Peace in the
Holy Land and throughout the Middle East
Small steps
both sides could take towards reconciliation
Gottfried Hutter, Theologian,
Psychotherapist, Author of this Peace Initiative, Founder and Chairman of the
Temple-Project Association
Abstract: A purely secular approach will not lead
to peace * Compassion instead of blaming the other * Jews need to feel the pain
of the Muslims * The compassion of the Jews will move the Muslims * With newly
awakened compassion Muslims will meet with other Muslim denominations * With
Muslim compassion peace will be accomplished throughout the Middle East * The
return to the roots of Islam * For 1300 years Jews lived together with Muslims
in peace as protégés of the Muslim Umma * The
persecution of Jews in the West and the end of the Ottoman Empire led to the
State of Israel * A ceremony of reconciliation following the example of their
father Jacob will clear the way for peace * Muslim, Jewish and Christian leaders can sketch out that
course
A purely secular approach will not lead to peace
Today wide areas of the Middle East are in turmoil,
and what I am referring to in the paragraphs that follow may seem far removed
from that reality. But on second thoughts you may find yourself reflecting on
the very heart of the matter, the conflict which arose when an alien,
non-Muslim entity was implanted into the heartland of the Muslim Umma: Israel.
Furthermore, neither that nor the suggested steps
toward peace fit in with the strictly secular world view which is presented to
us by the media and by politicians as the only one to be regarded as realistic.
But is not that purely secular world view thoroughly alien to the people of the
region? Is it thus not high time that we accept that reality and strife to
rediscover and integrate the vast potential for peace of the great Abrahamic
traditions of Bible and Qur’an so as to arrive at strategies that make real
peace possible? Should not the Christians, too, recommend the Biblical way of
reconciliation and not only use the Western secular view which is unable to
penetrate to the deepest core of the conflict?
Compassion
instead of blaming the other
Up until now, neither of the conflicting parties has
seemed really interested in peace. Despite all the suffering, both parties have
shown themselves to be mainly concerned with putting the blame for the conflict
on the other – or a third party.
Peace will be possible only once both parties take
responsibility.
In order to accomplish peace in the Holy Land both
sides will need to show compassion.
Dear religious leaders of Jews and Muslims, your
followers are listening to your voice. Please
ask your followers to feel the pain of the other side!
Dear leaders of the Muslims, please ask your followers
to exercise courage and magnanimity in the heroic tradition of Islam and to feel the pain the Jews were experiencing
at the time when the League of Nations mandated the British to prepare a new
Jewish homeland in Palestine. To do so would be an invaluable step towards
peace.
Persecuted all over Europe long before the Holocaust
the Jews dearly needed a place where they could live in safety. And present-day
waves of anti-Semitism show that the danger is not over yet – it may never be
over. Jews must therefore ask the Muslim Umma for understanding, they must
ask for a welcome – in their ancient biblical homeland. To express this need
would be one important step towards peace on the Jewish side.
Once the Muslims will be able to feel the pain of the
Jews, the natural reaction for the Muslim Umma will be a compassionate
welcome to their Jewish brothers and sisters – “in the name of God, the most
Compassionate”, „Bismillâhirrahmânirrahîm“.
Jews need to
feel the pain of the Muslims
Parallel to expressing their need for a place where
they can live in safety the Jews need to feel the pain the Muslims felt when
Jews forcefully settled on land which has once been their Biblical homeland,
but which had – for more than a thousand years – been sacred to the Muslim Umma. Once the
Jews are able to feel that pain, they too will know true compassion. And they
will then understand the need to express that realization – in the name of
their forefather “Israel”, who, in a magnanimous act of reconciliation, did
justice to the calling that came down to him from Abraham.
When the State of Israel came into existence the Jews themselves were too much in turmoil to be able to take full
account of the effects on others of their mass movement in search for refuge,
but today they are in a position to be able to feel the offense the
implantation of the State of Israel meant for the Muslim Umma.
The name they have given to their newly established
State will remind them of a ceremony of reconciliation, one which thousands of
years ago saved the life of their forefather Jacob.
The Bible (Genesis 32,23-33,4)
tells us that Jacob received the name “Israel” on the night before, after many
years in exile, he met again with his brother Esau. Jacob had to flee into
exile because Esau wanted to kill him for having taken by deception the
blessing his father had intended for Esau. After more than two decades Esau
still intended to kill his brother. For that purpose he awaited Jacob with an
armed band of 400 soldiers.
The night before he was to face his brother, Jacob
spent in solitude and prayer. And in prayer God confronted Jacob. Anticipating
the coming battle with his brother, God involved him in a battle with Himself.
The fight grew so intense that Jacob’s hip was dislocated – and thereafter he
could walk only with a limp. But, apparently, he also realized how he had to
approach his brother.
For that realization God gave Jacob a new name. It was
“Israel”, the one who fought with God, and prevailed.
When Jacob approached his brother Esau the next day he
bowed down before him seven times.
And Esau was so much moved by this gesture that he
forgot about his army. He bent down to his brother, he raised him up, he
embraced him, he put his arms around him, and he caressed him.
This is the great Biblical prototype of what needs to
happen today between the two brother people, the Jews and the Muslims.
The
compassion of the Jews will move the Muslims
As in the Biblical example, the Jews need to show
compassion towards the people of the land they occupied.
Their compassion will in turn arouse the compassion of
the Muslims and that will enable the Muslim Umma to welcome the Jews.
The Umma cannot bow to Israel’s military might, but they can
surely show mercy towards the Jews – who are still beset by fear for their very
existence.
