Sunday, February 15, 2009
Very interesting email from a Turkish Muslim to Israel begging the Israelis to do a better job making their own case: Turkish Man writes to the Israeli Government: Defend yourself!
Richard Landes introduces it thus:
The following letter was written by a Turkish man to an Israeli government website. In it he mentions what a powerful grip the al Durah image had on his imagination, and what a revelation "Icon of Hatred" was for him. (The specific identity of the Youtube video is confirmed by my source for reasons I cannot go into because it would make it possible to identify the individual whose name I have removed to protect him.) I have not corrected his grammar and syntax in order to give a sense of the great effort he expended in writing this.
Here we have some of the great themes of mankind on display: independent intelligence, brotherhood between races and religions, a sense of gratitude for good deeds, the battle between malevolent propaganda and truth, and the importance of the one slandered to defend himself. What to challenge - granted in it's only a minority - the pessimism of a cynic...