News,
articles and documents from the Holy Land
“Peace will be the fruit of
Justice and my people will dwell in the beauty of Peace”
Issue No. 99 - Tuesday, 18 September 2001
Dear Friends, Brothers
and Sisters,
“Can good come
out from evil”? I was asking myself this question during this week after the tragic
events in the USA. I came to this conclusion that I would like to share with
you soon: “At the short run we the Palestinians will lose but at the long run
we will win the battle of our freedom”. You know why I am thinking in this way?
Because as I told you in the last Olive Branch that the Middle East conflict is
the key of peace and stability in the whole world, and without a just solution
to this conflict, violence will continue and produce more violence and
terrorism. I think also that the USA, the UN, the EU and the whole world will
learn this lesson and will try their best to end the occupation and reach a
peace agreement as soon as possible, and we hope that it will be just and comprehensive
in order to be a lasting and final one.
“Is there any
sign of hope?” I used to say always, even in the darkest moments of this
conflict, that we will never lose hope! Indeed, we see in these difficult days
that there are some signs of hope: First of all, the USA are newly concerned
about our conflict. Secondly, both our people are more prepared and ready for a
solution, because they are tired maybe, but also because they see until where
it will lead us the cycle of violence. Thirdly, Mr. Arafat issued a message of
peace and gave orders to stop all forms of violent resistance and expresses his
readiness to meet with the Israeli anytime and anywhere.
Therefore, we
hope that both side with the help of the International community will capture
this opportunity in order to return to the table of the negotiation, but this
time in a new way which will lead to final solution of all the issues.
After this optimistic
editorial, let me introduce to you what you will find in today’s Olive Branch:
1)
A Call
to the People of Israel: Messages of Peace, President Yasser Arafat addressed representatives of the
local and international press today 18 September after meeting with
representatives of the diplomatic core in His Excellency’s office in Gaza City.
Below is a transcript of his statement.
2) “Not in Our Son's Name” is a very touching letter written by Phyllis
and Orlando Rodriguez's son Greg who is one of the Trade Center victims, sent
to NY Times and to the White House, asking Mr. President not to revenge their
son’s death in a brutal way.
3) “An American point of view” written by Rev.
Sandra Olewine from the United Methodist Liaison – Jerusalem, in which she explain
how she lived the latest sad events and what was the Palestinian reaction on
it.
4) “High Holy Days Amid the Ruins” While the Jewish people is celebrating a lot of feast in the next days and weeks, Marc H. Ellis who is a University Professor of American and Jewish Studies and Director of the Center for American and Jewish Studies at Baylor University, try explain to them how they should live it.
5) Finally, our dear friend, Dr Harry Hagopian is trying to share with us his own reading of the latest sad events in his very well written article: “Violence, Blood, Violence!”
With our best wishes from Jerusalem the City of HOPE Fr.
Raed Abusahlia
President Arafat Issues a
Message of Peace
18
September 2001
Palestine
Media Center – PMC
A Call to the People of Israel: Messages
of Peace
Once again, I would like to offer my deepest condolences
to the people, government, and President of the United States of America.
Violence begets violence and
escalating violence will men that there will be a counter-escalation. The
result will be more Palestinians and Israelis killed.
We especially condemn, and
strongly disapprove of all military and paramilitary activities committed
against civilians, whether carried out by Israeli soldiers, Palestinians or
Israelis. Moreover, we believe that terrorist activities carried out against
civilians, harm to a great extent, the peace process and any potential
agreement.
Palestinians want peace with
the Israelis. They do not want war.
The Palestinians recognize
the right of Israel to live behind safe and secure boundaries. This is what our
PNC (Palestine National Council) has adopted in its session in Algeria in 1988,
and it was on this basis that we started our official dialogue with America. We
continue to be fully committed to this resolution.
The Palestinian strategic
choice is to establish a peace between us and the Israelis, through a just,
comprehensive and durable peace agreement signed by the States of Palestine and
Israel.
We, Palestinians and
Israelis, have to work together to break the vicious cycle of violence. Let us
get together, let us sit down and negotiate peace, let us improve the lives of
Israelis and Palestinians and move toward a just and lasting peace and
cooperation.
This morning I have reiterated my orders to all my Security Commanders
to act intensively in securing a ceasefire on all fronts, and in every town and
village, I also instructed them to exercise maximum self-restraint in the face
of Israeli aggression and attacks.
