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We were brought up to hate
- and we do
By Nonie Darwish
February 12, 2006
The controversy
regarding the Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed completely misses the
point. Of course, the cartoons are offensive to Muslims, but newspaper cartoons
do not warrant the burning of buildings and the killing of innocent people. The
cartoons did not cause the disease of hate that we are seeing in the Muslim
world on our television screens at night - they are only a symptom of a far
greater disease.
I was born and
raised as a Muslim in Cairo, Egypt and in the Gaza Strip. In the 1950s, my
father was sent by Egypt's President, Gamal Abdel Nasser, to head the Egyptian
military intelligence in Gaza and the Sinai where he founded the Palestinian
Fedayeen, or "armed resistance". They made cross-border attacks into Israel,
killing 400 Israelis and wounding more than 900 others.
My father was killed
as a result of the Fedayeen operations when I was eight years old. He was hailed
by Nasser as a national hero and was considered a shaheed, or martyr. In his
speech announcing the nationalisation of the Suez Canal, Nasser vowed that all
of Egypt would take revenge for my father's death. My siblings and I were asked
by Nasser: "Which one of you will avenge your father's death by killing Jews?"
We looked at each other speechless, unable to answer.
In school in Gaza, I
learned hate, vengeance and retaliation. Peace was never an option, as it was
considered a sign of defeat and weakness. At school we sang songs with verses
calling Jews "dogs" (in Arab culture, dogs are considered unclean).
Criticism and
questioning were forbidden. When I did either of these, I was told: "Muslims
cannot love the enemies of God, and those who do will get no mercy in hell." As
a young woman, I visited a Christian friend in Cairo during Friday prayers, and
we both heard the verbal attacks on Christians and Jews from the loudspeakers
outside the mosque. They said: "May God destroy the infidels and the Jews, the
enemies of God. We are not to befriend them or make treaties with them." We
heard worshippers respond "Amen".
My friend looked
scared; I was ashamed. That was when I first realised that something was very
wrong in the way my religion was taught and practised. Sadly, the way I was
raised was not unique. Hundreds of millions of other Muslims also have been
raised with the same hatred of the West and Israel as a way to distract from the
failings of their leaders. Things have not changed since I was a little girl in
the 1950s.
Palestinian
television extols terrorists, and textbooks still deny the existence of Israel.
More than 300 Palestinians schools are named after shaheeds, including my
father. Roads in both Egypt and Gaza still bear his name - as they do of other
"martyrs". What sort of message does that send about the role of terrorists?
That they are heroes. Leaders who signed peace treaties, such as President Anwar
Sadat, have been assassinated. Today, the Islamo-fascist president of Iran uses
nuclear dreams, Holocaust denials and threats to "wipe Israel off the map" as a
way to maintain control of his divided country.
Indeed, with Denmark
set to assume the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council, the flames of
the cartoon controversy have been fanned by Iran and Syria. This is critical
since the International Atomic Energy Agency is expected to refer Iran to the
Security Council and demand sanctions. At the same time, Syria is under scrutiny
for its actions in Lebanon. Both Iran and Syria cynically want to embarrass the
Danes to achieve their dangerous goals.
But the rallies and
riots come from a public ripe with rage. From my childhood in Gaza until today,
blaming Israel and the West has been an industry in the Muslim world. Whenever
peace seemed attainable, Palestinian leaders found groups who would do
everything to sabotage it. They allowed their people to be used as the front
line of Arab jihad. Dictators in countries surrounding the Palestinians were
only too happy to exploit the Palestinians as a diversion from problems in their
own backyards. The only voice outside of government control in these areas has
been the mosques, and these places of worship have been filled with talk of
jihad.
Is it any surprise
that after decades of indoctrination in a culture of hate, that people actually
do hate? Arab society has created a system of relying on fear of a common enemy.
It's a system that has brought them much-needed unity, cohesion and compliance
in a region ravaged by tribal feuds, instability, violence, and selfish
corruption. So Arab leaders blame Jews and Christians rather than provide good
schools, roads, hospitals, housing, jobs, or hope to their people.
For 30 years I lived
inside this war zone of oppressive dictatorships and police states. Citizens
competed to appease and glorify their dictators, but they looked the other way
when Muslims tortured and terrorised other Muslims. I witnessed honour killings
of girls, oppression of women, female genital mutilation, polygamy and its
devastating effect on family relations. All of this is destroying the Muslim
faith from within.
It's time for Arabs
and Muslims to stand up for their families. We must stop allowing our leaders to
use the West and Israel as an excuse to distract from their own failed
leadership and their citizens' lack of freedoms. It's time to stop allowing Arab
leaders to complain about cartoons while turning a blind eye to people who
defame Islam by holding Korans in one hand while murdering innocent people with
the other.
Muslims need jobs - not jihad.
Apologies about cartoons will not solve the problems. What is needed
is hope and not hate. Unless we recognise that the culture of hate
is the true root of the riots surrounding this cartoon controversy,
this violent overreaction will only be the start of a clash of
civilis-ations that the world cannot bear.
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