We the Peacemakers

TWENTIETH ANNIVE RSARY tionalism fueled by anti-Communist hysteria in the 1ate1940s and 1950s; the assassinations ofPresident Kennedy and Senator Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr.; the infiltration and systematic disruption of the anti-war movement in the 1960s by the FBI and CIA; the false promises and raised hopes ofthe Clinton years which were then dashed againstthe realityof Clintonian opportunism and slavish desireto servethe interests ofglobal capital (though ofcourse somegood things were also accomplished); the failure ofAl Gore to provide a vision that could inspire or transcend his wimpiness, to demand real power for the views that actually won majority support in 2000 (rather than abandoning those forces and burying himself in wounded pride); and the failure ofthe Democratic leadership to provide a principled challenge to Bush's Iraq policy. You could probably add a lot more to this listofwaysthathope has been undermined andpeople have given into cynicism and despair. Butjust as every moment thatwe choose despair we deepen the likelihood ofa world ofwar, so every momentwhere we choose to affirmlove and generosity and our mutual interconnectedness we increase the likelihood ofa world ofpeaceandjustice. JULY/AUGUST 2004 I VOLUME 19, NUMBER 4 Wethe Peacemakers by MohammedAbu Nimer I 'M VERY SAD TO HEAR that there's so much pressure in the American Jewish community these days to silence the voices ofpeace, or voices that seem to be critical ofIsraeli policy. However, we peacemakers always suffer from this issue. Our respective groups tend to characterize us as traitors, disloyal, andwe're ostracized. What we are facing is fear, ignorance, and lack ofinformation from our own national and religious communities. From our past experiences in Israel and Palestine, peace activists have learned (somehave paid theheavy price with their lives) that it is important in a way not tojump too far ahead oftheir communites and to try to understand their concerns, fears, and where they stand. However, such understanding has not, thankfully , prevented Israeli and Palestinian peace activists from meeting in times when such actions were politicallytaboo . I want to share "vith you some ofthe internal dynamics within the American Muslim and Palestinian Arab communities regarding this issueofjointlyworkingfor peace with ourJewish and Israeli counterparts. Yesterday I hada conversation with a group ofMuslim scholars who came from Central and Southeast Asia. We spoke about pluralism and religion. One ofthe Imams from Kabul took me aside afterwards andsaid: "Are there really Christians and Jews who recognize Islam as a religion?" I was not as surprised as some of you mightbebyhis question. I immediatelythoughtof thesimilardehumanization andstereotypes appliedto Muslims both prior to and after 9/11. I also was reminded ofthe same kind ofstereotyping and ignorance that drives people to characterize all Palestinians as terrorists, or Palestinian mothers as killingtheir children and having no respectfor life. In response to these negative images and the reality of the Occupation, there have always been forces in the Palestinian and Arab communities who opposedjoint peace work, dialogue,or any contactwith the"enemy." Palestinians who haveworked for political compromise and dialogue have also faced pressure and have even been sanctioned by their own communities. One ofthe mistakes we make as Palestinian and Jewish or Israeli peace workers is to say that we're on two sides. We're not on two sides. We share lots ofcommonalities as people who advocate for peace and justice. Palestinians who call forjoint peacework through the exact process that Jewish peace workers go through in their own communities-in terms ofidentity, in terms of provingtheirloyalty, in terms ofdefendingthe "other" side-but it's important to speak and work within our own communities. "When I speak to Jewish groups they often think, "This is a nice, good Palestinian working for peace." Butthere's always this cognitive defense mechanism that makes peoplewonder ifthey can really trust me. What I really need is for Jews to speak in theirown communities because it's harderfor peopleto dismissyou ifyou're from "within."Andifwe continue to have people in theArab community speakingofpeace andjustice intheir own communities, this group of"us," who suffer from notbelongingfully to either side, will grow. And it's the growth ofthis middle group thatreflects and leads the pathtoward hope. Are thereAmerican Muslims who arespeakingthis way in their...