(Posted to this site on 10/01/2001 )

Equality, Fairness and Justice
Editorial Dr. Mark Nataupsky
President, Holocaust Education Foundation, Inc.

I denounce my fellow Americans who verbally or physically assault either Arabs, people who look like Arabs, or Muslim buildings such as Mosques. I believe that both my Jewish heritage and my volunteer work with Holocaust education demand that I speak out.

The Torah (Old Testament) commands “justice, justice you shall pursue.” That means that everybody must be treated equally and fairly. That also means that we cannot sit or stand by silently while there is injustice. We must act.

My Holocaust Teacher Resource Center web site (http://www.Holocaust-trc.org) is committed to learning lessons from the Holocaust and to helping to make this a better world for everybody.

Despite the apparent fact that Muslim Arabs committed the recent horrific acts of terrorism, we must not assault innocent people and buildings just because they look like they might be Arabs or Muslim.

After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, many Japanese Americans were assaulted and confined. They were Americans. They were innocent of any wrongdoing. The United States later acknowledged that the way that those Americans were treated was wrong.

Hitler and the Nazis assaulted and tried to exterminate the Jewish people because of their Jewish heritage. Other groups targeted by the Nazis include the handicapped, homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Poles, Sinti and Roma (Gypsies). We must learn from that lesson and stop any generalized assaults on our fellow Americans who are Arabs, Americans who look like Arabs, and Muslim buildings such as Mosques.

God bless America and all Americans of our diverse backgrounds and heritage.

Dr. Mark Nataupsky