Whose Religious Extremists?

My friend Eboo Patel writes a blog for The Washington Post's section called On Faith. You can read his most recent article by clicking here. Below are my comments to Eboo.
While you're reading his article, check out the Interfaith Youth Core which is the NGO he founded and leads.

Eboo, I think you misunderstand J.Edgar Hoover's comment. Keeping the extremists in the tent is a way of keeping them under lock and key. This is why Israel had such a hard time deciding whether to outlaw Meir Kahana's Kach party despite their overt and radical fascism and racism. On the one hand, you don't want to admit that you have extremists, on the other, you need to contain them.
It was a mistake when the United Nations excluded South Africa because it left them out of the debate. What we need is engagement with our moral enemies. This doesn't mean trade and cultural exchange. It means discourse.
It sounds like you want them Israelis to cut loose their settlers and not take responsibility for them. I would advocate real engagement, not just infrequent rebukes, but holding them to Israeli law. If this were the case, they wouldn't live on most of the land they occupy, they would find much of their leadership in jail and they would not be able to harass Palestinians or members of the Israeli left.
"Othering" the moral enemy and disengaging from them is a way of setting the ground for military action against them. This should be the last resort of civilized nations.