Muslims truly threatened by real dialogue with Jews

In June, an American Muslim woman named Rabia Choudry wrote in Time about her experiences in joining a year long fellowship at the dovish Shalom Hartman Institute in Israel.

After a year we built the trust necessary for a needed exchange of admissions. The Muslim fellows understood Jewish fear and the Jews’ deep desire for a homeland after thousands of years of being a mistrusted minority. And Israeli Jews affirmed to us the daily devastation of the occupation and the shattering of Palestinians through which Israel was born. These exchanges between Zionists and pro-Palestinians were monumental.

They are also an affirmation that there is still hope for dialogue and relationships that can actually make a difference. Until now, both parties have been speaking inside their own bubbles, safe in dialogue with people that agree with them. The walls have been built so high that breaching them to reach out to the other side is tantamount to treason. Hartman and the participants both took huge risks in being part of this program with hopes to forge a new way forward. This fellowship proves that building relationships between people who fundamentally disagree can uncover empathy and mutual recognition that despite differences, everyone deserves dignity, security, prosperity and self-determination.

Now, an UK-based Arab site has slammed not only Choudry, but the entire idea of dialogue with Jews.

According to the article, her article is proof that Israel's foreign ministry is trying to brainwash American Muslims. Choudry, we are told, is the first fruit of the project, where she now outrageously believes that Zionism means,as she writes,

The Jewish people’s longing of thousands of years for a homeland, a return from exile, a sanctuary from being a hated minority in the diaspora, an opportunity to establish Jewish values and honor God, a Biblical promise, a chance for redemption. As someone with years of interfaith experience I should have known all this, but I didn’t.

This shows, we are told, that Choudary "shows complete ignorance on Zionism itself."

The Arab article also notes that the majority of the Muslims who went on the fellowship did not go public, no doubt because of the fear of backlash by bigots like this author. But he uses this proof of Arab intolerance as proof that the program "betrays the trust and transparency that are supposed to govern relations between the activists and leaders of the Muslim communities."

Finally, the Arab author says, the entire concept of "dialogue" with Jews is flawed, because the Jews use it to push the idea that Zionism is not a wholly evil concept. This proves that they aren't interested in dialogue but in pushing their viewpoints.

Projection, anyone?