I want to announce this morning, that I have informed the US that we
have put all our capabilities under their disposal, and of our readiness to be
part of the international alliance for ending terrorism against unarmed
innocent civilians. Our objective is securing a world where security, peace and
justice prevail. I will do all my part whatever is necessary to achieve that
goal.
Not in Our Son's Name
Phyllis and Orlando
Rodriguez's son Greg is one of the Trade Center victims.
Copy of
letter sent to NY Times:
Our son Greg is among the many missing from the World Trade Center attack.
Since we first heard the news, we have shared moments of grief, comfort, hope,
despair, fond memories with his wife, the two families, our friends and
neighbors, his loving colleagues at Cantor Fitzgerald / Espeed, and all the
grieving families that daily meet at the Pierre Hotel.
We see our hurt and anger reflected among everybody we meet. We cannot pay
attention to the daily flow of news about this disaster. But we read enough of
the news to sense that our government is heading in the direction of violent
revenge, with the prospect of sons, daughters, parents, and friends in distant
lands dying, suffering, and nursing further grievances against us.
It is not the
way to go. It will not avenge our son's death. Not in our son's name.
Our son died a victim of an inhuman ideology. Our actions should not serve the
same purpose. Let us grieve. Let us reflect and pray. Let us think about a
rational response that brings real peace and justice to our world. But let us
not as a nation add to the inhumanity of our times.
Copy of letter to White House:
Dear President Bush:
Our son is one of the victims of Tuesday's attack on the World Trade Center. We
read about your response in the last few days and about the resolutions from
both Houses, giving you undefined power to respond to the terror attacks.
Your response to this attach does not make us feel better about our son's
death. It makes us feel worse. It makes us feel that our government is using
our son's memory as a justification to cause suffering for other sons and
parents in other lands.
It is not the first time that a person in your position has been given
unlimited power and came to regret it. This is not the time for empty gestures
to make us feel better. It is not the time to act like bullies.
We urge you to think about how our government can develop peaceful,
rational solutions to terrorism, solutions that do not sink us to the inhuman
level of terrorists.
Sincerely,
Phyllis and Orlando Rodriguez
An American point of view
Rev. Sandra Olewine
United
Methodist Liaison - Jerusalem
Dear Friends,
In these days when much of the world reels from the heinous
actions of hijackers using passenger jets as 'flying bombs' into major
buildings in the US, likely killing thousands, certainly injuring 10s of
thousands and leaving families the world over grief stricken and
lost, words and images should be carefully chosen, particularly by those
in leadership and in the media.
These acts raise the term 'terrorism' to an unprecedented level. Most acts ever
given this designation pale in the face of the massive human lose and
destruction. Never again will any of us step foot on a plane and not
remember, at least for a fleeting moment, what happened
in New York City, Washington DC and Pennsylvania. For many,
and particularly for many Americans, the recognition of human
vulnerability has never been as clear as it is in these days. We humans
often don't live well in the midst of such vulnerability. We try to create a
sense of stability and security in our environment by whatever means
necessary in order to cope with disruption, death and grief. Retreating
to 'safe spaces' and finding someone to blame,
someone towards whom to direct our anger and despair, is
not difficult to understand. But, sometimes such 'retreating' can lead to
a strong urge to 'protect ourselves against them' whomever
'them' might be.
As I watch the scenes which are displayed
on television and listen to the words of some of
the American leadership, I am dismayed
by the careless and blanket statements concerning Muslims
in particular and Arabs in general which are being
expressed. The need to create 'security' by blaming evil deeds on an entire
tradition of people does not do justice to the lives of those killed. The work
of 20, 50, 100, or 1,000 should not lead us to make blanket assumptions or
statements about over a billion people. In every country, in every tradition,
in every race, there are people who act out of malice and hatred to destroy
others. Surely we Americans have not forgotten that the last
horrible terrorist act carried out in our country
was by ourselves.
I've had numerous emails from people asking me to help interpret the scenes
they have watched of Palestinians 'celebrating' after the
event. Yes, there were some gatherings of
people, particularly in Nablus, who were shown in the very early hours of the
horrible attacks in the US on the street, dancing and cheering,
and passing out chocolate. But, these expressions were few and certainly
did not represent the feelings or mood of the general population. The
deep shock and horror of the Palestinian people, the real sorrow for all
the dead and wounded, was, and continues to be, unseen by the
world, particularly in the USA. It is the story unheard.
