There is death and darkness in Gaza. There
have been petitions to end the siege. A coalition of
Israeli activists organized a relief convoy. However,
the convoy was not allowed through to give the
emergency supplies to the Palestinians in Gaza.
Some interfaith leaders have called for intervention
to end the siege. But, what is actually happening is
ethnic cleansing. The Palestinians are being destroyed
utterly and shown no mercy. And, most of the world
is silent. “Never again” does not seem to apply to the Palestinians.
Why is this so? Why are there not more who feel shame?
I believe it is because politics and pseudo-religion have
been woven together so that it is almost impossible
to separate the testimony of our own eyes from what
it is that we want to believe.
Ethnic cleansing has been going
on for a long time in Palestine.
It has been a slow process, but is increasingly effective.
According to Uri Avnery what is happening
in Gaza is Worse than a crime. “The Gaza
Strip is the largest prison on earth. The
breaking of the Rafah wall was an act
of liberation. It proves that an inhuman
policy is always a stupid policy: no power
can stand up against a mass of people that
has crossed the border of despair.”
Because of the splitting of Palestine into
Bantustans, and the imposition of a stringent
blockade of goods into Gaza, the people
living there are now under what amounts
to a siege, and there is little hope for a
real two-state solution.
The seven mile long border wall between Gaza
and Egypt was built by Israel in 2001 supposedly
in order to stop weapons coming in from Egypt to
Palestine. If that was really the concern, you
would think that they would have already repaired
the wall that was destroyed when Gazans recently
blew up the border wall and flooded into Egypt to
obtain food and necessary supplies no longer
available in Gaza because of the Israeli blockade.
After this breach of the wall, the U.S. immediately
put the blame on the Palestinians
“The Palestinians living in Gaza are living under
chaos because of Hamas, and the blame has to
be placed fully at their feet,” White House
spokeswoman Dana Perino said.”
This seems to be a justification for
the collective punishment of the people of Gaza.
It is also part of a long history of noticing only
Palestinian violence and not Israeli violence.
It is possible that this breaking down of the
wall by the Palestinians played into the hands
of those who just want to be rid of all the
Palestinians in Israel. The Gazan Exodus
to Egypt may have been A ‘Blessing in
Disguise’ for Israel? according to
Pierre Heumann who said:
“But, as Jerusalem sees it, Egypt now
has responsibility for more than just the
Gaza Strip’s southern border.
“The opening of the border relieves us of
our responsibility for Gaza,” a government
official said, “and if the international
community demands that the Israeli border
with Gaza be opened, we will now point to the
Egyptian role.” This view was echoed on
Thursday when Deputy Defense Minister
Matan Vilnai said that Israel wanted to
“disconnect” from Gaza. He told Army Radio:
“We are responsible for it as long as there
is no alternative.”
The current crisis in Gaza is the latest
manifestation of an ethnic cleansing that has
been going on for a long time. Most people in
America don’t want to hear that, but that is what
it is. Whether is called ”voluntary transfer” or
any other euphemism to cover the true horror of
what is happening, it is ethnic cleansing
(and perhaps even genocide) and it is wrong.
It is also a “religious” problem because religion
is being used (and has been used from the beginning)
to justify policies and actions that are immoral,
unethical, and illegal.
Acceptance of the possibility that ethnic cleansing
is the answer for making Israel safe goes back to
the beginnings of the State of Israel. Joseph Weitz,
the director of the Zionist Jewish
National Fund, wrote in his diary in 1940:
“It should be clear to us that there is no room
in Palestine for these two peoples. No
`development’ will bring us to our goal of
independent nationhood in this small country.
Without the Arabs, the land will become wide
and spacious for us; with the Arabs, the land
will remain sparse and cramped ... The only
solution is Palestine, at least western Palestine,
without Arabs. There is no room here for
compromises! ... The way is to transfer the
Arabs from here to the neighbouring countries,
all of them, except perhaps those from Bethlehem,
Nazareth and the Old City of Jerusalem.”
Because this “religious” dimension to the
conflict in Israel/Palestine has become the primary
dimension any solution requires a truly religious,
spiritual dimension.
We have Jews who believe (based on their
interpretation of the Bible) that “God gave the land
to them”, and gave them not just a state, but a
Jewish state forever. Some are Messianic Zionists
who see control over the biblical Land of Israel as
a religious mandate. Not all Jews believe that this
is something that human beings are supposed to
bring about or that the “solution” to providing a
safe home for the Jewish people is war. And we have
Jews (also based on their interpretation of the Bible)
who are ready to destroy al aqsa to rebuild the Third
Temple. This is a belief that is not shared by all Jews.
