What Dawn is this

What Dawn is this? Civilians, Death and De-Escalation


One moment life and the next moment a wave of violence. Iraq. India. Pakistan. Gaza, Lebanon, Israel. What next?

Morning at the Mahmudiya market. Life goes on. But then-- dozens of gunmen rolled up in cars and begin walking through the market, shooting people left and right. Cars burst into flames. Bodies lie strewn across the street and slumped in shops, cafes and restaurants.

The Shia victims were apparently killed in retaliation for the July 9 slaughter in the Jihad neighborhood, when 50 Sunni civilians were dragged from cars and homes and shot. And along with killings, hostage taking has increased as well. Even much of the Iraq Olympic Committee has been taken hostage. What madness. What evil!

At Fajr time the phone rings and you jump. The relatives tell you about the rockets. They cannot get out of Gaza. Later, at work an email appears; “You’ve Got Mail!” It’s your friends in South Lebanon.

War spreads like an infection. When you read these words, will others be burning with fever? How many more will die? When attacked, all human beings feel violated, whether they maintain an Islamic home in Iraq or frequent the beaches of Tel Aviv. And all of us feel anger and fear, not just shock and awe of Israel’s disproportionate response. We feel manipulated by unilateral actions. Reaction follows reaction, binding us like a heavy chain across the oceans, free movement almost impossible. Now it seems the fragrant hedges of Bay Ridge are not really so far away from the cedars in the hills of Lebanon; we can see lightening flash on the far horizon, across the sky.

Together with several Gulf States, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt have denounced the “unexpected, inappropriate and irresponsible acts” of Hezbollah, though Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei celebrated their protégés as “an example for the Muslim world.” But US officials lined up behind their own protégés, brave little Israel. Senator Hillary Clinton has denounced the “terrorist extremists,” saying; “They do not believe in human rights, they do not believe in democracy. They are totalitarians, they are the new totalitarians of the 21st century.” And while Tony Blair and Kofi Annan called for an international “stabilization force’’ President Bush scoffed at the notion, preferring to escalate his own private War on Terror and the logic of widening conflict.

Will the Bush administration play Saudi interests against Iran? Will Bush follow the Neo-con line and punish Syria? How many of the 12,000 Katyusha rockets will kill civilians? How many of the Iran-supplied Fajr rockets will keep us up at dawn? Like the IRA, will Hezbollah ever agree to lay down their arms in order to fully participate in local politics? Or will the players continue the deadly spitball fight according to the rhetoric of escalation?

And will Israel ever be able to trade its pile of nukes for peace? As their Prophet Isaiah warned, “…this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears; and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn; and I would heal them.” And thus, as we have been taught, “an eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.”

Disaster. If only we could simply red card Hezbollah for their deadly head-butt. If only the UN refs would ensure prisoners would be released. But the tribal rules of this dangerous game are set by private militias as well as by authoritarian regimes. The dogs of war will feast, and men too will profit.

Recently there have been some small signs of hope. Despite a late start, there have been some rallies. But certainly elected officials need to receive visits from us all.

Here in New York City some Muslims and Jews have met over baklava and dates to compare notes, share fears, confess anger and confusion and propose points in common. Some of us tried to envision a third side to the two sides of the conflict. Rallies give us the opportunity to be heard, but also perpetuate the “clash of east and west” -- when the reality is more complex. Is there a way to introduce some common concerns into the conversation? We need to point our leaders away from reactive statements and towards the light of honest dialogue. And hope!

You may wish to start such dialogues in your living rooms, in your communities. Build trust. Envision peace. Let’s accept the darkness around us but look forward to the light of dawn. A peaceful dawn. God’s mercy is for all humanity—can’t we share the good news?

With so many Muslim on Muslim massacres from Iraq to Darfur, we cannot deny our responsibilities or blame others for our shame. Our leadership needs to meet this challenge, with Arab, Muslim, and other allied activists sharing a clear vision of a better world. It starts with you. “No justice, not peace?” But it is not only through Justice that we come to peace, but by Mercy—including to the Jews of Israel. Yes, let’s please keep that in mind!