Sarah Stern’s op-ed “On the Temple Mount … Assure freedom of access” (WJW, Nov. 13) contained an egregious error – one which, in fact, calls into question the integrity of her overall argument.
She writes: “Nearly 100 percent of Palestinians consider themselves to be religious Muslims.”
Absolutely not so. According to Wikipedia, “93% of Palestinians are Muslim, the vast majority of whom are followers of the Sunni branch of Islam, with a small minority of Ahmadiyya. Palestinian Christians represent a significant minority of 6%.” Indeed, Christians have been quite prominent in the PLO, from spokesperson and legislator Hanan Ashrawi, an Anglican, to factional heads Nayef Hawatima and George Habbash, both Greek Orthodox Christians.
An American equivalent to the Stern comment would be the assertion that “nearly 100 percent of Americans consider themselves to be religious Christians.” An obvious absurdity. And Jews comprise a much smaller percentage of the U.S. population than Christians do among the Palestinians.
BRAD SHAW
Clarksville