And, we have Jews who attempt to justify violence
against civilians and even call it holy. Some like
Rabbi Yousuf Falay have even advocated murder
and extermination. There are even some Jews
who honor those like Baruch Goldstein who
kill Muslims.
Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger
has been quoted as calling for Gazans to be
transferred to the Sinai Peninsula, to a Palestinian
state which he said could be constructed for them in
the desert. He further said that Jerusalem belongs
to the Jews and that since Muslims have Mecca
and Medina, they don’t need a third place, and have
no connection to Jerusalem, and he described
Jerusalem as “the capital city forever to
the Jewish nation.”
What this respected Rabbi is saying is shocking
and a prime example of how mixing religious
beliefs and politics can often lead to extremism.
That he had the courage to say this publically is
not surprising considering the insistence on asking
the Palestinians to recognize not simply the
existence of Israel, but the existence of Israel
as a ”Jewish State”, and considering that a
recent poll showed 68% of Israeli Jews in favor
of expelling all Palestinian citizens of Israel.
The possible consequences of accepting a
“Jewish” State have been much discussed
in the Arab media.
This is exactly what some Jews worried about
when the State of Israel was first being established:
Albert Einstein said: “I should much rather
see reasonable agreement with the Arabs on
the basis of living together in peace than the
creation of a Jewish state. Apart from practical
consideration, my awareness of the essential
nature of Judaism resists the idea of a Jewish
state with borders, an army, and a measure
of temporal power no matter how modest.
I am afraid of the inner damage Judaism
will sustain—especially from the development
of a narrow nationalism within our own ranks,
against which we have already had to fight
strongly, even without a Jewish state.”
And what even Mahatma Gandhi was
concerned about:
Mahatma Gandhi wrote an article about the Jews
in Palestine. One paragraph stands out for me:
“And now a word to the Jews in Palestine.
I have no doubt that they are going about
it in the wrong way. The Palestine of the Biblical
conception is not a geographical tract. It is in
their hearts. But if they must look to the Palestine
of geography as their national home, it is wrong
to enter it under the shadow of the British gun.
A religious act cannot be performed with the
aid of the bayonet or the bomb. They can settle
in Palestine only by the goodwill of the Arabs.
They should seek to convert the Arab heart.”
This stands out because he got to the heart of the
problem. This injustice has a “religious” root.
The Bible was used to justify injustice towards
the Palestinians.
Because so many Jews and Christians in Israel
and in America see this entire conflict as a religious
issue based on their interpretations of Biblical
passages, Rabbi Metzger did not need to fear
being condemned for his statements.
Most American Jews have been silent and support
Israel no matter what. Most American Christians
who do not agree with what is happening to the
Palestinians are fearful of speaking up because any
criticism of Israel’s policies leads to charges of
anti-Semitism. (Even individuals with impeccable
credentials like Arun Gandhi, Bishop Tutu, and
Jimmy Carter have been tarred with this brush).
What we have as a result is a consent of silence.
We have Christians who believe (based
on their interpretation of the Bible) that “God
blesses those that bless the Jews and curses
those who curse the Jews.” And, further that the
establishment--and continuation--of the State
of Israel is essential to set the stage for the
imminent return of Jesus. At the time of the
Second Coming, these Christians believe, Jesus
will descend from heaven, subdue all of Israel’s
enemies and take believers to heaven in what
is known as the Rapture--literally, they will
ascend to the clouds to be in heaven which
can only happen if the State of Israel exists
within its ancient borders.
This belief leads to extremism. And,
for some Christians the
possibility of ethnic cleansing has
a long history.
It doesn’t seem possible that this particular
Christian interpretation of scripture could go
further, but it does:
“The dispensationalist view of Daniel 9:27
provides some troubling implications as well.
They don’t care that tearing down the al-Aqsa
mosque would result in a regional war and
cause all sorts of global distress. This would
not be a bad thing in their minds. They believe
that it was all foreordained and is a sign that the end
of the world would be soon upon us. Also, if you buy
into these interpretations, talks of peace in the
Middle East are futile. Jews and Muslims must
continue killing each other at high rates. And
who will be the one bringing peace to the Middle
East in this popular end-time paradigm? Not
Jesus, but the Antichrist. Therefore, talk of Middle
East peace during this current “dispensation” is not
from Jesus, but the Antichrist. When dispensationalists
hear talk of peace summits or treaties in the Middle
East, they assume it must have evil origins and be
antichristic. If that’s the cause, why bother trying
to make the world a better place? All we need to
do is be good Christians and wait for our ticket
out of this earth and make way for the Antichrist.”
