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Edward Pencer calls for historical accuracy {Letter, June 5} yet gives the most incredible distortion of history. His charge that that "the Nazis borrowed this idea [of the distinctive markings] from the Islamic tradition", and that the Caliph Omar initiated such markings, is a total fabrication.

Islamic tolerance to Jews and Christians, throughout history, has been praised by all international historians. The Caliph Omar is renowned for his compassion for "The People of the Book", as Islam commands all its adherents to practice peace and tolerance to Christians and Jews. When Caliph Omar entered Jerusalem in 634 A.D., he introduced the Covenant of Omar, which stipulated protection for Christians and Jews. On entering the Church of The Holy Sepulchre, the call for noon prayers came, but he refused to pray in the church, despite request from the Bishop, because of his fear that Muslims may later make it a mosque, and walked and prayed outside, where the Mosque of Omar stands today.

Islamic tolerance to Jews throughout history is best testified to in the statement by Chaim Weizmann, Israel's first president, before The Anglo American Commission, in Jerusalem, in 1946, where he stated : " I would not like to do any injustice. The Muslim world has always treated the Jews with considerable tolerance......The Jews should never forget that".