I do not know what the word "Palestine" means to most of the people out there. Sure , we do share a lot of Facebook pages highlighting their plight , we "Like" a lot of new articles and other such material on the subject published therein . But at the end of the day , all we do care about are our petty ambitions and interests. Palestine still remains a "far away" land for most of us . And till recently , a lot of us had no idea that The Dome of the Rock ( the golden dome) was not Masjid e Aqsa. This shows how strongly our minds have been conditioned to think by the mainstream Media.
Keeping in view the fact that how Palestine has been the flash point of 3 major religions , Christianity , Judaism and Islam , it is surprising that we know so little about it. To Jews , it was ( and still is) , "The Promised Land" and they have pulled out all stops to get it back. Be it aggressive media campaigning / propaganda or equally ruthless bombing of Palestinians , the Israelis are doing it all. What are us Muslims doing ? For starters , most of us are too willing to equate terrorism with Islam . "In the name of Islam" is a phrase that is too frequently used in the same breath with things like oppression , terrorism , female subjugation and a horde of other things. Anyone who puts up an argument to defend religion is labelled "rigid" , "fundamentalist" or the all time popular , " conspiracy theorist".
Anyway , I digress. Back to the main topic . What can really be done about a country that is so far away and "exotic" ? Obviously, going over there is not an option unless you are working with a humanitarian organisation that is based there. A lot of people talk about boycotting Jewish products. While this might be possible for some of the items that are "luxuries" (such as McDonalds) , it isn't possible for items that are necessary ( such as Nestle`). And I do not think that even if we boycotted each and every product made by Jews , it could cause them much loss. There was a case of a product that was boycotted by a UK based humanitarian agency which caused the particular product substantial loss, but overall , I do not think it changed much.
No. There is something completely different that seems to be missing here. Jews most definitely won't be worried about whether we do or do not buy Pampers or Nestle`. The story is as old as the history of Islam itself. Jews have not accepted the fact that they are not "The Chosen ones" any more. Their hatred for Islam is as strong as it was more than 1400 years ago.
So what is missing here is the soul of Islam in side us. That sounds like such a cliche` and a very bland thing to say indeed. But does the truth really have to be that complex and elaborate? It doesn't , but we have complicated matters so that it would become easier to get away with more and more that is not allowed by Islam.
Palestinians have not compromised on their values , so they are being crushed by brute force while the mainstream media keeps us informed about casualties of "innocent Israelis" . We, on the other hand , have invented several brands of Islam that would suit our individual life styles.
So, it is not the geographical distances that have made us so insensitive to the plight of Palestinians .It is our distance from religion as well. Our priorities are all messed up. We know the shirt numbers of each player of each team in FIFA world cup , but we would be clueless about how many Muslims have been killed today ?
How do we address this situation ? Everyone is well aware of the problem , even though we may not be aware of the specifics and smaller details. I do not think this problem is going to be solved readily. If anything , it would escalate with time. Name one Muslim country that is not facing serious troubles. Pakistan is among the lucky ones so far to be not ravaged by war and conflicts like Palestine and other countries.
I do not believe there is going to be any solution until and unless we truly try to under stand our religion, Islam. Our understanding would be flawed, yes , and we would continue to stumble about in the dark like we are now. Palestinians are much better than most of us as they have a sense of identity , which we do not possess. Their sense of identity is costing them heavily ,but our lack of the same would cost us even more so if we do not do a reality check.
Palestinians realize too well that they are alone in their struggle . So are all the other Muslim countries that are struggling against various forms of oppression. The least we can do is; it open our eyes and differentiate between right and wrong ; it is a tall order since Muslims have thrust Islam aside and invented our own "rights" and "wrongs".
To cap it all ( if any one made it this far in the narrative) , start reconnecting with religion . And trust me , it pays off if you read Quran with translation even a little bit. I have done so and I suggest you do it too ; you will be surprised how reassuring Quran can be when you do decide to pick it up !!!!
Keeping in view the fact that how Palestine has been the flash point of 3 major religions , Christianity , Judaism and Islam , it is surprising that we know so little about it. To Jews , it was ( and still is) , "The Promised Land" and they have pulled out all stops to get it back. Be it aggressive media campaigning / propaganda or equally ruthless bombing of Palestinians , the Israelis are doing it all. What are us Muslims doing ? For starters , most of us are too willing to equate terrorism with Islam . "In the name of Islam" is a phrase that is too frequently used in the same breath with things like oppression , terrorism , female subjugation and a horde of other things. Anyone who puts up an argument to defend religion is labelled "rigid" , "fundamentalist" or the all time popular , " conspiracy theorist".
Anyway , I digress. Back to the main topic . What can really be done about a country that is so far away and "exotic" ? Obviously, going over there is not an option unless you are working with a humanitarian organisation that is based there. A lot of people talk about boycotting Jewish products. While this might be possible for some of the items that are "luxuries" (such as McDonalds) , it isn't possible for items that are necessary ( such as Nestle`). And I do not think that even if we boycotted each and every product made by Jews , it could cause them much loss. There was a case of a product that was boycotted by a UK based humanitarian agency which caused the particular product substantial loss, but overall , I do not think it changed much.
No. There is something completely different that seems to be missing here. Jews most definitely won't be worried about whether we do or do not buy Pampers or Nestle`. The story is as old as the history of Islam itself. Jews have not accepted the fact that they are not "The Chosen ones" any more. Their hatred for Islam is as strong as it was more than 1400 years ago.
So what is missing here is the soul of Islam in side us. That sounds like such a cliche` and a very bland thing to say indeed. But does the truth really have to be that complex and elaborate? It doesn't , but we have complicated matters so that it would become easier to get away with more and more that is not allowed by Islam.
Palestinians have not compromised on their values , so they are being crushed by brute force while the mainstream media keeps us informed about casualties of "innocent Israelis" . We, on the other hand , have invented several brands of Islam that would suit our individual life styles.
So, it is not the geographical distances that have made us so insensitive to the plight of Palestinians .It is our distance from religion as well. Our priorities are all messed up. We know the shirt numbers of each player of each team in FIFA world cup , but we would be clueless about how many Muslims have been killed today ?
How do we address this situation ? Everyone is well aware of the problem , even though we may not be aware of the specifics and smaller details. I do not think this problem is going to be solved readily. If anything , it would escalate with time. Name one Muslim country that is not facing serious troubles. Pakistan is among the lucky ones so far to be not ravaged by war and conflicts like Palestine and other countries.
I do not believe there is going to be any solution until and unless we truly try to under stand our religion, Islam. Our understanding would be flawed, yes , and we would continue to stumble about in the dark like we are now. Palestinians are much better than most of us as they have a sense of identity , which we do not possess. Their sense of identity is costing them heavily ,but our lack of the same would cost us even more so if we do not do a reality check.
Palestinians realize too well that they are alone in their struggle . So are all the other Muslim countries that are struggling against various forms of oppression. The least we can do is; it open our eyes and differentiate between right and wrong ; it is a tall order since Muslims have thrust Islam aside and invented our own "rights" and "wrongs".
To cap it all ( if any one made it this far in the narrative) , start reconnecting with religion . And trust me , it pays off if you read Quran with translation even a little bit. I have done so and I suggest you do it too ; you will be surprised how reassuring Quran can be when you do decide to pick it up !!!!
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