Through these few lines, I’m only giving my opinion, not claiming to possess the ultimate truth. I’m open to critics and dialogue with mutual respect.
Should I describe myself, I would say I’m a tolerant person; I hope to see people living in peace, with dignity, no matter their race, ethnicity, religion or belief. But witnessing the military attack of Israel over the Gaza strip makes me wonder: to what extent can we be tolerant? Any human should feel deep sadness and sorrow watching the killing of hundreds of children, women and civilians; an act that can’t be justified!
Tolerance means the acceptance and understanding of others despite their differences, yet intolerance can’t be tolerated.
The Arab and Muslim community in general might be divided in two categories, one (intolerant) community that sees any Jew as an eternal enemy, and the source of all evil. The other (tolerant) one, that hopes to live in a world of peace with the Jewish community.
But watching the attacks of Israel, which can fairly be called terrorism, makes it understandable why so many tolerant Muslims and Arabs are becoming intolerant and believe, in my opinion, that Jews are inherently bad people; it seems to me that only a few are making the difference between Zionism and Judaism, the same way the West tend to not differentiate between Terrorism and Islam.
So one thing for sure, is that Israel is making Jews look inhuman. They are losing credibility, and hatred towards them is growing bigger. Is that what they are looking for? Getting a land at the expense of Palestinians’ bloods and tears, it is clearly an ethnic cleansing. History is rewriting itself; Israel is doing to Palestine, what the US once did to Native Americans: genocide!
As Americans are now ashamed of their past, the future generations will see Israel’s war crimes as a shameful part of their history. To stop this shame, it’s the duty of every human to condemn this terror and massacre, we have no right to say that we are not concerned, it’s not because we are safe in our home that we should accept people living under bombardment, and the risk of dying any second.
I am blaming Israel for the atrocities against the Palestinians. But unfortunately, I personally believe that things would have been the same if the roles were reversed; were Hamas the strongest they would probably had done the same, and tried to destroy Israel, this is the weight that we future generations have to bare, all this fear and hatred from both sides. Some Arabs shouldn’t be shouting for the destruction or annihilating of Israel, but rather for the peaceful existence of both sides.
As a Moroccan I know that many Jews used to live in peace and shared a strong relationship with Arabs in my country, they were friends and family, without any ethnical constraint or hatred. As a matter of fact, many of them are still living here and Morocco is, without a shadow of a doubt, their country.
My fear is that moderate Muslims and Jews, who seek peace, might become extremists; that’s why I want to give a call for both sides:
For free Jews, the ones that are looking for a world of peace, the ones that are fed up with a government that is committing war crimes against humanity, because I see hope in you, you can make the change, please help us not to hate you, please help us not to see you as criminals, please denounce your government’s acts and atrocities.
For free Arabs and Muslims who make a distinction between Judaism and Zionism, do not stop condemning what’s happening, and do not see Jewish people as your enemies, accept the truce, and dream that a world of peace and justice will see the day.
Mohammed Rida Oulhaj
