Book jacket: Letters to Palestine -'Koi hai' (Is anyone there?) - a free, downloadable ebook. After more than a year of relentless conflict, a British-Pakistani journalist and friend of both Jews and Palestinians hungers for peace built on a shared hope for healing, unity, and coexistence.

 

From Karbala to Palestine, We Unite for Humanity

By Mehr Husain

I was born and bred in a part of London which is Jewish. I once lived across from a synagogue. My children’s doctors were Jewish. I went to school with Jewish children. Debates surrounding Pakistan and Israel in our classrooms always ended in a light-hearted manner. I could never be anti-Jewish. I did not hate Jews. I couldn’t.

I also belong to a land in Pakistan which was at Partition, 80% Hindu. Our family shrine in Shorkot, Jhang stands sect-free – but surrounded by the worst sectarian tension and violence in the country. Every now and then there are reports of some horrific acts of terror against minorities and the Shia community.

Living mostly in Lahore now, I know I have the luxury of leaving and finding home elsewhere but my blood tells me I can never be free of the soil where my ancestors are buried.

All this played in my mind post-7 October 2023, and I watched videos of suffering on my phone. Where would these Palestinians go? Where could they go? Every now and then a video or a photo would emerge of children killed in the very home they thought would keep them safe.

And then there it was. A video of a woman desperately calling for anyone who could help: “Hal min nasirin yansurna” – Arabic for ‘Is there anyone who will help?’

I knew that call. It was the call made by Imam Hussain, grandson of the Prophet of Islam (Peace be upon Him), with his army of 72 including friends and family surrounded by the oppressor Yazeed’s army. All 72 were slaughtered.

The martyrs included Hindus who came from India to support Hussain as he walked across the desert with just his friends and family including his 6-month-old son Ali Asghar and 4-year-old daughter Sakina. Hindu supporters of Hussain came to be known as ‘Hussaini Brahmins’ - including the famed actor Sunil Dutt’s family.

Hearing that call, I knew I had to do something that perhaps one day would stand as a testament that we bore witness to this conflict, life-changing for many of us.

So, almost a year ago, I put out a global call for letters to Palestine. What do you say to a people whose suffering knows no end?

As I put out the call, something hit me. What if people sent in hate? What if all I got were anti-Semite submissions?

But to my relief as I opened my email inbox to a flood of submissions, I found myself swimming in a holistic sea of humanity.

There were letters, poems, essays, paintings, and designs, each one written with incredible love and compassion for Palestinians without hatred for the other.

Submissions came from India, Turkey, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, the US, UK, and Europe. As my team began to compile the letters, it struck me how seamless the process had been. Schoolchildren with college students, housewives with poets, authors with artists, all had transcended borders, nationalities, ages, and more to come together with one message that upheld humanity.

This was not my first international project, but there was something about this that made it unique. No one looked to gain anything. No one was looking to go up the career ladder or network or collaborate for future work – all of which are perfectly acceptable and legitimate reasons. But this was beautifully altruistic. It was almost as if the stars had aligned to create a tangible entity that spoke of nothing but compassion.

Hate can sell. But hate can also tire. Especially when the gains are hollow and short-lived. Just look at Pakistan and India today. There is a longing to meet across the border, and countless conversations I have had on how to re-bridge again. “We’re just there,” the ‘there’ stressed like an endless sigh.

It’s easy to dismiss such talk as fluff and lightweight but having lived through and experienced the Second Gulf War and the ‘War on Terror’ and being a continuous witness to and covering the massacres that take place in my backyard here in Pakistan, hate has led to nowhere. Deadwood cannot fuel a fire. It will only extinguish whatever flames are burning. The real magic lies in the process of what can be built out of the ashes.

And so I published the world’s only anthology in relation to the current conflict in the Middle East. We sent it off to human rights organizations across the globe with a note saying that this is a small effort to remind us of the necessity to remember that all wars end in dialogue. History will be written from both sides but the documentation must serve as a reminder that life must be respected, ALL life must be respected.

Now in the wake of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas one can only hope sanity prevails and humanity is upheld. We in South Asia know all too well the preciousness of home. Maybe it is time for us as well to work together to open our borders in the name of humanity.

Note:   Koi Hai: Letters to Palestine  is not a commercial project. It is available as a free, downloadable ebook published by Sabin Muzaffar of Ananke in Dubai.

( Mehr Husain is a journalist, author, editor, and publisher based in Lahore. She is also a gender and sustainability advocate for the recognition of indigenous artisans and fabric. Currently, she is Director of the National History Museum in Lahore. Author of ‘Pakistan: A Fashionable History’ (2020), she is working on a book on sustainability. – Sapan News)

HYPERLINKS USED IN THE ARTICLE

Koi Hai: Letters to Palestine -   https://issuu.com/anankemag/docs/koi_hai_6_