Because those few scenes were disturbing, the easy response is to cast judgment
on the participants, naming those 'celebrating' as inhuman, despots, or
despicable. The more difficult response, though, particularly in the midst
of grief, is to ask the questions about what might drive people,
men, women and children, to such actions. One might remember that the people
who were seen 'celebrating' are a people who for almost a year have been under
a brutal siege, who due to the siege have been unable to feed
their families and hover on the brink of poverty and despair, who have watched
their children and their parents killed by bullets, tank shells and guided
missiles, most of which are supplied to the Israeli Occupation Army by the USA.
One might remember such things as one
watches those images. Attempting to understand motivations
doesn't discount our feelings of anguish at such scenes, but
does allow us to keep humanity a bit more in tack in a time of such utter
brokenness.
But, more importantly to me is what has mostly gone unseen by the American
public. I have to ask why these scenes of a few
Palestinians been shown again and again and again, as if they capture
the 'truth' of Palestine. How few cameras have caught the spontaneous sorrow,
despair, tears and heartache of the vast majority of the Palestinian
people. As the news unfolded here on Tuesday afternoon about the
extent of the attacks, people gathered, as people did
everywhere, in front of television screens to learn as much as
possible. My phone rang and rang as Palestinians from around the West Bank
called to express their horror and their condolences.
Yesterday following a prayer service held at St. George's Anglican
Cathedral, I talked briefly to the US Consul General in Jerusalem. We talked
about the scenes from here which were most prevalent on the TV. He told me that
his office had received a stack of faxes of condolences from
Palestinians and Palestinian Organizations
'this high' (indicating a stack of about 12 inches). He asked
his staff to fax a copy of every last one of them to CNN to give a
different visual image from Palestine.
When we left the cathedral after the service, we drove by the
American Consulate in East Jerusalem. Gathered there were about 30
Palestinian Muslim schoolgirls with their teachers. Looking
grief-stricken, they held their bouquets of dark flowers and stood behind
their row of candles. Silently, they kept vigil outside
our Consulate. But no cameras captured their quiet sorrow.
When I got home, my neighbor explained that her son who is in 8th
grade came home in the afternoon and talked to
her about the student’s reactions at school. He told her that
everyone was talking about what had happened. He said that
many were asking "how could someone do that?" "Is
someone human who can carry out such acts?" He went on to tell her that
many of the girls were crying. Friends, then, began
stopping by my home. Palestinian Christian and Muslim came
together, visiting me to express their sorrow and to ask what
they could do. Again, the phone rang incessantly with
Palestinians asking if everyone I knew was okay and asking if they could do
anything to help.
As we talked many went on to tell of stories of their loved ones who are
in the States - relatives they were worried about having been injured or
killed or who had been subject to harassment in the last couple of days. Others
talked of having received emails from people who had
been supporters of their work who wrote saying "I can
never again support the Palestinian people," as if somehow Palestinians
everywhere were suddenly responsible for the attacks in the States.
The remarkable thing to me, though, was that despite
such messages, these same people still wrote letters of condolences, made
phone calls to friends, and asked what they could do to help.
Despite the world, and particularly the American world, not seeing them or
seeing them only as 'terrorists', Palestinians continued to express
their common humanity with people everywhere as they shared in the heartache
and dismay.
In a separate message I will forward
to you some of the condolences which have gone out. I
pray you will share them widely in order to share the sorrow, in
order that this part of the story also might be heard.
Lastly, I also want to express my gratitude to the many of you who have
written notes of concern, expressing your prayers, for the people here,
worrying about how this situation will impact the lives of all living
in this region. In the midst of your own suffering and anxiety, your own horror
what has happened, your heart was large enough, your vision wide
enough, to still see the suffering and anxiety of others. This is no small gift
and is a true mark of the grace of God.
Trusting in God's everlasting presence,
Sandra - Sep 15, 2001
High Holy Days Amid the
Ruins
Marc
H. Ellis
Less than a week after the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon,
Jews around the world enter into the most difficult and somber holy days of the
Jewish calendar. The time between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is known as
the Days of Awe and Repentance. In the shadow of destruction and death, the
timing could not be more appropriate. Like clergy of all faiths,
rabbis prepare their sermons in advance. Before these tragic events, most
were preparing to speak to their congregations about the need for Jews to
remain unified behind the state of Israel, especially in light of the negative
publicity surrounding the continuing Israeli suppression of Al Aksa intifada
and the recently-concluded UN conference on racism held in South Africa.
