We were gratified to read The Post‘s editorial Oct. 29 in defense of our colleague Mustafa Abu Sway, who had been accused by New York Post columnist Daniel Pipes of having connections with Hamas, an affiliation that we know to be antithetical to that for which Dr. Abu Sway stands.
The students of the Florida Atlantic University Wilkes Honors College are a talented group who will be among Florida’s leaders in the years to come. The faculty invited Dr. Abu Sway to join us because we want to offer our students and the wider community a better understanding of Islamic culture. This invitation was based on our faculty’s commitment, as members of a liberal arts institution, to the encouragement of critical analysis and independence among our students.
We found, in Dr. Abu Sway, a man of conscience. With his deep understanding of Islamic scripture, Dr. Abu Sway has reminded us that “the Quran declares that killing one person is tantamount to killing all humanity.” Dr. Abu Sway’s moderation makes him a valuable but unheard voice in a sadly polarized Middle East.
Dr. Abu Sway indeed is “an activist.” But his activism has been on behalf of ecumenical and interfaith groups, groups that strive to build bridges across the chasms that separate us. We of the faculty are of many faiths, including Christianity, Hinduism and Judaism, and we see Dr. Mustafa Abu Sway as a peace-loving man in a war-torn place and time.
We feel privileged and honored to have Dr. Abu Sway as a colleague and would like to publicly extend our gratitude to the Fulbright program for bringing him and his family to the honors college during this academic year.
KEVIN LANNING
LAURA BARRETT
EUGENE BELOGAY
RACHEL CORR
JULIE EARLES
STEPHANIE FITCHETT
MICHAEL HARRAWOOD
TERJE HOIM
PAUL KIRCHMAN
RAKESH MOGUL
JON MOORE
EDWARD MURPHY
WAIRIMU NJAMBI
WILLIAM O’BRIEN
MARK RUPRIGHT
GENE SMITH
CHRISTOPHER STRAIN
MARK TUNICK
DANIEL WHITE
AMY BRODERICK
Jupiter
Editor’s note: The 20 signers of this letter all are faculty members of FAU’s Wilkes Honors College