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A shortened version of this letter appeared in the Journal-Gazette on 9 Oct. 2011.

Earlier this month, a letter called for a boycott of any business that caters to Muslims during the holiday of Ramadan.  The author took particular offense that the holiday fell on the same day when America "mourned the deaths of 3,000 Americans at the very same followers of a religion that believes in the destruction of any Christian religion."  While individuals may choose not to patronize businesses for any number of reasons, such choices should have at least a minimal grounding in fact.  According to the New York City Bureau of Vital Statistics, of the 2,749 people who died in the World Trade Center attack, more than a quarter of the victims originally were born outside the United States (http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/vs/2002sum.pdf).  For the fifth anniversary of 9/11, a 2006 U.S. State Dept. fact sheet showed that citizens representing 90 countries died during these attacks.  Furthermore, the Council on American-Islamic Relations estimates that 32 Muslims died on 9/11, including three passengers who were on United Flight 175 and  American Flight 11.  These victims came from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Iran, India, Guyana, Turkey, Gambia, Ivory Coast, Trinidad, Sri Lanka, and Albania.  One of the Muslim victims, Abdu Malahi, worked as an audio visual manager at the Marriott World Trade Center Hotel.  According to eyewitness testimony, before the first tower collapsed with Malahi inside, he spent his last moments running "from floor to floor to see if any guests remained… shouting in the hallways and taking guests personally to the stairwell to exit."  Another survivor saved by Malahi recalls that "it is still hard for me to comprehend his sacrifice for strangers" (http://www.cair.com/Portals/0/pdf/Muslim-Victims-of-911.pdf).

As the anniversary of Kristallnacht on 9 November 1938 approaches, though, such choices also should maintain some historical perspective.  The world should recall how this hateful faith-based boycott nearly 75 years ago resulted in the destruction of thousands of German and Austrian Jewish homes, stores, and synagogues. According to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, an estimated 91 Jews died during this two day riot (http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/).  Surely, some of those rioters then saw themselves as "kind and gentle people" who had suffered long enough at the hands of a religion bent on their destruction.  Thus, as a Jew, I become somewhat leery when there is talk in 2011 of a faith-based boycott targeting a particular religious group.  As someone who has participated in interfaith organizations like A Seed of Common Ground, I see more of a future in facilitating a dialogue between Muslims, Christians, and Jews.  Such dialogue, and not isolated and uninformed rants against Muslims, ultimately will do more for Northeast Indiana, certainly a home to many Christian-Americans, but, thankfully, not exclusively Christian or American.