An article in the Washington Post On Faith section in response to their question:
At his inauguration, President Obama said: "To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect." Is that possible? What must happen?
When President Obama offered to reach out to the Muslim world for the mutual interest of both parties, he was saying nothing new. The West and the Arab oil-producing nations have teetered on an uneasy alliance for decades, the one depending on the other. As much as we grumble about being dependent on Arab oil, it serves our mutual interest to keep a steady flow of fuel coming our way and a glut of dollars in return. But when he added "mutual respect," Obama supplied a key missing piece, one that Muslims have longed for.
No doubt it’s because of his diverse background — and in no small part because he had to forge an identity in the black community — that Obama knows what respect means to outcasts and the down-trodden. In a way, it’s everything. The Muslim world, despite its windfall oil profits, feels like one of the great losers in the march of history. Muslims dwell on the glory days of Sunni culture, which kept science, mathematics, and philosophy alive while that knowledge was lost in Europe during the Middle Ages. The Ottoman Empire once embraced almost the entire Mediterranean basin and marched to the gates of Vienna. When World War I left Islamic power in ashes, a decline in confidence set in that has been deeply corrosive to Muslim identity and deeply humiliating, too.
One can look at the present situation, rife with extremism, terrorist upheavals, and strife over Israel, and conclude that the Muslim world is a dark place, a drag on the march of modernity. But portraying Islam in this way, however realistic it might look on the ground, ignores the critical need of any downtrodden, despised people, which is for respect. Respect is an invitation to equality, even if that equality has not yet been earned. The jihadis of al-Qaeda find their deepest grievance in the occupation of Saudi Arabia, the holy land, by infidels — it is a mark, in their eyes, of the deepest disrespect. Steady, ignominious insults from the West have been a constant strain in the Muslim psyche for as long as anyone can remember.
This knot of bitterness, shame, resentment, grief, and rage will take a very long time to untangle. It’s not for us in the West to think we can do the work that Muslims must do for themselves. But Obama spoke the right words, in the right spirit. Muslims may seem too eager to seize on his middle name, but Hussein is more than a symbol. It’s a crack in the wall that has kept Islam apart for so long. It’s early in the game, of course. So far, no practical steps have been taken to bring the Arab world out of its intractable repudiation of reason on many fronts. But as Obama asserted in his campaign when he was dismissed for being "just words," words count almost more than anything else.
It's going to be tough. On the one hand, he does represent hope for a new chapter in US – Muslim World relations. On the other hand, he has repeatedly swore allegiance to Israel. He even plays that old neo-con card – "Israel has the right to defend itself" – which is the worst kind of violent logic.
He has to stop that. Is bombing UN hospitals, and shelling journalists what Israel calls "defense?" Over 1000 dead Palestinians (over two thirds of whom were children and women) versus under 10 dead Israelis. Last time I did that lind of math, it works out to a 100-to-1 ratio. Not exactly "defensive measures" in my book. Sorry I don't buy it. If someone from your town kills someone from my town, justice is not restored if my town slaughters 100 people in your town. Don't even try logic your way out of that. It's impossible. No pass. It is NOT justice.
For Obama to be successful he is going to have to start being realistic with the government of Israel. They say they want peace. A 100-to-1 slaughterfest is not peace. The methodology undermines the spoken word.
Just as suicide bombings cannot bring peace, so it is with misguided military invasions.
The old saying is "two wrongs don't make a right."
Somehow it is going to have to be made clear to both sides that if they want peace, they must take peaceful actions. There is no killing, no act of torture, and no cluster bomb, that is capable of bringing peace.
Obama has to show the guts to get in there and be equally tough on the Israelis as on Hamas. Stopping the violence means STOPPING THE VIOLENCE. NOW, NOT TOMORROW. NOW.
The government of Israel has to start waking up.
I am no ,longer a friend of Israel. Their tactics in Lebanon and now Gaza turned me against them. Their actions do not support their words.
I hope they read this so they realize how they are turning people against them.
Hi Yogi,
You may disagree with Israel but not everyone does.
Think about this, Hamas declares an
end to a cease fire agreement then continues an action against Israel that they consciously know will bring death and suffering to their own citizens, and, it does, of course, because this exact same action has brought death and suffering continuously year after year in the past.
