Reply to Ianus

Submitted by Seamus MacNemi (United States), May 4, 2007 at 18:24

I take your thoughts with gratitude for the honesty expressed in your thinking. I do, however, disagree somewhat. I have lived in communities where Moslims and Jews get along quite well together and I know that in the past, especially in Spain and in Turkey there was quite a famous collaboration between Muslims and Jews.

The "Rambam", Moses Ben Maimon or Maimonides as He is sometimes called, was the physician to the Sultan of Cairo, and when my ancestors were driven out of Spain by Queen Isabella and her inquisition along with the Jews and Moslims, The Turkish Sultan invited many, not only Jews, to live in his lands. He recognised the advantage that people like us who were industrious and far sighted would be to him in his reign.

So, we were given, more or less, a free hand to pursue our own interests without fear of outside interference. The only thing we could not do was to aspire to the position of the Sultan. Of course, this all meant little of nothing to us as we were free to be who we were and we didn't have the authorities always breathing down our necks and spies running about the place looking for any excuse to betray us. It might suprise you to know that many of my folk rose to some quite prominent positions in the Muslim world even though we were not Muslims. We were who we were and no anount of fancy ritual gibberish or majic words and spells would ever change any of that. So He didn't even try to convert us. That was the real fear of the church and one major reason for the crusades. We were beyond the pale of the church in every way and they could not touch our thinking. So they sought to eliminate us and the Jews along with us.

In our history, my folk have born many of the same libel accusations as the Jews, and I am often given to wonder who they would hate and fear more, Me or the Jew who stands next to me. Given a true choice of targets I think I would be the prefered choice simply for the fact that in matters of aquisition and money as well as political power, my own ambitions would far outstrip any the Jew might have. After all, my folk wrote much of the book that the Jew reads when it comes to wealth and power. As well, we tought him how to fight and we put the gun in his hands so he could fight. So if anybody has a beef, now you know where to bring it.

Leave the Jew alone to live his life as he sees fit and all will be well with you. Think to do otherwise and you will have us to deal with. That, I can assure you, will not be a pleasant experience for you.

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