One God, in Conflict
- Share via
Sally Bahous (letter, Oct. 14) mentions that her Palestinian mother told her that “she could forgive the Zionists for the killing of her children . . . but she could never forgive the Zionists for turning Palestinians into fighters.” These words are amazingly similar to those of a Jewish grandmother named Golda Meir (former prime minister of Israel): “We may someday forgive the Arabs for killing our children, but we will never forgive them for compelling us to kill some of their children.”
Recently I have also read Islamic scholars, quoting from the Koran, saying that whoever kills one person, it is as if he had killed the entire world. This is almost identical to a Judaic saying. Does this mean that decent people in both religions independently reach the same positive conclusions?
Yona Sabar
Professor, Dept. of Near Eastern
Languages and Cultures, UCLA
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