Despite the proximity in time, the Israeli-Palestinian struggle and the
Durban conference are, at least for the moment, distant in thought and
emotion. All is in the shadow of the destruction and death relived
endlessly on television. What, then, will the rabbis now emphasize in
their sermons? What lessons can be drawn?
Some will highlight a connection between these events, for Americans now
understand the violence and sorrow terrorism leaves in its wake, known intimately
by Israelis. Perhaps now America and Israel are drawn even closer
together, for they hold in common the values of decency and democracy. Do we
not now share the common war against the forces that threaten
civilization? Rabbis will reinforce the need for Jewish and American
unity in the broader arc of dramatic religious rhetoric. Contrasting the forces
of good and evil, dividing humanity into the civilized and uncivilized,
demanding before God that the line be drawn as to who is for life and who is for
death, Muslims will be called to join in this war. Rabbis will emphasize that
the "real" Islam is, like "authentic" Judaism, a religion
of peace and justice. They will call on Muslims – and Christians for that
matter - to condemn terrorism as their ticket to the club of the civilized.
Yet this club is haunted by unanswered and, for the most part, unasked
questions. Are the solidarity of America and Israel and the fraternity of
the civilized the only lessons to be learned during these days where
images of destruction are omnipresent? Is repentance to be demanded only of the
"other"? Are America and Israel innocent? Do the "real"
Judaism, Islam and Christianity project civilization and righteousness and
nothing else? Do "they" - the shadowy and violent world of terrorists
- only symbolize darkness and chaos?
To see the rote lesson of the Jewish day of atonement - that as victims of
terrorism and approbation Jews can now support Israel and America without
thought of misdeeds and culpability - is simplistic. The systematic
assassination of Palestinian leaders and the invasion of Palestinian territory
by Israel, using helicopter gunships built in America and funded by American
taxpayers, can hardly be justified as a war for civilization. Terrorism that turns
civilians into targets and commercial airliners into missiles deserves
condemnation. But the dichotomy of innocence and guilt, civilized and
uncivilized, do not serve us well. They do not bode well for the clarion call
to eliminate terrorism from the face of the earth, nor raise the central
question facing Jews as a people. And they do not fulfill the demands of
the Days of Awe and Repentance - to reflect anew, to turn away from injustice,
to confess our sins as individuals, as a community and as a nation. We too are
part of the cycle of violence that we condemn so easily when the burden is so
dramatically placed on another people or nation. We can condemn terrorism and
still make our confession: That no matter the reasons with regard to Jewish
history, what Israel has done and what Israel is doing today to Palestinians is
wrong. We can question the singling out of Jews and Israel at the
conference on racism and still affirm that Jews benefit from racism in
America. We can still acknowledge that far too many Jews in America and in
Israel have racist attitudes toward Palestinians and Arabs in general. We can
stand with America without confusing an essential American goodness with
innocence.
The criticisms of Israel, Jews and America, while too broadly drawn, retain a
kernel of truth. They are essential to our own "teshuvah," the
turning back to the deepest sense of oneself and to God, and to "tikkun
olam," the repair of a broken world. Both resonate with the demands
of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
Like our politicians and commentators who have filled the airwaves over the
last days, only a small number of rabbis will wrestle with these difficult and
complex issues. In light of these tragic events, the Days of Awe and
Repentance, always difficult and demanding, are made more so. Affirming one's
identity as Jewish and American and thus innocent is too easy. Identifying a
way forward which is self-critical and inclusive involves a confession central
to the days Jews observe so soberly. Amid the ruins, we have little choice.
Marc H. Ellis is University Professor of American and Jewish Studies and
Director of the Center for American and Jewish Studies at Baylor University. He
can be reached at <Marc_Ellis@baylor.edu>
Violence, Blood, Violence!
Dr Harry Hagopian
You will
be asked for your patience, for the conflict will not be short. You will be asked for resolve, for the
conflict will not be easy. You will be asked for your strength because the
course to victory may be long.
These portentous words - uttered by President
George W Bush at Camp David on 15 September 2001 - constituted a warning. It
was an angry warning directed as much at the terrorists responsible for the
horrifying devastation that struck at the military and financial heartland of
the USA as it was at those states harbouring terrorists across all continents.
