thenews.com.pk
Harris Khalique

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the act of the deadly attack by his marines on the aid flotilla of six ships heading towards the 1.5 million Palestinians crowded into the Gaza strip. He shamelessly said, “Once again Israel faces hypocrisy and a biased rush to judgment.” Unmoved by the deaths of innocent civilians at the hands of his atrocious forces, he was defiant in his speech and pleaded that easing the blockade of Gaza would lead to Iranian missiles falling in the hands of rogue Hamas leaders who rule the Palestinian strip. According to the statement of the Israeli Defence Forces, the relief flotilla organisers had a radical Islamic anti-western orientation, and that Israeli naval forces were attacked with metal clubs and knives, as well as live fire. We haven’t heard of a single Israeli death, however.

The American government continues with its policy on the Palestinian-Israeli issue, and the coyness of the president of the United States and the audacity on the part of the mainstream US media comparable only to that of Netanyahu confirm that the Israeli government will smoothly get away with another crime against humanity. One is sure that a UN Security Council resolution to condemn the act, if any at all, will be vetoed by the US as usual. This is what you call persistence. On other fronts, the weapons of mass destruction are yet to be found in Iraq while we are in search of some good Taliban in Afghanistan who we could talk to. Not surprising that some of the kind-hearted liberal Americans one gets to meet keep grappling with the question that why they are disliked by so many in the Muslim world.

I am one of those Pakistanis who were able to visit some towns like Auschwitz in Europe where the ghastly acts of huddling up and killing of Jews took place. Many of us know what European Jews went through for generations after generations, all of which in a way culminated in the Holocaust. It is now up to the conscience of humanist Jews to see that Palestinians are going through the same ordeal in present day and age at the hands of those who were once victims themselves. If you are an Israeli you don’t have to be a humanist to understand the need for building peace. It is a purely rational choice for the state and for a secure, peaceful and prosperous society. But influential Israelis don’t get it. Like many of us Pakistanis don’t get it. The formidable rightwing lobby of politicians, media personnel, pseudo-intellectuals and academics still don’t understand that foundations of a secure, peaceful and prosperous society can seldom be laid on bigotry, intolerance, hate and ignorance.

What the members of the Ahmaddiya community in Lahore went through a few days ago while doing nothing but offering prayers is just another proof of the wrongs we have done in the past and a glaring sign of more dreadful times to come if we don’t act differently now. After our sovereign parliament excommunicated Ahmedis in 1974 from the ambit of Islam, the community has faced murder, violence and institutionalised discrimination. That fateful decision of parliament opened new doors of prejudice. One example is Shias who supported castigating Ahmedis but themselves faced extreme violence and a campaign to be declared non-Muslim. The issues of Muqallid and Ghair-Muqallid within Sunnis, blasphemous Christian farmers and janitors, idol-worshipping Hindus, there is so much more. Pakistanis don’t get it, like Israelis.

The writer is a poet and advises national and international institutions on governance and public policy issues. Email: harris .khalique@gmail.com