Why don't Muslims condemn Islamist violence?

It's a question that is framed in different ways, but the general idea of the variations remains the same: In a religion whose followers claim to be non-extremist and peaceful, why is there not more outrage and condemnation against violent extremists who have supposedly perverted a peaceful religion?

First, a little background information. I was raised Muslim. My father is Muslim, and my mother is Catholic. I was quick to learn that my parents had different beliefs, but many of the stories were generally the same. Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Job, and Jesus were in both religions. In fact, as far as theology is concerned, the only difference between my father's religion and my mother's was the belief in the divinity of Christ. Besides that, the basics were the same: be good, be nice, and worship God.

My Islamic religious education was on Sundays. While my mother went to Mass, my father took my sister and me to the Muslim Community Center near our home. Sunday School did not consist of understanding the English translation of the Qur'an, but of knowing the stories of the prophets, knowing the five pillars, and the common bonds Muslims had with Christians and Jews. Christians and Jews were misguided, we were taught, but they were still "People of the Book," and blessed by God. Jihad, we were taught, was not "holy war," but "struggle for righteousness." (There is a Christian equivalent to the concept of jihad, and that word is "crusade." And like jihad, the word "crusade" has its connotations in the West and the Middle East.)

Because religion was never a subject that we as grade schoolers talked about, I never had to explain why Muslims did the crazy things they did like take people hostage or hijack planes. And the subject of terrorism and radicalism never came up in Sunday School. It was as if those planes were hijacked by members of some other religion not remotely affiliated with my faith. No one spoke out against Muslim extremism because it didn't require any explanation: there are some crazy people out there.

But now, Muslims around the world (and especially in the West) are being asked to explain why the terrorists act the way they do, and that the apparent lack of condemnation seems equivalent to tacit support of Al-Qaeda. The truth is, of course, way more complicated. And yes, at the heart of it, is Israel.

I won't get into the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but it's an almost century-old problem starting with the fall of the Ottoman Empire. Since then, the Arab world (and to a larger extent, the Muslim world) does not feel that it has been taken seriously in the conduct of its own domestic affairs. The Palestinians have been the subject of foreign rule, and the growing resentment has erupted into violence and hatred. It is this resentment that eats at Muslims worldwide, and whenever the subject of Israel is brought up, Arabs and Muslims are immediately pre-judged to be anti-Semitic. Once that label has been assigned (regardless of whether or not the label is accurate), all discussion ceases, and reason gives way to polarization. The result is either silence or violence.

We've all been to the point where we are so fed up with not being listened to, that we just want to scream and yell. It happens on the social scale as well: the 1992 Los Angeles rioting is a perfect example. There are many who feel that the violence and looting was a justifiable reaction to the not guilty verdict of those four LAPD officers, in conjunction with 400 years of oppression.

Is it the responsibility for a religious or ethnic group to apologize for the actions of their extremists? No. But it would help those who don't know the history and culture to have it explained to them. Without explanation, the polarization grows, and prejudice and hatred rule instead of reason.