And, as noted in an article in Christianity Today:
“Some evangelicals have gotten caught up in the
theology that before Christ can return, the Holy
Land must belong to the Jews ... They’re really
advocating ethnic cleansing. … It’s the extremist
view that favors taking more and more land
away from the Palestinians.”
This belief in the rapture is something that has
developed in a segment of Christianity (primarily
in America) only in the last 100 years and is
not an interpretation that all Christians agree with.
We have Muslims who have turned their
backs on 1,400 years of traditional Islamic
scholarship and have attempted to find a religious
justification for a “Palestinian exception” allowing for
violence against civilians. Because of their
attempt to justify random suicide bombings
by reinterpretations of the Qur’an and their
attempts to find some religious justification
for these acts they have betrayed the true
beliefs of Islam.
As Maher Hathout has pointed out: “It is
horrifying that this is a way to settle differences
or express anger, soon it may become a way of
revenge or even to achieve nothing but to die!
We claim to believe in a religion that is a call to
life “O ye who have attained to faith, respond
to God and His apostle as He calls you to what
will give you life,” (8:24), that endows all the
sacredness imaginable to human life “If anyone
slays a human being – unless it be in punishment
for murder or for spreading corruption on earth
– it shall be as though he had slain all mankind;
whereas, if anyone saves a life, it shall be as
though he had saved the lives of all mankind,”
(5:32), that orders “Do not throw yourself into
destruction by our own hands” (2:195), and
that showed us through the example of
Prophet Muhammad and the treaty of
Hudaybiyah that utmost selfrestraint and
flexibility are necessary in order to avoid
exposing the lives of the inhabitants of Mecca
to danger. If we truly believe in this religion,
we ought to go through very serious questioning
and soul-searching. How did we, as a group, fail to nip
this ugly phenomenon in the bud? How did we indulge
in the luxury of theoretical debates, and craft all kinds
of euphemisms to let this go on, spill out and grow?”
We have politicians like former House Republican
Majority Leader Dick Armey who called for the ethnic
cleansing of Palestinians from the occupied territories and
endorsed Israel’s conquests of those lands. “Armey said
that he “is content to have a Palestinian state” but is
“not content to give up any part of Israel for the
purpose of a Palestinian state.” He defined the
Palestinian territories occupied by Israel-East
Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza Strip-as Israel.
He also said he has “thought this through for a lot of
years” and believes that Palestinians living in the
West Bank should be removed.”
Mike Huckabee, the Presidential candidate who
when asked about a Palestinian state said that he
“supports creating a Palestinian state, but believes that
it should be formed outside of Israel. He named Egypt and
Saudi Arabia as possible alternatives, noting that the
Arabs have far more land than the Israelis and that it
would only be fair for other Arab nations to give the
Palestinians land for a state, rather than carving it
out of the tiny Israeli state.”
Avigdor Lieberman, recently appointed as Israel’s
deputy prime minister has long advocated the
ethnic cleansing of the Arab inhabitants of Palestine,
and one of his early ideas since being appointed to
the new post, aside from sending Palestinians
packing, was the killing of the entire leadership of
the elected Palestinian government. “They...have
to disappear, to go to paradise, all of them, and
there can’t be any compromise,” he told Israeli radio.”
These “political” views have nothing to do with
International Law, the Geneva Conventions, or what
is best for Israel, Palestine, the U.S. or the world,
but have everything to do with the confused
religious beliefs of these individuals.
Religious movements have brought about
and are helping to prolong the Arab-Israeli
Conflict. We are witnessing the
politics of the Apocalypse.
We must do whatever we can to stop
them from igniting the Apocalypse.
What these perversions of Judaism,
Christianity and Islam have in common
is Pseudo-religiosity.
As Irfan Ahmad
Khan has pointed out:
“The world is going the wrong way because
pseudo-religiosity has taken hold of worldly
affairs. But pseudo-religiosity does not have any
solid ground to stand upon.
When The Reality arrives, the Falsehood will fade
away (Qur’an 17:81). If truly religious people will
work together, the pseudo-religiosity will wither away.
Contemporary Interfaith Movement has to be a
striving toward true religiosity; as such it should
focus on the real problems of humanity. The most
central of these is wealth being accumulated in
fewer hands. Hunger, poverty, and other related
issues are only byproducts of increasing economic
disparity. Those, who are well-off, have a duty towards
those who are economically broken and they are
accountable for it to the humankind as well to the Lord
of humanity. Charity and relief are not sufficient,
systematic-change is required. The next in line is
social injustice and discrimination, due to differences
in sex, race, etc. However the other problem which
has produced a state of emergency throughout the
Globe, has been created by pseudo-religiosity itself—
perhaps, to divert our attention from the
above real issues. ...”
