Is Islam Anti-Semitic?

re: Gibran

The Israel-Palestinian conflict is perhaps the only time in history when all Muslims and Jews are polarized against each other.

But this polarization was not created by the Arabs alone. Yasser Arafat, for instance, is quite amenable to the idea of a secular Palestinian state in which Jews could become equal citizens, along with Muslims and Christians. Not all Palestinian Arabs want an Islamic Palestinian state.

If you consider the population ratio between Jews and Palestinians, it is adequately clear that a Palestinian state with a Jewish minority is much more practicable than an Israeli state with an Arab majority. Palestinians Arabs far outnumber the Israeli Jews in terms of population. Unlike Hindu-Muslim religious differences, there are very few religious differences between Jews and Muslims. In terms of theology, Judaism and Islam are closer to each other... than to Christianity. Both religions share the same roots -- to the grand patriarch, Hazrat Ibrahim (or Abraham, as the Old Testament refers to him).

There is no reason why both communities can`t coexist peacefully in a democratic, secular state of Palestine.

good article. since you mentioned jewish history, you are aware of the persecution they faced and hence you can see where the paranoia for anti-semiticism comes from. needless to say, they attempt to attack anti-jewish criticism in non-violent ways, which gets refered to as zionist conspiracy by anti-semites.

good to see an acknowledgement of the status-quo power of israel and yearning for peace.

Article by Gibran Bham:

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Its like John coming to Peter’s 5 bedroom house, throwing Peter into the wash room, while enjoying the T.V., radio and warm, comfy beds.
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Sometimes it is wise to walk a little in the other party`s mocasins.

Cooler tempers might prevail if an Arab mulls over what he would have done in 1948 if he were a holocaust survivor. Wouldn`t he have done everything in his power to defeat the Arab armies that invaded Israel?

More importantly, an Arab might want to mull over the fact that Palestine was a two-way street at that moment in history. Yes, many a Palestinian ( 0.5 million) fled his ancestral home in the wake of Palestine`s partition. But at least an equal number of Jews got thrown out from Arab countries (from Morocco to Iraq) and even from Iran.

Today, the majority of Jews in Israel are Shephardic Jews most of whom have either lived in Palestine for centuries or are from Arab lands.

In fact, the downfall of the Labor Party in Israel and the rise of the hard line Likud is specifically related to this demographic mix - the better educated Ashkenazic Jews (of Yiddish heritage) yielding to the numerically dominant Shephardic Jews.

Needless to say, these Shephardic Jews have no reason to feel that they owe anything to the Palestinians who had lost their ancestral home. More importantly, the Shephardic Jews have genuine cause to resent the Arab countries that threw them out of their ancestral home in the aftermath of Palestine`s partition.

If an Arab mulls over the facts, I am sure he`ll see how illogical and unreasonable it was for him to denounce the Jewish people.

More importantly, he will realize how unreasonable are those that will not settle for peace for anything less than the Palestinians` right to return to their ancestral land.

One sided blind support for the Arab regimes that have persistently sought Israel`s obliteration right from day one, will not solve the problem.

Israel is a beleagured state. The Arab regimes have been baying for Israel`s blood for a long time. And they have the luxury of doing so because such beligerance does not affect the average Arab in the two dozen Arab states lying between Morocco and Iraq.

Tiny Israel, on the other hand, has been affected to the point where it is really weary to a person. It has a draft in place that affects not just the Israeli men but the women as well. Israelis would like to be left alone in peace because everyone of them has been affected in a way that can be comprehended by only a few of the quarter billion Arabs lying between Morocco and Iraq.

Israel wants real peace - not a tactical truce that would allow the Arab regimes to wait for an opportunity to obliterate Israel from the world map.

There is plenty of blame to go around in Palestine. But the Arab regimes are in no shape to absolve themselves of any blame.

(1) The Arab regimes did the Palestinian Arabs no favor by invading Israel on the morrow of the UN-sanctioned partition.

(2) The Arab regimes did the Palestinian Arabs no favor by failing to establish an independent Palestine in the West Bank and Gaza in the two decades they had till 1967.

(3) The Arab regimes did the Palestinian Arabs no favor by failing to absorb the refugees by giving them citizenship. The Palestinian Arabs were left to fester in refugee camps instead.

(4) The Arab regimes do Palestinian Arabs no favor by backing to the hilt the Palestinian Arabs` demand for the right of return to Israel. Israel has absorbed all the Jews thrown out of Arab lands in the afternmath of the partition of 1948. The Arab regimes would do well to absorb their share of refugees from the partition of Palestine instead of egging them on to stick to their demand for right of return.

Come to think of it, the half million Hindu Sindhis who were driven into exile at India`s partition have a far stronger cause for grievance than the half million Palestinians who went into exile at Palestine`s partition - the Palestinians can easily choose to be be at home in any of the 22 Arab countries who speak the same language as them. Such is not the case with the Hindu Sindhis who were forced into the Diaspora in 1947 and who must live in lands where the Sindhi language can at best try to survive unobtrusively in a non-Sindhi land.

DUDE GIBRAN

All that we know of the peoples of the Middle east suggests that both ancient jews as well as arabs are semitic. Modern day jews while they may have a greater proportion of european blood in them still celebrate their semitic roots , which is not entirely different from the Arab semitic identity .

The damage in terms of brainwashing is full and complete as far as this generation and may be the next one is concerned. Hyderabadi drivers to Pastun tribesman voice concern for Palestinians , I wonder how many Arabs cared about the Afghan civil war and its aftermath other than to throw fuel over the smoldering flames.