We at Tikkun/NSP who often critique the extremism and violence that characterizes Israeli attacks on Palestinians and Arabs have an equal responsibility to critique the extremists in the Arab world. Ziad Asali, former chair of the ADC (Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee), was an honoree at a Tikkun/NSP conference in D.C. in 2004. Asali and Ibish present a critique of extremist ideas in the Arab and Muslim world that should be taken seriously by Arabs and Muslims around the world. And just as we resist any attempt to blame all Jews for the behavior of the Israeli government and its repressive policies against Palestinians, we resist any attempts to blame Islam itself or all Arabs or all Muslims for the violent assault on Christians (or Jews) that take place both in the discourse and actions of some Arab and Muslim extremists. Yet as we make clear in our analysis of some ideas in the Jewish world and as Asali and Ibish make clear in their analysis of some ideas in the Arab/Islamic world, both communities have an obligation to do more to critique the kind of thinking that gives support to ther extremists or justifies them because of the (alleged or real) "evil" of their enemies. --Rabbi Michael Lerner