A commentator in the thread below links to one of the more remarkable and depressing pieces I have read in a very long time. It appears on the website of Islam-Online.com, which is run by Hamas/Muslim Brotherhood.
In the article, a “normal Egyptian guy” describes his meeting with an Israeli girl at a “Media For Dialogue and Social Change” conference. Such an event was held in Copenhagen, Denmark in 2006. The purpose of that conference was as follows:
Designed for international aid workers, paedagogical and educational specialists and professional theatre practitioners, this conference will aim to provide inspiration and critical reflection on theatre and drama as a means of expression and communication that combines paedagogical methods with artistic skills to generate social change, human development and dialogue between cultures. The focus will be on the experience from developing countries with practical examples from integration projects in Denmark. Participants will explore new methods, dilemmas and best practices for theatre and drama originating from international cooperation. The programme will include workshops and live demonstrations carried out by professional theatres from Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Denmark combined with panel discussions.
Both Arabs and Israelis participated in this conference. The young man was so worried about people finding out that he had met an Israeli, that he has adopted a nom de guerre, “Hisham Al Masri” in writing this article. This is why:
“this meeting could destroy my whole career history and also could give me a bad reputation as a person who came closer to Israeli people, and that’s why I can not publish this under my name.”
Nevertheless, kudos to the Normal Egyptian Guy for taking part in this conference, with the best of intentions:
The good thing is that I didn’t have to travel to Israel because the meeting is at a neutral place in Denmark where the “Media For Dialogue” course was held, I also knew there would be a chance to meet Arabs from Occupied Palestine, which meant I would be able to have a close look at the conflict. It’s not just another documentary movie, but I would meet real people, and have the ability to interact with them all, hoping to bring something good out of it. This is how I was thinking and how I make it easy for my self to accept it.”
At the conference, a chance encounter puts “Hisham” on the spot:
I was outside setting on the coach enjoying the great view of Vallekilde when a girl with a long dark curly hair showed up, she looked at me, I saw the sadness in her eyes, and I felt there is something different about her, but couldn’t know what exactly what it was.
She came towards me, “Hello.. I want to talk to you..” she said, I told to her “Sure.. what do you want to talk about?”, I was really shocked when I heard what she had to say after that, because I didn’t expect that she will come to me and the first thing she had to say is “Do you hate me?”
The girl, of course, was an Israeli.
This is Hisham’s response:
“I told her “Of course I don’t hate you, but I hate occupation, and you know that our countries had a very bad historical wars against each other, I believe that all humans should live together in peace”. She completely agreed with me like she had the same opinion as mine. “
So far, this story is a gentle parable, about the power of face to face meetings, and candour, in bridging the gaps between two warring peoples. It gives you hope.
And now, the payoff:
I continued “I will be honest and tell you about what I really think because you are not the only one who feels the sadness, but I have also my deep sadness feeling, especially when I think about the future of Egyptians in coming generations. I believe we will have another big war with Israel, maybe it will take some time until this happen, but no one can stop that, recording to prophet Mohammed -peace and blessings be upon him-
“The Hour will not come to pass until you fight the Jews..” to the end of the Hadith (mentioned by Abu Hurayrah in: Whole true small number -7,414).
This war will be totally religious and All Muslims will be part of it, it’s not the same war that we have now in the Middle East against the Israeli occupation. and this me feel bad some how, because the war will never end between Muslims and Jews.
Of course no body wants war but what to do?!
What to do indeed.
The passage in question is enshrined in the Hamas Covenant. Here it is in full:
“The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharkad tree, (evidently a certain kind of tree) would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews.”
“Hisham” continues:
The Israeli girl was surprised even more this time. She really made me feel that I gave her lots of surprises. This is very strange for an APC (Armored Personnel Carriers) teaching commander in the Israeli army, because I expected that she knows what I am talking about, but it seem that she was hearing all what I told her for the first time in her life, anyways. It was not a good feeling for me as I suppose I lived on the same planet since the moment of birth. I didn’t came from mars, I am only a normal Egyptian guy who is telling the simple truth of what he knows and believes, It’s not my fault that I raised holding hate in my mind and bad feelings in my soul to Israeli occupation. It’s also not the Israeli’s duty to think different. It’s a big fact that I can not nether deny or change.
This essay appeared on the Hamas/Muslim Brotherhood website. It reflects the clerical fascist thinking of Hamas/Muslim Brotherhood activists. As such, it is very instructive.
This young man’s perspective certainly illustrates the conventional understanding of the “rational” causes of the Israel-Palestine conflict. The occupation – by which it is fair to assume “Hisham” means the very existence of Israel – exercises him greatly. Likewise, he acknowledges that he has been taught to hate his neighbours. Nevertheless, important though it is, all this is a sideshow to “Hisham”.
But there is also an “ideological” dimension to this young man’s worldview. “Hisham” expresses it very clearly. He does not hate Jews. There’s nothing that Israel could or should be doing differently. They are just playing out their part in God’s plan. It is all predestined. At the end of time, there will be a big religious war, in which the Muslims will kill all the Jews. In fact, “Hisham” believes that the Israeli girl “knows what I am talking about”. How could she not? This is just the “simple truth”. It is just one of those things that is going to happen. It makes “Hisham” feel bad to think about it. It is a huge pity. But it is a “big fact that I can not nether deny or change”
So, “what to do”?
The predominant view is that Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood are moderate and pragmatic Islamist liberation movements. The truth is that they are not. Rather, they are millenialist genocidal clerical fascist organisations. Anybody who allies themselves with them, or misunderstands the nature of their ideology, is in for a very nasty surprise indeed.
UPDATE: And here’s Egyptian lawyer, Nagla Al-Imam . Her proposal is that Arab men should seek out Israeli women and sexually harass them, to communicate the message “leave the land so we won’t rape you“