And mind you, who could blame the American President for such a resolute
statement? After all, his country had just experienced international violence
of such macabre intensity and accurate deadliness that it could have easily
come out of the pages of Tom Clancy’s novel ‘Rainbow Six’.
So one week after the series of mind-numbing
events, is it possible to make a few summary observations that would suggest a
number of informed judgments? What
are the critical dangers that are already evident today?
AA.
To start with, let me emphasize that such
wide-scale and malignant outrages cannot be justified or condoned in any way.
No matter what the political or economic grievances of certain countries or
individuals, the wholesale and indiscriminate killing of human beings -
children, women and men of various ethnic or national origins from across the
world - can never become acceptable under any religious, political or economic
system. A chorus of candle-lit vigils and statements by churches and
church-related organizations world-wide - ranging from Pax Christi
International to the Middle East Council of Churches - underscores such
Christocentric and faith-centred denunciations of violence.
Indeed, in his homily for the Mass of Peace held
in Jerusalem in remembrance of the hapless victims in the USA, Latin Patriarch
Michel Sabbah reminded the assembled faithful that Jesus himself called us to
be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect. Therefore, he affirmed, our
obvious guide remains God himself - who symbolizes love and mercy, not hatred,
death and exclusion. The Patriarch questioned the negative role that religion
plays at times in societies, and added that ‘God is the God of all
His children, whatever their faith and nationality’.
BB.
Over the past week, I have heard many political
commentators - both on radio and television - coming up with different rationalizations
to the tragedy that has assaulted the USA. Some have compared those dreadful
acts of violence to a war between civilizations, and have referred to Samuel
Huntingdon’s book ‘Clash of Civilizations’ in order to draw a stark difference
between ‘us’ and ‘them’! Others have talked even more prophetically about an
imminent apocalyptic end to civilisation itself! There have also been those who have made fevered invocations
of Good versus Evil, and have come up with superstitious readings of Nostradamus
or numerals to give vent to their political or religious viewpoints.
I believe it is important here to stress the
inherent dangers of viewing the world in terms of black and white, or of
analysing the conflict as one between the ‘developed’ and
‘developing’ civilisations - in other words, between the West and its
industrialised allies versus all others. Such classifications are simplistic,
blending ignorance with arrogance and opening the way for further polarisation,
tension and strife. It might perhaps be more reasonable to assert that the conflicts
of the world today are as much between different interests (or principalities,
to use a biblical term) as they are within the different ‘civilisations’
themselves. In an interview on Sky television some days ago, James Wolfenson,
President of the World Bank, argued against the premise that terrorism is a war
between civilisations. Rather, he segued, one way of combating terrorism would
be through the conquest of poverty and inequity in the world.
CC.
One dangerous fall-out of this tragedy has been
the emotive - and at times virulent - attacks waged against Islam in some parts
of the world. Islam (as a religion) is also being held synonymous with ‘Arab’
(as a people) and then associated willy-nilly with fundamentalism, radicalism
and terrorism. The inferences here are clear and lethal! I have read many
columns in different newspapers purporting to ‘explain’ the mentality behind
Islam for such suicidal and terrorist acts. One paper wrote that Muslims like
to die through ‘acts of martyrdom’ in order to be rewarded with eternal life in
paradise, permission to see the face of Allah and the privilege to grant places
in heaven for seventy of their relatives. To conclude this analysis with a
touch of salacious sensationalism, the paper then added that such attacks will
also provide each Muslim with the promise of the services of seventy two vestal
virgins.
Accusing any religion of terrorism, denigrating
its ethos and then demonising its foundation by maligning a large number of its
[Arab] adherents, is counter-productive!
As an Armenian Christian from Jerusalem, I have enjoyed over the years
the friendship and neighbourliness of many Muslim scholars, practitioners and
ordinary men and women. I must profess that this brand of violence being
attributed to Islam today is alien to my understanding or experience. True, I
have had disagreements with Muslims over their theology. I have also voiced my
concern about some of the exclusive exegeses and insular ideologies within that
faith. But such disagreements form part of a daily pattern of life the world
over. I have had them with Jews and Christians as much as with Muslims, and
have resolved them by engaging others in dialogue across conference tables or
in the real witness of daily life - person to person, neighbourhood to
neighbourhood.
