| Battle lines: ethnic or ideological? |
| Written by Rabbi Benjamin Hecht | |
| Wednesday, 18 November 2009 | |
|
While reading about and following the stories that continue to emerge from the investigation of the massacre at Fort Hood, a statement that was attributed to the alleged murderer, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, caught my attention. It seems that Major Hasan was troubled about being transferred to Afghanistan for, as a Muslim, he did not want to fight Muslims. What bothered me was that, by going to Afghanistan, he would also be defending and fighting for Muslims. Why did he see this only as a fight against Muslims? The truth is that there appear to be many Muslims who try to describe the war in Afghanistan as a battle between non-Muslims and Muslims. There is a web site that has praised Hasan for his actions in Fort Hood as it indicated that he could no longer be part of an army that is fighting against his own people. But this is also an army that is fighting on behalf of Muslims. The war in Afghanistan is not a war between Muslims and non-Muslims. It is a war between different factions within the Muslim world; NATO forces, including those of Canada and the United States, are assisting one of these factions. But why is there such an effort not to describe it that way?If a war can be described as a battle between two peoples, the essence of this conflict can be defined as an ethnic conflict. If a war, though, is actually between two groupings within the same people, it can no longer be described as ethnic; it must be ideological. How one defines the war in Afghanistan and/or Iraq is most significant. If one can define it in ethnic terms, the ideological issues can be ignored. It is, thus, in the best interests of those with the more incendiary ideological position to promote the ethnic issue. The same is true with the Arab-Israeli conflict. There is one battle in the Middle East that does place Muslims in conflict with non-Muslims: the hostility in Israel. And it is in the best interests of radical Islam to simply portray this conflict as an ethnic one and then to tie it together with the other conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. This way, it can focus the attention of the world on an ethnic issue without concern for an investigation of the ideological issues. So in Israel, Afghanistan and Iraq, battles are being waged against Muslims – suffering Muslims, poverty-stricken Muslims – perpetrated by Western non-Muslims – self-interested, wealthy non-Muslims. No wonder caring liberals around the world want actions taken to immediately end the hostility in all three countries. But define the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq as ideological conflicts and the simple solution is not as viable. And the war in Israel, by extension, is also not so easy to solve. If one recognizes that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have an ideological root then one is forced to recognize the inherent moral challenges that are posed by radical Islam. Even Muslims within those countries are willing to fight rather than give in to what they perceive as immoral demands. By recognizing this ideological reality, one would also have to accept the fact that the Israeli-Arab conflict has a similar moral dimension. Israel is not just in a battle with Muslims. It is also in a battle with radical Islam, an ideology that is trying to impose its values and beliefs on Iraq, Afghanistan and Israel. A friend of mine once remarked to me that one of the reasons he is such an admirer of Prime Minister Stephen Harper is because Harper’s position on Israel is based on moral grounds. They are the same reasons he has committed Canadian forces to the Afghanistan campaign. This war is not a fight against Muslims, qua Muslims. It is a moral struggle to assist a population of Muslims in their fight against the imposition of a value system – a value system that has been damaging to them and to populations in the Western world – by other Muslims, i.e. radical Islam. Similar elements are found in the Arab-Israeli conflict. This aspect of the Israeli-Arab conflict cannot be ignored and must be part of our very understanding of what is occurring in Israel. This is also the reason that even negotiations are seemingly impossible. There may be some ethnic, nationalistic issues included in what is happening in Israel – after all, a Jewish state is not, by definition, a Muslim state. But there is a deeper issue involved that, in fact, is permeating throughout the Middle East. We are involved in an ideological battle with a religious system that challenges some of ours and our neighbours’ most precious values. In response to Major Hasan, this must be made clear. Rabbi Benjamin Hecht is the founding director of Nishma, which fosters the critical investigation of contemporary issues. For further info, see www.nishma.org and nishmablog.blogspot.com |
|
| Last Updated ( Wednesday, 25 November 2009 ) |