Readers' letters and contributions, June 10, 2003

Readers' letters and contributions, June 10, 2003, Al-Jazeerah.info

Dr. Hassan El-Najjar,

In reading through your response I was somewhat disappointed. It's not that I feel your heart is in the wrong place. I have lived my whole life in the United States with the exception of five years in Asia. I spent my young days in a small town where on Memorial day we attended parades to honor the men that kept our country free. I know how seriously we take the protection of our nation and it's people. It's not that we as a people look for war, on the contrary we search for friends but we don't play games with defense. I see in peoples eyes how they felt about September 11th and I know what they learned when they started asking why? They found a separatist movement in the Philippines, burning of Christians in Sudan, anarchy in Algeria, repression in Iran, torture in Iraq and hatred in Saudi Arabia. While I understand these are minorities, they create an image of the Muslim world that is very ugly and people do feel threatened by it. This is why the majority support our current foreign policy without question. They see it as defending what we love. As long as this image is present in peoples minds then they will continue to support military actions almost without question. What other choice do they have? Gamble with our nations future? Leave nothing to our children when we were left so much?

This mentality can be changed. It's not that we need to stop defending our country. It's simply a matter of us being able to work this out. In order for that to happen, I believe all parties must acknowledge the role they played in getting us to this point. That includes Muslims who currently have an irrational level of hatred toward Americans and do to little to end terrorism (defined as random targeting of innocent civilians). I also believe that Israel needs to step forward and be accountable for the actions it has taken and acknowledge the illegitimacy of it's state.

The U. S. unfortunately learned what our forefathers warned before we became a country. Stay out of foreign affairs. We created a power imbalance in the Holy Lands and it resulted in a great deal of suffering.

We do agree completely on one thing. It does not seem strange to me that you, my father and I, all share a vision of what should have happened. A state should have been formed that was neither Jewish nor Muslim and safeguarded all it's citizens regardless of religion. A religious state is in my mind evil by definition. For a state be religious it must discriminate. It's my belief that the roadmap is yet another effort which will continue to split man when we should be joining together. I can't help but believe it short changes the process of finding the real solution and will only postpone violence.

In reference to:

"I was so moved when I read your last section, I was about to cry."

I cried when I wrote it. It hurts me to see all this needless suffering. Palestinians gunned down, in many cases for no apparent reason, Israelis blown up on buses and restaurants, Americans attacked at their office. These are the effects of policies based in selfishness and greed. The roadmap is nothing but a continuation of these policies and will therefore likely lead to more of the same. I hope I'm wrong. I would like to see us get it right once.

Richard Maurice

Two State Solution or The Right of Return

Michael Bokarelli

When looking at the issue of peace in the Middle East and the recent advances by both leaders to attain that peace, we are left with two possibilities to achieve peace. A two state solution, or the Right of Return for Palestinian refugees. What I find most confusing about these two ideas is that many Palestinian leaders cannot seem to make up their mind, which one they want. All of the Palestinian organizations in the area claim they want their own land, their own state with their own leaders. Yet at the same time, they also want the right of return for Palestinians refugees.

Editor:

Michael:

I couldn't post the rest of your letter. It's a repetition of your previous messages of looking down at the Palestinian people and their long suffering on the hands of Israelis and their supporters. I just want to address the above issue that confuses you, so that you and other readers may be educated about the issue.

These are not two ideas. These are two UN resolutions.

The 1947 UN Partitin Resolution (181) created the two states. Then, when Israel annexed the Galilee, Auja, most of Gaza Strip and most of the West Bank in 1948 (Look at the Palestine Maps in the Documents section), the UN issued another resolution (194) that calls on Israel to allow the Palestinian refugees to go back to their lands and property. Israel has prevented the implementation of these two UNGA resolutions so far, like it has done with tens of others.

