The freedom to choose one's religion should also permit one to tear up a Koran, Bible or whatever. What if Muslims take offense of the fact that we do not observe the Koran? Do we need to bend over backwards to accommodate these fundamentalists?

The news, I think, is that after four months these girls have not been found by the police, even though their faces are on camera, and two officials have seen them while they were tearing up these Korans. The article is to me a classic example of journalism criticizing the powers that be, to make sure that the government does what it is supposed to do. Which, in this instance, is quite clear: do not let people do stupid things, like tearing up Korans, that are almost certain going to inflame an already tense situation. I do not know if tearing up a Koran is forbidden by law - I do not think so, but wisdom is sometimes found in restraint, not in insisting on one's rights and freedoms.

I would say property law? .. these books were not theirs to take .. so that’s theft as a starter for 10 (possibly the books are made available for free though - I don't know) Second, it could be argued that it is incitement, if those girls would have been spotted by Muslims, their reaction would have likely been violent (which would be a stupid reaction of course) and then possibly things would have gotten out of hand and riots would have ensued etc etc etc ... yawn ... Would you be offended and upset and possibly want to hurt me a little if I would walk into a Jewish temple and rip a bunch of scrolls up?

... err .... yes they did ... and we will NEVER forgive them for that!

Are you under the impression that you are being funny? Do you know how many millions of Jews have died through the centuries because of the ridiculous charge of deicide? (How do you kill G-d, anyway?) Just shut up. Shut up. You are not in the least bit amusing.

Abraham is a jew, Muslim book is not allowed into a Jewish partriach tomb, period!

Where is the footage of this. This is just one more lie.

How about taking a nice vacation to syria? I would be happy to send you a one way ticket .there first class

Jesus said in the Gospel of John Chapter 10, verses17&18: For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

this is obscene behavior. nothing excuses this. the only excuse the girls have is that they are teenagers and don't know any better, but I blame their parents for not teaching them better. they need to take some court mandated classes on the civic concepts of tolerance and respect.

Have they not been told that this was done to Jews all throughout history? Have not understood that without mutual respect, humanity is doomed?

history. Therefore Italians/Christians should kill each other for this, since it's actually a religion based on the roman gods and beliefs.

It wasn't deicide, Christians believe that Jesus was the son of God, not God. Other than that I agree to many people have died in the name of religion

Cut the "WE" stuff. You are not a Christian. You are only a trouble maker. Jesus forgave them and the Jewish people are not to blame for what a few priests did because of politics at the time. Do you blame Americans because Obama bows to the king of Saudi Arabia?

Well, there's the problem in a nutshell. Jews do not believe that G-d needs a son. It erodes monotheism. In fact, in case you're curious about where the concept of the divine requiring a son, you need look no further than Greek and Roman mythology, wherein gods were forever climbing down from Mount Olympus and fathering children with mortal women. I guess, if you REALLY wanted to sell the product, you had to advertise it in a way which seemed perfectly reasonable to people who believed in a pantheon of gods and gods who every now and again felt the need to engage in sexual intercourse with mere mortals. Which I guess, on occasion, could result in immaculately conceived pregnancies, but I have a little trouble wrapping my mind around that one.

The Jews were acting in self defense. So what's your point?

Excuse me, but what are you all yammering about Christian beliefs in this incident? Remember the real story here--an act of religious desecration that was pointedly ignored by those responsible for keeping the peace. There are no exceptions or at least shouldn't be. Bad to vandalize Jewish tombs in Hungary, bad to dishonor things holy to those of another faith--just plain bad no matter who does it to whom. Once again, this will fuel those who look for reasons to hate Israel and these foolish, irresponsible girls and their families should be made to understand that they invite more needless attacks on Jews everywhere.

