Misplaced attack on 'Israel-obsessed'

AFTER READING James Carroll's misplaced attack on the "Israel-obsessed," I have to wonder why he chooses to blame Christianity - under the guise of evangelicalism - which left the Crusades behind more than 800 years ago, rather than the true fanatics for whom the Crusades are still alive and well and who have been obsessed for the past 60 years with Israel's destruction.

Many nations are able to leave history behind and move forward toward a better future. Witness Japan's economic and technological rise to power; and recently, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany received a warm welcome in Israel's Knesset.

Those who continue to wallow in history's unfinished business are Carroll himself and the Islamic extremists whose misdeeds he consistently blames on Western religion.

CHERYL MAVRIKOS
Chestnut Hill