The two resolutions are complementary to each other. It's not a matter of eithor or. There has to be a Palestinian state side by side with Israel AND Palestinian refugees who live in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and anywhere else should have the right to return. Otherwise, the conflict continues. These are rights agreed upon by all nations in the world except Israel. It's time for Israelis and their supporters to accept the implementation of these resolutions so the world can live in peace.

Dear Editor I have one question to ask the Arabs in the Middle East. How come all of the countries in the Middle East are so terribly poor? I would like to find out the reasons why nearly all Middle East countries are in such a poor state compared to other regions of the world. Is it because the injustice occurring between Israel and the Palestinians? Maybe your governments are at fault? Can somebody give me a clue?

James Polstik, USA
Editor: Some countries in the Middle East are poor, others are rich, a third group is somewhere in between. Oil-exporting states are rich, particularly Gulf states, because of selling oil. Israel is rich because of enormous financial and economic assistance from the US (see the Documents section). You are right in pointing to the Arab-Israeli conflict as a major reason for the poverty of the poor states, particularly Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan, which have been forced to defend themselves against Israeli aggression and Israeli wars. I estimated that 62 percent of the Arab oil wealth went on military spending just to defend themselves from Israel in the 1970s and the 1980s. Other states, like Sudan, Algeria, and Yemen, went through terrible civil wars that have exhausted their resource. Algeria and Sudan are still in a state of civil war (El-Najjar, The Gulf War).

You are also right in pointing to the fact that part of the problem is the dictatorial and despotic governments imposed on Arabs, which are backed by the United States in most cases. Without wars, the ruling elites in the Middle East and in the West will not be able to accumulate their huge wealth and maintain their tight grip on power. Who is going to buy the weapons after all? Part of why peace in the Middle East is so hard to be achieved is that war has its own beneficiaries and constituents, here and there. Who cares about the poor?

An impossible scenario?

Instead of plotting ways to kill Israeli citizens, a group of Palestinians in their 20s and 30s approach the Israeli business community. The meeting goes something like this...

"We want an end to the killing. "Bottom line, we want to break the cycle of violence and replace it with a strong focus on capitalism, as we know that capitalistic societies have a MUCH higher standard of living than we have here in Palestine. "Will you help us?"

Mark Irwin

Atlanta, GA

Editor: Mark, your whole letter could not be published. It's blaming the victims, the Palestinian people in a derogatory way, and praising the Israeli oppressors who dispossessed them. The problem is not unemployment and work. Even Sharon has finally acknowledged that the problem is the Israeli military occupation of Palestine. So, you sound more Israeli than Sharon. Once Israelis withdraw and Palestine becomes a viable and independent state, then economic cooperation between the two states is inevitable.

For your knowledge, Palestinians are among the most highly educated people in the world, otherwise they could not have stood to Israel all this time. Freedom is more important than jobs for the vast majority of people in the world, Palestinians included. By the way, the whole world is capitalistic now since the fall of the Soviet Union.

assalam wah alaikhoum

This urgent message was sent to me by Ms Blackwell of Birmingham University who is trying to trace the whereabouts of two British students who have gone missing. The Jordanian authorities have confirmed that the two did not re enter Jordan so they must still be in Falestine or taken prisoners in Israel. Your help in this matter would be gratefully received. Would you be able to help with your various contacts or do you know anyone else who may be able to help?? A reply to my email would be welcome.

Shoukrun and salaams

Maisoon

** URGENT APPEAL FOR HELP - FIND AYAZ AND TAHSEEN! **

Two medical students at the University of Birmingham have
disappeared without trace after being detained by the Israeli
authorities two weeks ago. After a period of no contact,
their families learnt that they had been held in an Israeli
prison but had now been released. The two have not been heard
from since their "release"; their families do not even
know where they were being held.

                       *****

The students, Ayaz Ghani and Tahseen Chaudhry, are both
British-born Muslim men travelling on British passports.
They are both aged 23 and in the fourth year of a degree in
medicine. They had spent some weeks in South Africa as part
of their elective courses and had planned for a long time to
do a tour of the Middle East before returning to Birmingham.

