“(December 4, 2023 / JNS)
OFAKIM, Israel—A reverential silence fell on the room as the four American-Muslim women bowed their heads in prayer on Friday for the victims of the Hamas attack on Israel.
Moments earlier, the interfaith crowd in the apartment in this western Negev city, which included Muslims, Jews, a white-turbaned Sikh, a mixed Israeli family and Mayor Yitzhak Danino, stood mesmerized as the Arabic words of supplication for the Israelis murdered in the massacre were intoned.
“The Muslim world was [mostly] silent about what happened on Oct. 7,” Bangladeshi-born Farhana Kohrshed, 51, who moved to Boston as a teenager, told the group. “We are here to denounce what Hamas has done to you.””
More – https://www.jns.org/muslim-women-leaders-from-us-in-israel-on-solidarity-mission/
I am not so sure now.
After a second, more careful look, I noticed that the story about the delegation of American Muslim women who visited Israel to express support over the Nov. 7 Hamas atrocities, ended with a quote by one of the Muslim women saying that she believes, “Israel is fighting for the whole world.” I should have been more careful to check and recheck before posting the story, but that sounds to me more like an ideological statement (propaganda) than an outpouring from the human heart.
Perhaps I was prompted by my own irrational exuberance, my wish to see evidence of human decency even in the midst of atrocious events. But having taken a second look, I cannot help wondering whether the American Muslim and Multifaith Woman’s Empowerment Council is what it appears to be, or if it might be a front, set up to legitimize the Israeli war efforts.
I plan to look further into it.