Yet as all is said and done, bodies counted, destruction surveyed in which the toll of the loss is predominately suffered by the citizens under Hamas leadership, they, Hamas declare a VICTORY, another VICTORY!
So their citizens are dead, their citizens are left in ruins, suffering from lack of everday needs, but, not, in fact suffering from lack of freshly dug tunnels in which to filter the gold of Hamas, their precious rockets. Hamas declares a VICTORY just as Hezbollah did in Lebanon after their pathetic actions brought death and destruction to their people.
So while the world cries for the people of Gaza, Hamas, their leadership ,celebrates their VICTORY against the big bad devils of Israel, and, they are, most likely, planning their next round of rocket firings that will, most likely, bring more death and more destruction to the citizens they claim to care about and fight for…
President Obama, I believe, will give his respect but I also believe he will hold Hamas totally responsible for the 100 to 1 slaughterhouse that Hamas is now celebrating and did absolutely invite against their citizens.
peace
Thanks Rann.
I could have written an equally critical post about Hamas but you did it for me. Like I said, two wrongs don't make a right. One of the most frustrating aspects of the Israel/Palestine issue is watching both sides consistently choose wrong actions that simply continue the death-dance of aggression they have locked themselves into.
When I say Israel, of course I mean the government of Israel. There are plenty of Israeli citizens who would have done things differently. I understand this because I know from being an American the past eight years that certainly a government in a democracy can act in ways that the citizens do not agree with.
But the problem is that whereas everyone is openly critical of Hamas, when speaking of Israel, everyone tiptoes around, offering apologies before they dare say the least critical thing. Especially in Washington DC political circles. The people in AIPAC get treated like gods, and everyone just kowtows down before them while they twist arms and play Machiavellian politics in order to put forth a very violent policy towards Palestine.
I say no more. No more apologizing. If what Israel has done is wrong, they should be exposed and called out onto the carpet, like anyone else. If they say they want peace, they need to start pursuing it by peaceful methods.
You know, Deepak says here he wants to inspire 100 million people to take vows of non-violence, an initiative the started over at the old intentblog. I thought about that for days – can I really commit to non-violence, even in my thoughts? Finally I decided the only correct stand was to commit, and take responsibility for even my stray thoughts in unguarded moments of anger.
The point is you cannot create peace through violence.
So what about AIPAC? I challenge all members of AIPAC to take the challenge and commit to non-violence. Why should they be exempt? They say Israel wants peace. Well, let's see some peaceful actions to back it up. How about little less threatening talk and fewer invasions of their neighbors?
Yes, Hamas should take the vow too. They stab themselves in the back exactly as you have described.
The USA has tiptoed around this issue, simultaneously trying to re-assure both sides that we are their friend.
Baloney. Who cares whose friend we are? That's not the point.
Obama and his administration have to take a more challenging stance to both sides. We have to confront them: you say you want peace, so put up or shut up.
And we should cut off military aid to Israel. They have misused our military aid to wage two immoral wars. The products our men and women produce in places like Huntsville Alabama, and even here in Seattle at places like Raytheon, Schlumberger, and Boeing are being misused to kill innocent women and children – children – who know nothing about war and haven't done anything to provoke any aggression, are being killed and maimed for life. As I said, there is no logic that justifies it.
To get my point, watch this video from Israeli TV. The newscasters are talking via cell phone with a Palestinian Doctor (a physician) whose home was just shelled, killing his wife and daughters.
http://agonist.org/sean_paul_kelley/20090117/and_…
The old saying is that one death is tragedy, but 1000 deaths is a statistic. No. We must not lose sight of the fact that every one of those 1000 deaths is a real human being, in this case a doctor, who was most likely spending his days trying to tend to the war's wounded, trying to help the suffering, only to come home and have his own family wiped out. These are not statistics in some theoretical geo-political board game; these are real human beings with families like you and me. This point must not be lost, particularly from the perspective of non-violence.