They had visited Syria and Lebanon before entering the West
Bank from Jordan. Apparently they were detained there by the
Israelis, but their families had no idea what had happened to
them. They finally phoned the Foreign Office in desperation,
to be told that they were in an Israeli jail. The Foreign
Office had apparently been informed of their detention
within 24 hours as required by law, but had not passed this
information on to the families. They still do not know which
Israeli prison the students were detained in or where they
were released.

Ayaz eventually telephoned his family on the morning of
4th June saying that they had been held in an Israeli
jail for 11 days without being allowed to inform anyone
of where they were. Ayaz also texted a friend to say that
they had been charged with terrorism and espionage but then
released, and were being deported to Jordan. Tahseen, like
Ayaz, was permitted a brief phone call to his family, but
as they both said "we will call you from Jordan" to their
families the phone was cut off.

Since their "release" on 4th June, there has been no further
contact and it is not known whether they have been re-arrested
in Israel or detained in Jordan or elsewhere. The two were
due to catch a flight from Damascus to Dubai on the evening
of Saturday 7th June but they were not on the flight.

Samina, Tahseen's sister, also a former student of Birmingham
University, said: " It is extremely distressing not to know
what the physical and mental state of a member of your family
is after being detained for such a long period. We are
extremely disappointed that the Foreign Office has given us
no help whatsoever. These two boys are lost between two
countries. Nobody knows where they are. Both are known to
be hard-working students. They have just over a year to
become fully-qualified doctors. They have never committed
any offence. They are just two students who enjoy travelling."

QUESTIONS NEEDING URGENT ANSWERS:

1. Where are Ayaz and Tahseen now?

2. Why are they not being allowed to communicate with their
    families and friends?

3. Who is responsible for their welfare?

4. Why did the Foreign Office not inform their families of
    their detention in Israel for 11 days?

5. Why was the British Embassy not given access to them?

6. In which Israeli jail were they being held?

7. Were they formally charged with any offence? If so,
    what offence and on what evidence?

8. Were they produced in a court of law to answer charges?

9. Were they at any time given access to a lawyer?

10. Where were they released and into whose custody?

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

1. If you are a student or member of staff at the University of
    Birmingham, ask the University authorities what they are
    doing to secure the release and safe return of their students.

    Send a politely worded e-mail to David Allen, the Registrar and
    Secretary of the University of Birmingham, at: d.j.allen@bham.ac.uk

2. If you live in a Birmingham constituency, ask your Member of
    Parliament to take up the above questions as a matter of
    urgency. The Choudhrys' MP is Steve McCabe but his emergency
    phone number is not publicly available so if anyone knows it
    please contact him urgently.

    To find your MP use one of the links on the following page:

    http://web.bham.ac.uk/sue_blackwell/politics/index.html#MPs

3. Write courteously but strongly worded letters of protest to
    the following (letters to Ambassadors should begin "Your
    Excellency"):

    Tzvi Shtauber
    Embassy of Israel
    2 Palace Green
    London
    W8 4QB

    Foreign and Commonwealth Office,
    King Charles Street,
    London SW1A 2AH

    Jordanian Embassy
    6 Upper Philimore Gardens

    Phone: 44 (0)171 937 3685
    Fax:    44 (0)171 937 8795

(If you have working e-mail addresses for any of the above please send
them to s.a.blackwell@bham.ac.uk so that we can include them in future
mailings).

This appeal is being sent by the Birmingham University Palestinian Society
and the Birmingham University againST the War society (BUSTW), with the
agreement of the Choudhry family.

For further information contact:

Josie Sandercock (mobile:) 07900 248 957
Sue Blackwell (work, with voicemail:) 0121-414-3219

Hindu-Muslim Relations in India

Come election time and Atal Behari Vajpayee remembers that it is high time some politicking should be started on Babri Masjid/ Ram janambhoomi imbroglio. This time too a call was made to Kanchi's seer to come back as a rescuer, and try to negotiate a settlement through opening discussions with Muslim leaders.