And Islamic compassion will prevail upon Muslims not
to force the Jews to subordinate themselves to Muslim superiority; with Islamic
compassion Muslims will share their space with the Jews – even in regard to al
Haram ash Sharif!
With newly
awakened compassion Muslims will meet with other Muslim denominations
And, with the renewal and flowering of Islamic
compassion, avenues will open up for meetings between the other Islamic
denominations. With Islamic compassion the diverse groups of Muslims will be
able to welcome one another as an enrichment instead of perceiving the other as
a threat. Muslims will then observe the Qur’anic commandment to compete in
virtue (Sura 5,48). And,
competing in virtue, each group can share its space with every other Islamic
group – once the principle of compassion is restored to the theological
supremacy accorded to it by its unique place framing the Qur’an.
With Muslim
compassion peace will be accomplished throughout the Middle East
Thus, peace can be attained – peace with Israel, and
peace, too, between Sunnis and Shiites and the diverse other groups of Muslims.
With Islamic compassion peace becomes a realistic option all over the Middle
East.
Dear religious leaders, please opt for peace, making
it your choice and your overriding commitment!
If a peaceful coexistence of religions was possible in
Al-Andalus and in the Ottoman Empire, and prevails now in Europe after
centuries of strife, why should it not be possible in the Muslim States?
With Islamic compassion peace can be accomplished
throughout the Middle East. The Muslim Kings can attain that once they make it
a concern of their heart.
I very much hope I could discuss this with King
Abdullah II of Jordan, with King Mohammed VI of Morocco and with King Salman of
Saudi Arabia.
The return to
the roots of Islam
Must not the Muslim Umma, for its own sake, return to
the very essence of Islam, to Islamic compassion? Will not this be the long
sought after return to the roots?
With Islamic compassion, peace will again become a
realistic option, peace with Israel, and peace within Islam.
For 1300
years Jews lived together with Muslims in peace as protégés of the Muslim Umma
And please consider, too: for 1800 years there was no
Jewish attempt to resettle the area around Jerusalem. There was simply no
opportunity for such a move.
Until the advent of Zionism the Jews could live in
peace among Muslims by accepting the status which Islamic law, Sharia, provided for them as Dhimmis, protégés of the Muslim Umma. But as
protégés they could not reclaim their ancient Biblical territory as this
territory was now in their protectors’ possession. And they could not rebuild
their ancient sanctuary, the Temple, because the space of their former Temple
was now occupied by one of the most holy places of Islam, al Haram ash Sharif,
the Noble Sanctuary, the Al Aqsa mosque. Bearing this in mind, anyone will
understand the hostile attitude of many Muslims towards Israel – even though
today this attitude is being articulated clearly only by Iran.
The
persecution of Jews in the West and the end of the Ottoman Empire led to the
State of Israel
The opportunity for a State of their own opened up
when the fall of the Ottoman Empire after WWI created a power vacuum in the
area – at a time when the persecution of Jews in Europe had became
increasingly unbearable.
In that historical niche the League of Nations
mandated the British to prepare a home for the Jewish people and, after the
Holocaust and WWII, the United Nations decreed that Palestine should be split
and Jews should be given one part of the land thus partitioned. Prepared by
Zionist ideas the Jews were now able to take the opportunity and declare their
own State.
That, of course the Muslim Umma could not accept. Sharia
law did not permit an independent Jewish State on Muslim territory. Thus the Umma saw no
choice but to react with war.
Jews, on the other hand, would not and could not give
up what they just had gained. On the contrary, in the 1948 war they not only
consolidated the State of Israel, but were able to expand its territory – also
by driving 750 000 Palestinians from their homes. Repeated Muslim attempts to
undo that led in 1967 to defeat and occupation.
That again did nothing to motivate the Muslims to
welcome the Jews and much cause for resentment. The enmity of both sides
intensified. The two intifadas, which followed later, could not convince the
Israelis to grant independence to the Palestinians but only moved their
government to build a separating wall against them, thus greatly increasing
Palestinian hardship. This, naturally enough, did nothing to make Israel any
more welcome to them.
On the other hand Israel is still unwilling to take
any risk. Guaranteed safety is their precondition for peace. But how could that
ever be obtained?
A ceremony of
reconciliation following the example of their father Jacob will clear the way
for peace
I believe that only Islamic compassion could grant
that safety! So how, then, could Islamic compassion be obtained?
I believe that after the initial recovery of Islamic
compassion through feeling the pain of the Jews, Muslims could be greatly
enabled to welcome the Jews by a Jewish ceremony of reconciliation, reminiscent
of father Israel’s reconciliation with his brother.
The leaders
of Muslims and Jews can sketch out that course
But in order for that to become possible, dear Muslim
leaders, please ask your followers to feel the suffering of the Jews – for that
suffering was the motive behind the entire Zionist project.
And then, dear Muslim leaders, please recommend Israel
to commemorate its very name and to host a reconciliation ceremony in memory of
their father Jacob’s return from his exile – even if this event is not
mentioned in the Qur’an.
Please rely on the Biblical story which depicts the
name “Israel” as a symbol for Israel’s capacity for supreme compassion. Please
ask Israel to show that compassion today!
Please also recommend this approach to the Majesties
of the world of Islam, to King Abdullah of Jordan, to King Mohammed of Morocco,
and to King Salman of Saudi Arabia. Please recommend them to feel the pain of
the Jews, for it was that which led to the establishment of this alien entity
in the midst of the Muslim Umma.
Once this pain is fully understood there will be no
enemies. There will only be arrangements to be made to relieve all past pain
without creating new suffering.
(August 30,
2015)
Information and contact: www.Temple-Project.de, gottfried.hutter@gmx.de
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