non-believers when you have never read the book itself? Having read the Koran, I know it never says anything to that effect. In fact, it speaks highly of “People of the book,” which refers to Christians, Jews and Muslims. It says if you kill one man, it is as if you killed all mankind.

Islam is an extremely tolerant religion. It cannot be held accountable for power-hungry leaders who don’t practice it accordingly. I agree when you say people can be qualified as “wrong” and “evil,” but to judge all Muslims as wrong and evil on the basis of their religion is pure xenophobia.