Please do some research

Submitted by Neutral observer (United Arab Emirates), Apr 5, 2008 at 08:47

It is obvious that the author of this article has done little or no research on the topic.

Under islamic rule, both Christians and Jews were recognised as ‘'peoples of the book"and were free to practice their religion. They had to pay a fee to be protected by the arabs at that time – similar to the concept of taxes. These taxes were "a concrete continuation of the taxes paid to earlier regimes"

Jews under arab rule had relegious freedom. Today one can see synagogues decorated in arabic style and that were built under arab rule.

Unfortunately, there are countries in arab or islamic world where religious freedom is limited. However even this is not as white and black as it might seem to a western viewer who does not bother do even some simple research. E.g. iran has around 400,000 armeninians (who are iranian citizens). In addition to having their own churches and clubs, Armenians are one of the few linguistic minorities in Iran with their own schools.

As unfortunate is that many wars were started in the name of religion e.g. the crusaders that attacked not only muslims in the near east but also christians of the east. There is a need for followers of different faiths to become more tolerant. However, making misleading statements that only make the gaps bigger.

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