Let There
Be Peace in the Land of the Prophets
By Professor Nazeer
Ahmed
CA
Lebanon
is destroyed, once again. The purported reason
for this devastation is the abduction of two Israeli
soldiers by Hezbullah. Israel has used this as
the pretext to rain havoc on Lebanon, killing
hundreds of men, women and children, destroying
its infrastructure and setting its economy back
by twenty years. Hezbullah, in turn, has hurled
thousands of rockets into Haifa and other cities
killing dozens of civilians, injuring hundreds
and demonstrating Israeli vulnerability in the
age of missiles.
And once again, the usual hand wringing on the
international scene, pity for the refugees, calls
for humanitarian assistance, stationing of foreign
troops as a buffer on the Lebanese-Israeli border
and demands for further assistance from the now
not-so-rich oil producing states of the Gulf.
And there are discussions about yet another patchwork
of peace without resolving the core issues. Yet
another band-aid on a gaping wound!
So, the pattern repeats, Arab jabs and massive
Israeli blows. The one difference this time is
that the war is asymmetrical. A trained modern
army with awesome power is arraigned not against
another army but a determined, entrenched guerilla
force.
It reminds me of children playing in the sand
on the beach. There are bullies among the children.
The rule is only your castle can stand. Whenever
another child builds a castle, even a small one,
one of the bullies knocks it down. And there are
always cheer leaders on the side, to egg on one
bully or the other.
Meanwhile the propaganda wars are in full swing.
One side controls the EM waves and the megaphones
while the other side moans and groans. We are
supposed to believe that there are good guys and
bad guys in this mayhem. How can one justify killing
innocent men, women and children? It is wrong
no matter who does it.
Palestine, Iraq and Lebanon are aflame. At one
time Egypt was in no better shape. When will we
ever learn?
Only the most politically naïve would think
that the endless Middle East conflict is local
or regional. The perception has grown in global
business circles that the Muslim countries, with
the possible exception of Malaysia, are unstable
and are risky places to invest. Without massive
investments in education and industrial infrastructure,
the Middle East, which already lags in every metric
of socio-economic development, will slide further.
It could well become the slum of the twenty first
century. The Arabs and Muslims run the risk of
being relegated to the backwaters of history.
Only extremists and warmongers will benefit.
Sometimes even men of wisdom fail to read the
signs on the horizon. There can be no peace in
the Middle East until the Arab and Muslim states
recognize Israel. Negotiation is the only way
to achieve this and to secure Palestinian political
rights.
Peace is in favor of the Arabs. A state of no-war-no-peace
is in favor of the Israelis. The longer the Palestinian
issue remains unsettled, the less the Palestinians
will receive. And the more destruction the Arabs
will experience.
The alternative is an ascending helix of war and
destruction. There is always the risk that it
may spiral out of control and bring on the Armageddon
that many fear. Not everyone who speaks of this
possibility is a doomsday soothsayer or a maverick.
I have heard many a respectable figure make a
plausible case for this scenario.
As a student of history I look for parallels to
the current situation. In 1914 a Serb terrorist
assassinated Archduke Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary.
When calls for the arrest of the assassin were
not heeded, Austria declared war on Serbia. To
protect its Eastern Orthodox ally, Russia declared
war on Austria. The Germans joined the fray on
the side of their cousins, the Austrians. England
and France, bound to Russia as entente powers,
declared war on Germany. The Great War had begun.
Is there an analogy in the Middle East today?
You decide.
The Israeli Prime Minister has said that Israel
will firm up its borders by 2010. Should it take
four more years for a state to figure out what
its borders should be? On the other side the ruling
group in the Palestinian territories refuses to
recognize Israel. How can you negotiate if you
do not even recognize that the other side exists?
It does not make sense.
There will come a time when both sides must learn
to forgive. This may sound like a utopian dream.
But that is the only way for the wounds to heal.
I hope it will happen before a catastrophic war,
not after it. Will it happen? I wonder.
There are opportunities and traps for American
Muslims in this bedlam. Muslims in America must
become patrons of peace, not protagonists of a
parochial position. They must cultivate a long-term
vision of peace and incessantly work for it. Let
not this vision become blurred by the current
upsurge of fighting. Let the horizon be clear,
far and high. Build bridges of understanding with
like minded groups, Jews, Christians, Muslims,
Hindus, Buddhists and secularists alike.
Avoid the company of provocateurs and slogan mongers.
Avoid them in public. Shun them in private. Stay
away from them on Internet chats. Their avowed
agenda is to provoke. You never know where they
come from or who they work for. Eschew the path
of hatred. Accent the language of the Prophets.
Speak the dialects of peace.
It is only with a strategic vision of peace backed
by collective action in consort with like minded
groups from other faiths and political leanings
can American Muslims make a long-term contribution
to extinguishing the smoldering fires in the Middle
East.
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