Islamic Author Calls for Christian-Muslim Dialog

In days when apocalyptic confrontation is in the air, it's always important to remember the peace-makers. ...

Hesham A. Hassaballa writes:

Amid the global Muslim uproar over the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, a Vatican official has called for talks with Islam on the Crusades and the Muslim conquests of Europe. I wholeheartedly support the idea. The row over the cartoons has unearthed a centuries-old tension between the Western and Muslim worlds, a tension which continues to fester to this day. The Crusades were a series of military campaigns launched by successive popes to reclaim the Holy Land from the Muslims. Centuries later, Muslims themselves pushed into Europe, even threatening the city of Vienna. Only through dialogue -- which must include scholars of both Western and Islamic history -- can the historical confrontation between the West and Islam be examined in an environment free of the charged and empty rhetoric of confrontation, hatred, and mutual distrust.

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