Muslims and Jews in the US
There are various Muslim groups in America and they have contributed much to the American culture. Different traditions exist among the Muslim communities here. Majority of the Muslims belong to the Sunni community. Many of the Muslims in the US adhere to different global movements within Islam. Though in the early periods the Muslims supported the Republican Party, now they mostly support the Democratic Party.
Jews were found in United States of America from the seventeenth century. The first group of Jews who were found in the US was Ashkenazi Jews who emigrated from Central and Eastern Europe and were very less in number. They were denied the right to vote. Later by 1790s they achieved political equality by becoming active in all the public affairs. In 1880s Jew immigrated to the United States in large numbers. By the twentieth century the Jews built many synagogues and also territorial associations for them and over time Jews became an integral part of American life.
After the shocking attacks on the world trade center on the 11th of September 2001, a number of crimes against the Muslims were reported. Many of theses attacks were fatal while the others ranged from discrimination and destruction of properties and violent threats and assaults and grievous hurts. Hence after the 9/11 attacks the Muslims in US had bad times. They were viewed as terrorists and were stereotyped. The Muslims in US were concerned about the public’s ignorance about Islam.
From long ago itself Muslims had a dislike for the Jews and On the other hand the Jews disliked the Muslims. The holy book of Muslims the Qur’an contains some instructions to the Muslims which are contradictory to the Jews. Qur’an has at times instructed the Muslims to love the Jews as brothers but at certain other instances instructed to attack the Jews as they refuse to convert to Islam. All this hostility has its roots in the scriptures of their religious books. Though the enmity started a long way back the hostility had some modern reasons too. The United Nations gave some land to the Jews and that land was occupied by the Muslims before. So the Muslims protested and attacked Israel which is the land of Jews.
It is unfortunate that Islam is the most controversial religion or it can be told that it is the most misunderstood religion of the world. The necessity of ending these hostilities between the Muslim and Jew brothers has been understood by the US and it has turned out to be a major concern. Attempts are being made to bridge the misunderstandings between the Muslims and the Jews. Many organizations are working with this intention. Iranian President Had recently made a demand fro an international dialogue between Jews and Muslims.
Jewish organizations in the US have been trying to find common partners among the Muslim organizations and to put an end to the hostilities among the two groups. Steps have been taken over the past few decades to bring into light the common religious and the cultural heritages of the two religions. From as early as in the 1960s Jews and Muslims had developed contacts. By the 1980s the Muslim groups won in establishing a political arena and found similar Jewish groups and developed relations among them. Even the Jews did not hesitate to go to mosques and the Muslims liked to go to synagogues to have icebreaker discussions. Hence we can dream that the Jews and Muslims will work together for peace in the coming days.
Incoming search terms:
- democratic party and muslims and jews