It is possible to take passages from any scripture out
of context and come to conclusions that
abuse and violate the spirit of those scriptures.
The Bible itself has many verses that might be
considered cruel or violent.
We have some glimmers of hope.
In Jerusalem in 2006, Holy Land Christian
Leaders issued a statement saying that Christian
Zionism is a false and extreme theological and
political philosophy that is has become a
corrupting influence in the politics of Israel
and the United States, and urging Christians
churches to break their silence. “Christian
Zionism, the statement said, is an ideology
that views the gospel through the prism of
“empire, colonialism and militarism identifies,”
emphasizing in its extreme form “apocalyptic events
leading to the end of history rather than living
Christ’s love and justice today. We categorically
reject Christian Zionist doctrines as false teaching
that corrupts the biblical message of love,
justice and reconciliation ...”
In 2002 the First Alexandria Declaration of the
Religious Leaders of the Holy Land stated in part.
“In the name of God who is Almighty, Merciful
and Compassionate, we, who have gathered as
religious leaders from the Muslim, Christian and
Jewish communities, pray for true peace in
Jerusalem and the Holy Land, and declare
our commitment to ending the violence and
bloodshed that denies the right to life and dignity.”
In 2005 a group formed out of this Alexandria
Conference - The Council of Religious Institutions
of the Holy Land (which is still active in 2008)
includes leaders of major religious organizations in
both Israel and Palestine, representing the Chief
Rabbinate of Israel, the Chief Shari’a Judges of
Palestine, the Ministry of the Waqf, the Greek
Orthodox Patriarchate, the Armenian Orthodox
Patriarchate, the Latin Patriarchate of the Roman
Catholic Church, the Lutheran Bishop of Jerusalem a
nd Palestine and the Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem
and Palestine. One impetus for the council’s work
is to counter the way violence in the Holy Land is
sometimes linked with religion.
In 2007, 138 Muslim scholars from all over the
world representing both Sunni and Shia, Salafi
and Sufi, and all of the madhabs (schools of thought)
signed and sent out a letter entitled
“A Common Word Between Us and You”
to 25 Christian leaders calling for peace and
reconciliation between Christians and Muslims
for the sake of the world. The letter was addressed
to the Pope, the Orthodox Patriarchs, the Archbishop
of Canterbury, and the heads of the world alliances
of the Lutheran, Methodist, Baptist and
Reformed churches.
This is a truly an important document, and
Insh’Allah (if God is willing) will be a call for
peace that will resonate with both Muslims
and Christians. The diversity and eminence
of the signatories of this letter requesting
dialogue and peace can only strengthen the
resolve of the majority of the world’s Muslims
to continue standing against extremism, and also
these well respected scholars now provide a unified
entity that can engage in the necessary dialogue.
This is a Muslim voice that is loud and clear and
beautifully represents mainstream Islam.
This letter clearly undermines the position
of Muslim extremists and also undermines the
propoganda of those who have refused to hear
the Muslim voices against extremism that have
been attempting for some time to gain
the world’s attention.
However, this doesn’t seem to have had any
effect on the silence or on the continuing use of
religion as a justification for injustice. And,
most ordinary Christians, Muslims, and Jews
continue to accept questionable religious
interpretations without really thinking
through the real meaning and consquences
of these beliefs.
“When people are dispossessed, dispersed
and humiliated, not only with alleged divine
support, but at the alleged express command
of God, one’s moral self recoils in horror.
Any association of God with the destruction
of people must be subjected to an ethical
analysis. The obvious contradiction between
what some claim to be God’s will and ordinary
civilized, decent behavior poses the question as
to whether God is a chauvinistic, nationalistic
and militaristic xenophobe. It also poses the
problem of biblical prophecy finding its
fulfillment in what even unbelievers would
regard as a form of “ethnic cleansing.”
Michael Prior, C.M.
I believe that we are misinterpreting scripture
and defaming religion when we don’t confront
the fact that God could not be the source of such
violence and injustice.
Violence in the name of God is blasphemy
Therefore, woe to those who distort the
scripture with their own hands, then say,
“This is what GOD has revealed,” seeking
a cheap material gain. Woe to them for such
distortion, and woe to them for their illicit
gains. Qur’an 2:79
And, since religious belief (correctly or incorrectly)
is so woven into this particular issue, it would seem
that this is a crisis that must involve the religious
communities - Christian, Muslim, and Jewish in
finding a truly religious spiritual solution that is
just and making the Holy Land “Holy”. We need
for our Imams, Alims, Priests, Rabbis, Ministers,
and religious scholars to come together and speak
up strongly in defense of the true teachings of their
respective religions. We need them to speak
about justice.