Kanchi has given out some hints that he is in contacts with some Muslim leaders, though Muslim Personal Law Board's senior member has categorically denied that the seer has been in touch with any of the prominent leaders of the Muslim Umma.

A question is being asked among Muslim observers as to how can they accept Kanchi seer as an honest broker between Hindus and Muslim when he meets former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao, who sat watching BBC TV while a large mob demolished Babri Masjid during his Prime Ministership. The seer does a further injustice to Muslims, when he commended the role of Rao in installing a Ram idol at its "rightful place" in Ayodhya. This is backhanded approval of the demolition of Babri Masjid itself.

The seer has advanced a further bargaining chip, by suggesting that possibly in lieu of Muslim being cooperative on Babri Masjid issue, the government could be persuaded to allow Muslims to pray in all Masjids which have been designated as archaeological sites and thus out of bound for everyday prayers. In fact, the government is duty bound to lift all such restrictions, as Masjid are not built to be monuments but are meant for believers to pray five times a day. To persuade the government to stop and injustice, in exchange for acquiescing another greater injustice is a strange way to mediate between the two communities.

On the other hand, Pravin Togadia has kept on with his intemperate threats and denunciations as a pressure tactic to force Muslims to relinquish their claim on Babri Masjid. He maintains that Muslims have no grounds to ask for court judement on the matter, as in case of Shah Bano court judgement, they had defied the courts and asked for special legislation to get their way around the courts. He has asked the government to pass a law to acquire Babri Masjid site, in the manner, that Muslims -- according to him --- has forced Rajiv to amend the constitution to set the matter according to Muslim Personal Law. Replying to Togadia, in a TV dialog, Maulana Abdur Rahim Quraishi contended that Muslim abided by court judgment on Shah Bano case; though they later agit! ated to see that such court jusgements do not contradict Sharia provisions. Besides, Maulana Quraishi explained the difference that while the Shah Bano case was a matter of law, Babri Masjid case was a matter of fact of the title of the Muslim wakf property. There can be difference of opinion on matters of law, but facts are facts. He said, even then Muslims are ready to abide by the court decision, even if goes against them.

Congress leader Sonia Gandhi is a new admirer of the Kanchi seer, as she too took time out to see the seer. BJP and VHP have already called on Sonia Gandhi to prove her patriotism in helping build the Ram Temple at the Babri Masjid site. Her position is fraught with extreme danger, in as much as any move that goes against the Muslim position would definitely rob her party any residue Muslim voter support that Congress once had locked up for over 40 years and lost only after the then Congress Prime Minister Rao openly maneuvered to allow the destruction of the Babri Masjid at the hands of BJP and VHP leaders and their storm troopers called Kar Sevaks. The atmosphere surrounding Babri Masjid has further deteriorated when 5 accused in Babri Masjid demolition case have publicly declared that they demolished the Masjid on the express orders of Deputy Prime Minister L. K. Advani as well as other top BJP leaders who all got Ministership in BJP government as rewar! d for their crime in instigating the crowd to ' ek dhakka aur do'. Though now all of them are claiming that they asked the Kar Sevaks to get off the top of the Masjid; but the real reason was that they knew that the Masjid is about to fall due to prior arrangement inside the structure and they wanted to save the lives of those who had climbed the dome of the Masjid. The leaders were not trying to save the Masjid, as now they are so piously trying to make out to save their necks.

No less than thousand innocents, an overwhelming majority being Muslims, died in communal riots following that December 6, 1990 demolition debacle. Not a single person has been brought to justice till today. How can Muslims expect justice from L. K. Advani who was the prime instigator of the Babri Masjid demolition movement and now has become the Home minister of Indian Republic? Can there be any more glaring case of the travesty of justice.

GHULAM MUHAMMED, MUMBAI, INDIA

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