I found this article, by Joanne McCarthy, in last weekend's Herald:
"I thought it might help in this week of despair over Lebanon and Israel, outrage over cats and dogs and concern about banana-led inflation, to distract ourselves with some words about courage.
Wafa Sultan is an Arab-American psychiatrist who appeared on Al-Jazeera TV in February and challenged Islamic extremists to take responsibility for violence and killings done in the name of religion. 'Only the Muslims defend their beliefs by burning down churches, killing people, and destroying embassies', she said. 'The clash we are witnessing ...is a clash between a mentality that belongs to the 21st century. Muslims must ask themselves what they can do for humankind, before they demand that humankind respect them.'
Although Muslims had 'turned three Buddha statues into rubble, we have not seen a single Buddhist burn down a mosque, kill a Muslim, or burn down an embassy' she said.
During the interview Sultan was accused of blaspheming against Islam, the Prohpet and the Koran. Her words caused a sensation. She was threatened, interviewed by every major American news outlet, by Israeli media and by other Islamic groups concerned about killing in the name of Allah.
In later interviews she said she started questioning Islam in 1979 after witnessing the murder of a professor in Syria by men with alleged ties to an ultraconservative Muslim political group.
She left Syria to live and work in America and is writing a book with the aim of taking extremist politics out of Islam.
In Israel on the weekend, 5000 members of the Israeli Peace Front walked through the streets of Tel Aviv with signs saying 'End the War'.
Throughout Israel the Women in Black group held peace vigils and withstood violent protests from other Israelis.
Hannah Safran was one of the women who took part in a vigil in Haifa which was disrupted by shelling. But the women returned to complete it.
In an email early this week to another peace activist she talked about the need to keep talking about peace in a country consumed by war. 'The devastation is horrific. Has Israel gone crazy or have we not noticed what a mad country we live in?' she wrote.
Gila Svirsky is another Israeli peace activist and member of Women Against War. In a report circulated on the internet this week she wrote about the culture of violence that filters down when leaders use force to resolve problems. 'This culture of violence begins by personal example of those who influence our values and norms: parents, political leaders, the most powerful nation on earth', she wrote.
In this same week Hezbollah leader Sayyad Hassan Nasrallah vowed to continue fighting a guerilla war where 'the important thing is what losses we inflict on the Israeli enemy', and Israeli fire killed four United Nations observers after desperate appeals from the UN to stop bombing in the area.
And in Rome, world leaders could barely agree on what to order for dinner, let alone how to end the tradgedy that's unfolding."
I found this a wonderful story given the situation our world finds itself in at the present time. Although, undoubtedly, there will be many different opinions regarding this subject, all of which I welcome wholeheartedly.
B.