To be honest, I do not know what drives ‘Muslim
terrorists’ - if I were to use such a tabloid and inaccurate expression! But what I do know are the clear,
unequivocal values, moral premises and ethical restraints of Islam. They make
the sanctity of human life a permanent obligation. Care for the innocent, the
suffering and the bereaved becomes a sacred duty. The Prophet Mohammed forbade
the killing of civilians, women and children, the old and the infirm, as well
as the destruction of property, the burning of crops and the slaughter of
animals. Kidnapping, hijacking and other deeds of terror are as contrary to the
true teachings of Islam as they are to those of Christianity and Judaism.
In a statement entitled ‘A Muslim Calls for
Sanity’, HRH Prince Hassan bin Talal of Jordan - whose Hashemite family is a
direct descendant of the Prophet Mohammed - stressed that respecting the
sanctity of life is the cornerstone of all great faiths. Reminding the world
that Muslims, Christians and Jews have a common shared history, Prince Hassan
warned the world against the ever-increasing tendency of ceding to Islamaphobia
- a common form of xenophobia and intolerance directed at Islam - in our lives.
He also cautioned in his statement, “The politics of the Middle East must not
be allowed to destroy the natural capacity that people of faith have to live
together and to work together. We must always hold fast to the moral values
contained in our common heritage despite the conflicting rights and comparable
injustices still separating us.
Bloodshed is no answer.” In
the perennial words of Dr Martin Luther King Jr. ‘violence begets violence in a
never-ending circle of destruction’.
It is therefore the responsibility of political
leaders and media barons to distinguish Islam as a monotheistic religion of
core values from those consequences of violence or carnage that are perpetrated
in its name. In a rather vulnerable and volatile environment, people must be
taught that fanaticism is not the trademark of Islam. Any fanaticism within
Islam can be matched with fanaticism in many other monotheistic or polytheistic
religions - including Christianity.
But this huge onus - to raise the awareness of
different societies to the true values within Islam - lies also with Muslims
themselves. In fact, what is critical these days is for the tacit majority of
well-thinking and peace-loving Muslims across the world to stand up and
proclaim their beliefs in an authentic and user-friendly manner. As Rabbi Tony
Bayfield from the Reform Movement in Judaism commented recently in the Evening
Standard, such an outward openness on the part of religious leaders across the
board will help Jews, Christians and Muslims to rediscover together their
shared core values about the sanctity of human life, justice and compassion.
Indeed, religious leaders from all faiths should make their positions
unequivocal and clear. They should challenge the abuse of power by eschewing
violence, by teaching that we worship the one God in spite of our different
theological manifestations, and by recognizing our common humanity. Only then
will it become possible to put those core values at the service of sharing,
compromise and peace. Only then will the masses be taught - and therefore learn
- to distinguish myth from reality.
Islam remains one of the fastest growing faiths
world-wide. It is also a faith that abuts a number of fault lines, and does not
draw a distinction between the religious and political lives. This is an
important perception toward understanding how the followers of this religion
think or act in their own lives. It is also one way toward appreciating the
mechanisms by which Muslims tie their concerns in matters related to God with
those related to Caesar.
DD.
What next? According to most analysts, we are in
for a long war. Allies are being selected, encouraged, cajoled or bought in the
hope of forming an awesome coalition and confronting the shadowy and
hyper-linked nature of global terrorism. This is definitively one method of
retribution against the culprits of terror, but is it the only one? Who are
those allies? Who is the enemy? In his book ‘Reaping the Whirlwind’, Michael
Griffin suggests, for instance, that Iran is a natural ally of the USA in any
war with Afghanistan. Considering Pakistan untrustworthy at the best of times,
Griffin argues that mutual American-Iranian concerns over energy in Central
Asia, Iraq, Afghanistan’s heroin trade as well as the profound Iranian dislike
for the Sunni Taliban Muslims, forge natural allies out of those two erstwhile
foes.
War strategies aside, however, I would like to
posit some tentative pointers arising from this calamity. After all, we cannot
accept the stark view of a world created for us by terrorists where the remedy
to every human grievance or injustice is a resort to the random violence of
revenge - often against the innocent. Surely, true political mettle can only be
shown by denying terrorists their victory and by refusing to submit to a world
created in their image.
