Abraham Cooper

In the following viewpoint, Abraham Cooper contends that Islamic spiritual leaders encourage terrorism by refusing to disclaim the belief that Muslims become martyred heroes by engaging in suicide attacks against Israel. Although many Muslim leaders seem eager to promote peaceful Islamic-Jewish relations, they have not spoken out in public to condemn the fundamentalist fanaticism that leads to terrorism, Cooper maintains. Cooper is a rabbi and the associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, California.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. According to Cooper, what is a fatwa?
2. How did Jewish religious leaders respond to Yigal Amir’s assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, according to the author?
3. In Cooper’s opinion, what should the secular world do in response to anti-Israeli terrorism"

As Israel reels from the latest terrorist outrages in...