I am not going to defend Islam yet your history is not complete. Jews were invited to join Islam, many did plot to have Muhammed ousted and lost that skirmish. Every religion in its history did lots of crazy things. If our Torahs were again desecrated, or even the printed Pentateuch, how would we feel. We Jews invented the Golden Rule.

folks can argue about religion and probably always will. basically it comes down to faith although to me Judaism makes sense in its simple elegance. but religious feuds and bigotry are vile, and have led to the Holocaust, inquisitions, murders of millions of so called witches, "jihad", forced conversions, expulsions, slavery, destruction of entire cultures eg plains Indians et al. Can the world afford to use their forms of worship to assuage ego, with the technology we have out-pacing our emotional intelligence. I by the way am not disagreeing with your facts.

I note for the record that none of the evils you discuss in the first paragraph of your post can be attributed to Jews, or to propagation of the Jewish faith. We're content to be a small, very exclusive club. What sets Judaism apart from the other major religions is that Judaism encourages differing points of view (that's the basis for Talmudic study, by the way; there are multiple approaches and multiple interpretations, and we must seek the one that works for us, or come up with a new and different one). That, by the way, is why Jews have been in the vanguard of nuclear physics, quantum mechanics, and even -- gasp -- string theory. We've always found a way to make the natural world work with spiritual belief. G-d is a concept, not necessarily a living, breathing entity. If Albert Einstein could believe in G-d, who am I to disagree? Do you want to know the absolute essential difference between Jews and everyone else? Everyone else has one or another variation of the saying "The devil is in the details." Not Jews. The Jews see the spark of the divine in the details (i.e., diversity). There is room for everyone and everything in our world view. 'Twould be nice if everyone else felt the same way but, as history has taught, they don't. Our view is so alien to them, and requires so much independent study and thought, that they have always found it threatening. And they have done what they could to eliminate the "threat" with considerable zeal, I must say. Has anyone ever wondered why, without a central governing authority and being scattered to the four winds, Judaism hasn't changed much? We like our religion. We've opted to keep it. Are there differences? Sure. But all religions are composed of two aspects -- the spiritual, or what you believe, and the ritual, or what you practice. Differences within Judaism are all ritual; some Jews keep kosher, others don't. Some Jews observe the Sabbath, others don't. But spiritually, Jews everywhere believe the same thing. And that has not changed in 5,700 years. I think that brand of steadfastness, and the unwillingness to give it up for another religion, is what non-Jews find so difficult to comprehend. During the religious wars in Europe, people went -- almost literally -- from people Roman Catholic one day; Protestant the next, despite the major dogmatic differences. Anything to keep the authorities from descending upon your head, and dragging you off to the nearest stake, eh? That's never been an issue for Jews, who have always preferred persecution and even death to being something other than Jewish. What I don't entirely understand is why preserving our way of life and our faith, and not disturbing anyone else's, should have been so intolerable to everyone else.

Excuse me, but the act of religious desecration occurred when the Qu'uran was brought into the sacred confines of the Machpelah. If the Moslems want to stow their paedophilia inspired "holy works" somewhere, isn't there a meteorite fragment in Mecca? Let them stow their tref there.

I have a theory that Judaism is so threatening to the newer religions that in order for them to work, they feel the need to persecute and murder Jews. Why? Because they find that the Jews are only good to them dead not alive, as Jews will not bow down to false G-ds. They must feel that Judaism is a major threat to their own religions and, that, somehow by removing all Jews that they would also remove Judaism. It's just a theory however, with all the millions of Jews lost, there must be a reason, plus of course, the land of Israel, that both the muslims and Christians want for their own.

For muslims the cave of the patriarchs is a holy place too . Jews and muslims have the right to pray there . And even if you were right , there is NO reason to desecrate their "holy books" Einstein DID NOT believe in a god as Jews are praying to . He didn't believe in a god who punishes or rewards . For him a "god" was something as "an architect of nature"

Enough with your nonsense! The Moslems believe that Ishmael is the true heir of Abraham and is buried in the Machpelah. Wrong, both counts. On the other hand, Isaac, who is the true son of Abraham, is buried in the Machpelah. So Islam's so-called "holy books" are stuff and nonsense. Einstein did believe in the big bang, which is perfectly in keeping with the Jewish concept of G-d, which is not of a corporeal deity. So what is your problem?