In an article entitled ‘What America must Learn
from Disaster’, Tony Judt, Director of the Remarque Institute at New York
University, claims that the latest acts of terrorism have offered the world a
glimpse into a possible future. In the 20th century, he argues, war
was made on civilians. In the 21st century, however, war will
be made by civilians. It could well assume the shape of a faith-based
initiative that bypasses the conventional state. All it will need is planning
skills, financial resources and a willingness to die for one’s beliefs. Most of
everything else - machinery, technology, targets - will be furnished by a
society which then becomes its ultimate victim. The point of such warfare,
writes Judt, will not be to achieve an objective, much less win a final victory. It will be - it already is - simply to
make a point.
Tony Judt goes further to draw some distinctions
between European and American responses to terrorism. Europeans faced with a
terrorist campaign typically ask, ‘Why
does this happen?’ Americans he
has spoken to or heard on the box in the immediate aftermath of the catastrophe
have demanded, ‘How could this
happen?’ Will this mindset alter now?
Once the immediate trauma of this bloody
violence is abated to a degree, and once America regains some of its in-bred
resilience and vitality, three variables must be dealt with by the US
Administration - in one way or another.
·
The
obsession with ‘missile defence’ has become redundant. True, there are still
quite a number of states and individuals who dream of firing inter-continental
missiles at the USA. But that is
their least likely weapon of choice because it advertises ever so clearly its
point of origin and its owner. The threat in the coming decades is more likely
to be from individuals or organisations who want to make a point, to mock and
humble their adversary.
·
As
Peter Hain, Foreign Office Minister in London, mentioned in a recent BBC
NewsNight interview, the Middle East conflict can no longer be shunted away. It
remains one of the likeliest sources of indoctrination and one of the likeliest
reasons for attacks. Whether we like it or not, countless people from Morocco
to Pakistan see Israel as a surrogate for the USA. In their minds, the USA will
accrue the blame for Israeli actions. Israel will even be the excuse as much as
the catalyst for such attacks. This will not change so long as there is no
solution to the regional Arab-Israeli conflict. Therefore, the USA cannot
consider itself an optional presence, and cannot see itself as a super-power disengaging
itself from the parties - as has happened recently. It is time for the USA to
make a virtue of necessity and to tailor a comprehensive peace settlement that
will put out the flames of hatred and bigotry. As one priest wrote recently,
the conflicts of the world transit through Jerusalem. It is the skeleton key to
peace or war no matter how far-fetched, obnoxious or perverse this reality
might sound to many people in the USA or elsewhere.
·
America
has spent the first few months of the Bush presidency in denouncing treaties,
promising to retreat from crisis zones, and repeating that the administration
plans to put ‘US national interests’ first. But the blood that was spilt last
week proves that the interests of America and those of the rest of the world
are inextricably intertwined. In a trans-national world, national interests no
longer have any meaning in isolation. Alliances, treaties, international laws,
courts and agencies are not an alternative to national security. They remain
its only solid hope.
Within this overall political configuration,
with prudence and wisdom, it could perhaps become possible to rid the world of
the ghoulish spectre of terrorism. But such an objective must adopt a strategy
that goes beyond the instant gratification derived from punishing the prime
suspects. Any such move must avoid inflicting further pain and penury upon
long-suffering civilians in different - deprived - parts of the world.
Otherwise, the seeds of further hatred will be sown in the world. And for this
purpose, one needs to harness all available political, diplomatic, economic and
operational resources.
EE.
The world has been reacting to this latest
tragedy with muted respect. Even the Last Night of the Proms in London altered
its programme to include the Choral Finale from Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony to
highlight the way in which music enhances the universal bonds of humanity and
fellowship. However, music is not the sole panacea for grieving hearts.
Countless Americans have shown the world that prayers also help in the quest
for inner serenity and peace.
Rabbi Nachman of Bratzlav was one such person
whose inveterate belief in prayer drove his life. A Hassidic master living in
the Ukraine around the turn of the 19th century, he was a pessimist
by nature! He often compared the human situation to that of a person suspended
by a thread over a raging sea that seeks to swallow him. Yet, like many other
mystical thinkers of his tradition, he also believed that goodness - in the
shape of divine sparks - is inherent in all human beings. Could men and
women of goodwill use the power of prayer like life rafts to see them through
these turbulent times? Can they uncover and celebrate those divine sparks
within them? Will time heal pessimism and yield optimism?
Or will further violence, blood, violence
continue to taunt us and haunt us all for years to come?
© h-bvH @
18 September 2001
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