Silences

by David Bidussa*

It gives us pause that someone has sought to burn down Joseph’s Tomb, singling it out as a place that only the enemy identifies with. If a Muslim damages the tomb, considering Joseph a patriarch of only the Jews, then he clearly has not read the Qur’an or, contrary to those who think of themselves as being “true to the book,” he discards that with which he does not agree, ignoring its existence. It is also significant that none of the defenders of textual fundamentalism has made this point.

*David Bidussa is a social historian of ideas. This article was translated by Daniel Leisawitz, professor at Muhlenberg College (Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA).