I would like to talk about the recent program at Brandeis sponsored by ZaHaV (Zionists for Historical Veracity), at which Sheikh Palazzi of the Italian Muslim Association spoke. As a member of the Jewish community who has many friends who are part of ZaHaV and who thoroughly enjoyed his presentation, I must say that I am quite upset. First of all, I openly admit that I did not attend the forum, but I talked with people who were there, including ZaHaV board members, and also read various statements by Sheikh Palazzi. Therefore, I am not putting myself into a stance to debate the merits of Mr. Palazzi's comments. In fact, I very much agreed with his message of saying that Islamists (Muslim terrorists and their supporters) have "hijacked" the religion of Islam, which is inherently about peace. However, I believe that this message would have been much stronger and more well received by the wider Brandeis community if it had in fact come from the Muslim community. I believe that the way in which ZaHaV promoted the event made it extremely condescending and patronizing towards members of the Muslim community at Brandeis. I asked myself if I would want a Jewish organization that I am involved with to sponsor someone that a pro-Palestinian group was inviting to speak on campus that does not believe that Israel has a right to exist. I undoubtedly would be enraged at such an invitation. I believe that the action which ZaHaV has taken is much the same as when pro-Palestinian groups invite Satmar Hasidim (Ultra-Orthodox Jews who do not believe that Jews should live in Israel until the days of the Messiah) to come to their events and denounce Israel's existence. Even though I appreciate his advocacy of Islam as a moderate - and peaceful - religion, it is nothing more than sheer apologetics. While he is telling Jews at Brandeis how Islam is not really a violent religion, innocent civilians are being murdered by Muslim terrorists. Sheikh Palazzi has done nothing to work for a just and effective change in the Muslim world, especially for the Palestinians. And by using him as their front man (at least for this event) ZaHaV has done nothing more than indulge themselves in their own uneffective stance of advocacy. We must educate rather than preach. We must reach out to those who are willing to reach out to us. Indeed, it is a tremendously scary and challenging task, especially with the overwhelming amount of terror and fear that exists in our world today. But that is all the more reason why we should not abstain from pursuing it with all of our positively combined efforts, to work for a just and sustainable peace together.