Digging for a Deeper Find

One of modernity's most persistent axioms is the one that states that Jews and Muslims are just plain incapable of living in peace with each other. They point, specifically, to Arab pogroms, the constant struggle between these groups in the holy land, and, yes, they even go as far as to bring up the Crusades. And while, yes, these are in fact some good examples of just how intractable the problems have been at times, they hardly represent an exhaustive study of the history between them.......................................................................................For example, a closer examination of history shows that from the 15th to the 19th century, the Muslim majorities of the Balkins and Turkey were both exceedingly hospitable to the Jews of their region. In fact, folks, when the Jews of Europe and Russia were being persecuted in the 17th century, many of these same Jews escaped and found refuge in Turkey. Yeah, that's right, Jewish refugees from places such as Ukraine actually looked to the Turkish Sultan to protect them from all things, CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION!!......................................................................................Now, none of this is to excuse the virulent anti-Semitism that's still evident in a great many Arab countries. But 1) it does serve to show people that the two groups have in fact lived in harmony and 2) that Islam is NOT de facto a violent religion. Yes, they've done a lot of violent things throughout hisory. But so, too, have the Jews and Christians - Christians, especially. I mean, just look at the European colonization of North and South America. That, me-buckos, was a wholesale massacre. Nazi Germany, the forced conversions of the Nordics and Slavs - the frigging list goes on and on. Thankfully, "we've" changed. And I'm thinking that if we've changed, maybe so, too, can the Muslims....yet again.