It's very important that we lean heavily on both sides to use peaceful methods to achieve peaceful goals. We seem to have no problem doing this with either Hamas or the PLO, but somehow we back off from leaning on Israel to use peaceful methods. We walk on eggshells around Israel and AIPAC using that awful doublespeak phraseology about "the right to defend themselves" that sounds so righteous, but actually is just code words that permit the violence to go on while we stand around and mush mouth about it.
It's time to cut through the mush mouthing and be very straight with Israel as well as Hamas and let them know if they are serious about peace, put up or shut up, or else there will be economic sanctions and other international pressures applied until they get the message.
Finally, I just want to touch on two more points that I won't elaborate on because they need their own posts.
1. In spite of Hamas claims, there was no victory, for either side. Hamas got their but kicked militarily, and unfortunately, they dragged their citizens down with them.
2. Israel lost the PR war. They lost support of many former people who had hoped they were serious about peace (such as myself, I am not nearly the only one who feels this way). Despite their press blockade, they lost face big-time internationally. They are now seen as not being serious about peace at all. Gaza is occupied, destabilized, and broken down. For a military power like Israel to wage war on Gaza is like a healthy soldier beating up on a crippled person, and the whole world knows it and is a witness to Israel's ugly behavior.
Check it out:
An inevitable outcome in Gaza
http://tinyurl.com/crw7ly
Col Patrick Lang (ret) writes an analysis of the outcome of the invasion of Gaza.
Colonel W. Patrick Lang is a retired senior officer of U.S. Military Intelligence and U.S. Army Special Forces (The Green Berets). He served in the Department of Defense both as a serving officer and then as a member of the Defense Senior Executive Service for many years. He is a highly decorated veteran of several of America
Perhaps the 'victory' that Hamas is claiming has more to do with the exposure of the stranglehold that Israel has on Gaza.
Reminds me of Native Americans and their reservations.
Yogi,
I wish you had your entire family exterminated by the Nazi's only to have their allies during the second World War, the majority of the Arab people attack your new state. Israel was created to give the Jews their own land, a place where they will always be welcome and not subject to extermination.
The Arabs have a billion people and a huge amount of territory. They also have extreme oil wealth. Did they use that wealth to help their Palestinian brothers? No they did not. They let them live in squalor while they build huge buildings in Dubai. They pay for guns and explosives but let the Palestinians pay the price in blood.
Wake up YOGI!!!!!. If Hama had the military advantage the Israelis had the Jews in Israel would all be dead. Six Million Jews was not enough for you? Now Israel endured months and months of rocket attacks without doing anything. Hamas not only says they want to destroy Israel they also oppress their own people.
Look at what Hamas does in their own territory, killing and murdering their own people. Not to mention the oppression of women in their own territory.
The high death rate amongst Palestinian civilians in Gaza was due to Hamas hiding behind the skirts of women and children and using them as human shields. They fire rockets from their midsts and then blame Israel when the Israelis shell the location.
Look YOGI, I deplore violence. But do not for one second dare to equate the Israelis morally with Hamas. The United States of America would never use the restraint that Israel has used. Remember shock and awe.
All that is required for PEACE in the Middle East is for Hamas to say, ok, we will live in Peace.
I dare you to go live under the rule of Hamas in Gaza, or within the range of their rockets.
In Israel you are fee to say whatever you want. In Gaza you would be shot.
Also your use of Native American reservations is historically inaccurate. In the United States there was a long campaign of genocide against Native Americans by our government. Israel is the one whose existence is threatened. The Jewish people are the ones who face genocide not the Arabs.
Try looking at the whole picture and not one small fact. Your comments are a victory for Hamas. That is the victory they claim. Go live amongst them if you dare. You would not last a day. They do not tolerate criticism or dissent.
love and light,
Stuart
http://stuartmarkberlin.com
Hi Yogi,
Well, I see many points in your reply that I could counter but I really just wanted to add a comment that gave another view of the conflict. One that was focused on the fact that Hamas rarely grieves over the loss of life of their citizens, after these conflicts, maybe, if they were to exhibit that, feel it, even, they would make a different decision in the future. Celebrating an event as a Victory that took so many lives of their citizens, means, most likely, there will be more celebrations in their future, more victories to declare.
Yes, both sides can surely be faulted.
Holding both feet to the fire of accountability would be a step in the right direction.
thanks for the response, peace
I love Obama.