There was a story about our great khalifa Omar Al khattab r.a. on his visit to Syam. Before entering the city, one of his generals commented to him about his ragged clothing and suggested that he changed to new clothings to reflect his status as a leader. The Khalifa reply is relective and a semblance of the Muslim world is at the moment. It goes something like this: “We used to be inferior people of the lowest rank and social order, but Allah has raised our standing with Islam, so if we were to find status and position with things other than what Allah has bestowed upon us, than Allah can make us inferior again.”
We muslims have to wake up, we cannot be so deaf, dumb and blind (summum, bukmun and umyun as in Surah baqarah) as to what is happenning around us. The golden age of Islam did not happen because muslims uphold the to the clanship of Arabism, it is because they uphold to the true teachings of lslam. Allah rewarded them with a great civilisation and Islam became a feared superpower in the world. And many of the great muslim scholars and political leaders at that time were non arabs. The great Salahudin Al Ayubi who defeated and recapture Jerusalem from the crusaders was a kurd. But for this great people, they are muslims first and foremost. Their race and clans are secondary. So in order for us to regain our lost glory, let us go back to the true teachings of Islam.

As an african-american I marvel at the breathaking group think that seems to define the perspective of the American mainstream. They lack a context to understand what is going on. They are still under sway of the film Exodus, the narrative of the jews as victims, which they profoundly were in the aftermath of WWII.

If not that story they buy the one that this is a religious conflict between two groups. Most Americans seem to have no understanding of how poorly that narrative fits current events.

This is of course a conflict with geopolitical roots, manufactured, in its deep roots, in the US.

The larger forces that seem to be operative is a notion that the middle east must be free of governments hostile to US interests. It feeds off the moral panic that brands Arabs and muslims as terrorists. Israel’s policy is an extention of US policy. Gaza is in many ways a replay of the policies that led to the disaster in Iraq. The abject failure of this policy is no constraint on its current repetitition in Gaza.

This latest attack is a continuation of attack that really began on Nov 4. It did not begin until after the election and it is timed apparently to be completed before the inauguaration of Obama, that the right wing in the US are not comfortable with.

The most powerful way to bring about change is not through the UN which can only act after the powerful players are in agreement.

The way to address this is some kind of coailition building within the US.

This blog is a spark of hope. The spark has to become a movement.

I propose a very unscientific, unconventional “solution” : lock ALL MEMBERS of BOTH PARTIES in a big room, lock the room and let them out once they will have worked out a solution! If they wish to go on one another’s throat – they should feel free as long as they leave the people in peace! I would not even give them food as long as they think they can go on with this insanity … I know it sounds rude but I’d have NO QUALMS with that!

I have friends in Gaza, non-violent, non-political, wonderful people who just want to LIVE! I am worried sick … but there is nothing I can do to help them. It is killing me!