HOPING FOR A NONVIOLENCE MOVEMENT IN PALESTINE

COMMENTARY ARCHIVES, 25 Jan 2009

Achmad Munjid

Since I was a small child, I have been taught that the powerless party always deserves “affirmative action” in any unbalanced conflict before a true resolution can be settled. As a Muslim who now lives in the West, I keep trying very hard to understand why the mainstream West always assumes that the much more powerful Israel is the “good guy”, while the powerless Palestinian is the “bad guy” in the Palestinian crisis.

Is it compensation by the West for their “guilty feeling” over the Holocaust? Is it more about the power of Jewish money? Is it related to skin-color? How are we to understand that 200 “home-made” rockets sent by Hamas to Israel during the first week of the crisis deserve more attention as a proof of terrorism than over 700 lives, mostly Palestinian civilians, who were taken by sophisticated Israeli weapons in the same week?

Many of my fellow Muslims and I have never agreed with Hamas who perceives every single Jew as the villain and whose blood is halal (permissible by God) to shed. We also disagree with some Muslims, including Hamas and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who want to wipe Israel from the map. A true “two-state” solution is the most reasonable option.

Moreover, I completely understand that any attack on the Jews should remind all of us of the Holocaust as the most horrible crime against humanity. Everyone should work to prevent that from happening again in our history, not only to the Jews but also to every human being. And surely, let us acknowledge that since 1948 the Palestinians have been suffering from a deep wound as a displaced and dispossessed people for a crime that neither they nor their ancestors have committed against the Jews.  

However, in this satanic circle of violence, arguments for justified killings by either side or why some people should support one party or the other are both endless and useless, if not creating an even larger crisis. Clearly, the situation in Gaza today is much more complicated.

The temptation to continue to use weapons on both sides is terribly strong, either in the name of self-defense, justice, dignity, revenge or even God. I have no capacity whatsoever to tell them what is the right thing to do. For over 60 years, the use of weapons by the Palestinians has only provided justification for the Israelis to kill more and to grab more land.

If the Palestinians ceased using weapons, if Arab leaders and the Muslim world in general could help Hamas and other radical groups to stop the shooting, then Israel’s justification to kill would cease to exist.

Let friends of the Israeli tell the same story. Only when Israel as the more powerful group with many privileges stops using weapons, will those Muslim radicals, including Hamas that was initially created by Israel,  have no legitimacy and lose Palestinian support.  

Israel should stop calling Hamas “terrorist” and the Palestinians should stop thinking of Israel as the “evil people” by definition. Both sides should agree that the other can change substantially and that they can change their perception of each other. They can talk and work together to make peace.  

While every possible step for peacemaking should be taken by leaders around the world, we — common global citizens — should share the responsibility. Beside the various efforts that have been made thus far, from prayer to humanitarian efforts, we Muslims especially need to react more properly and strategically and let others do the same. So far, many Muslims around the world have reacted in ways that increase the violence. Yes, we have been sharing our responsibility through prayers, fundraising, press releases, discussions, protests, art works and news exchanges.

However, most actions are shaped within the framework of “justification argument”.  

For example, in Indonesia, the largest Muslim country and where I come from, Muslim protesters shut down the only synagogue there last week based on the assumption that there is an automatic connection between Israel, Judaism and the Jews. Some Indonesian Muslim groups, such as the Islamic Defender Front, (FPI) are even ready to send untrained voluntary troops to Gaza to fight back.

Instead of helping the crisis, these kinds of reaction only spill out and magnify the waves of hate, vengeance and atrocity from Gaza globally. With Gaza as the epicenter of violence, many Muslims around the world position themselves with the Palestinians. They identify themselves as the oppressed Palestinian who is looking for the “evil Israeli” and their friends to fight.

Whoever identifies as “the other” is the “Israel” and thus the enemy.

Condemnation of the massacre and helping the victims in whatever form are very important. It is also equally important for Muslim leaders around the world to present the Gaza crisis not primarily as a conflict between “us” Muslims against “them” Jews.  Both the Israeli government and Hamas deserve condemnation and both sides are responsible for the increasing number of casualties, many of whom are children, women and the elderly.

We need to speak and act not as a particular national or religious group, but as an inter-religious global community. Instead of suspecting every Jew and Christian around us, we Muslims outside of Palestine need to collaborate with each and every morally concerned individual — Muslim, Jew, Christian, black, white, color, female, male and others — to take care of the victims and work effectively for the same purpose: Peace.

By working together, not only can we isolate the Gaza violence mainly around its epicenter, but we can also send our greater sympathy, support and hope by pushing the message of peace from our side.
____________________________________

The writer is President of Nahdlatul Ulama Community in North America and a PhD candidate in Religious Studies at Temple University, Philadelphia.

GO TO ORIGINAL

Share this article: email mastodon facebook 🔗 copy link

DISCLAIMER: The statements, views and opinions expressed in pieces republished here are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of TMS. In accordance with title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. TMS has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is TMS endorsed or sponsored by the originator. “GO TO ORIGINAL” links are provided as a convenience to our readers and allow for verification of authenticity. However, as originating pages are often updated by their originating host sites, the versions posted may not match the versions our readers view when clicking the “GO TO ORIGINAL” links. This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Comments are closed.