To those that offered us sanctuary from persecution, Thank You To those who saved or tried to save a life, you are all 'Schindler's', Thank You To those who gave your life fighting the tyranny of the Nazi's, Thank You To those who lost a loved one in battle against evil, we grieve with you, Thank You We are all children of G-D We have the same values We have a similar culture We teach our children to love not hate We stand together against evil and terror No longer are we the 'silent majority' we are the 'vocal majority' No longer will we tolerate discrimination No longer will we accept fundamentalism and extremism in our communities We honor all those of any faith who came to stand besides us in our centuries of need. We offer to you the same you gave to us:- tolerance and freedom That is why when you visit us or live amongst us we respect your differences That is why you are free to practice your faith amongst us This is why all are equal in our society That is why we strive to understand you as you have striven to understand us That is why whatever tyranny we face, we face it together and eventually we will overcome. To those this open letter doesn't apply to, we are sick and tired of your hatred and your lack of compassion to others. We aren't interested in respecting you because you don't respect us, even when we let you live in our democracies. We urge you to cease violence in the name of doctrine, we urge you to educate your children to love and respect everyone as equals. And finally, if you insist on continuing your evil we reserve the right to use every means at our disposal to stop you from damaging the wonderful world we have created in peace.
(photo credit: The Jerusalem Post)