Pope John Paul II said: “It is time to return to
the principles of international legality: the banning
of acquisition of territory by force, the right of
people to self-determination, respect for the
resolutions of the United Nations and the
Geneva convention.”
And, as the Muslim scholars said in their appeal
for dialogue and peace “A Common Word”
“Muslims and Christians together make up well
over half of the world’s population. Without peace
and justice between these two religious communities,
there can be no meaningful peace in the world. The
future of the world depends on peace between
Muslims and Christians. ... With the terrible
weaponry of the modern world; with Muslims and
Christians intertwined everywhere as never before,
no side can unilaterally win a conflict between more
than half of the world’s inhabitants. Thus our
common future is at stake.
The very survival of the world itself is perhaps at stake.
And to those who nevertheless relish conflict and
destruction for their own sake or reckon that ultimately
they stand to gain through them, we say that our very
eternal souls are all also at stake if we fail to sincerely
make every effort to make peace and come together
in harmony. God says in the Holy Qur’an: Lo! God
enjoineth justice and kindness, and giving to kinsfolk,
and forbiddeth lewdness and abomination and wickedness.
He exhorteth you in order that ye may take heed
(Al Nahl, 16:90). Jesus Christ said: Blessed are the
peacemakers ….(Matthew 5:9), and also: For what
profit is to a man if he gains the whole world and
loses his soul? (Matthew 16:26). So let our differences
not cause hatred and strife between us. Let us vie with
each other only in righteousness and good works. Let us
respect each other, be fair, just and kind to another and live
in sincere peace, harmony and mutual goodwill. God says
in the Holy Qur’an: And unto thee have We revealed the
Scripture with the truth, confirming whatever Scripture
was before it, and a watcher over it. So judge between
them by that which God hath revealed, and follow not
their desires away from the truth which hath come
unto thee. For each We have appointed a law and a way.
Had God willed He could have made you one community.
But that He may try you by that which He hath given you
(He hath made you as ye are). So vie one with another in
good works. Unto God ye will all return, and He will then
inform you of that wherein ye differ. (Al-Ma’idah, 5:48)”
Although the Common Word document particularly
addressed dialogue between Christians and Muslims.
I think it is time that a broad interfaith group of religious
scholars come together to attempt to find some solution
to the problems in the Holy Land. It is the Abrahamic
Faiths (Christians, Jews, and Muslims) who bear the
brunt of the responsibility for what is happening, but
the problems in the Holy Land effect the entire globe.
We must make it clear that God is not the author of
this violence, injustice, and despair but our all too
human misunderstanding of what it is that God asks
of us. Our religious leaders need to find a way to bring
us back to a spiritual understanding, and to condemn
in no uncertain terms all aggression and injustice in
the name of religion.
“In order to understand the true dynamics of conflict in
the world, we must be aware that the suffering in the
Holy Land is the result of a conflict between two
civilizational paradigms, one the spiritual, which
automatically serves as a bridge among cultures,
and the other, the secular, which sees material
power as the only variable in the world and
automatically breeds war.” Dr. Robert D. Crane
“That is why we must strive to see this in the
most broad of terms. Israelis and Palestinians
must be seen as one group of indigenous
people of the land of Canaan, each with an
unalienable right to live and prosper in their
homeland. That two differing ethnic groups
have come to inhabit that land is not important.
This disregard is essential in because there will
never be an acceptable decision as to whom has
more rights to the land, in fact such
determinations are impossible. These two groups
have over the past 60 years done terrible, sometimes
unspeakable things to each other, and neither side
has a monopoly on pain, nor does either side have
a right to retribution.” AllPeopleUnite
“Peace is not an alternative; it is a necessity for
the true comprehension of the divine message.
One does not attack those who are the intended
recipients of the divine message. If we want to
show our commitment to peace, then we must go
beyond words and rhetoric. The least that we can
do is to express our condemnation of the killing
done in the name of religion regardless of the
victims and perpetrators. The self-killing that is
directed deliberately at innocent people is not
part of the divine faith: “None despairs of God’s grace
except the disbelieving people” (Qur’an 12:87).”
Aslam Abdullah
O people, we created you from the same male and
female, and rendered you distinct peoples and tribes
that you may recognize one another. The best among
you in the sight of GOD is the most righteous. GOD is
Omniscient, Cognizant. Qur’an 49:13
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