The Islamic Conference in Mecca [Archives:2005/902/Opinion]
Many people may have been surprised by the statements of the Iranian President Ahmedienjad made at the Summit Conference of the Organization of the Islamic Conference held in Mecca last week, but are those statements really a shocker as they are made out to be. The fact of the matter is that what Ahmedienjad was reminding most of the Moslem leaders of the world is what they have all forgotten that the world is now really facing a dogmatic conflict of sorts and it is imperative that they are responsible to their constituencies for upholding the dogmatic convictions of their people. There is no escape from the realization that indeed the Bush Administration has chosen to put the world in such a state of confrontation by invoking a messianic role he has set out for himself under a so called evangelical persuasion. Therefore, why should Moslems of the world live under false pretensions that they are not also the objective of such a messianic mission as can be seen by the obvious efforts to place all things Islamic in a basket of evil and as demonstrated by the unfailing support that Mr. Bush and his neo-con establishment give to Israel, without regards to the real essentials for peace in the area: a recognition that all religions have a stake in what happens in the Holy Land and a recognition that the Palestinians still remain ongoing victims of a dogmatic chauvinistic movement that has displaced them from their homeland and placed them in one giant prison in what remains of Palestine still under their feet.
An Israeli spokesmen rightly said that what Ahmedienjad said is what is felt by most Moslems of the world and although not in exactly the same way, most Moslems of the world see that a big injustice has been allowed to occur in the Holy Land and to this day there is no hope of redress for the unfortunate victims of this injustice. This is not to state that the Moslems of the world are ready to pick up whatever weapons they have and head for the Holy Land to relieve their brothers. I think what the Iranian President was pointing out that if it is all right for Israel and her Western friends to claim allegiance to dogmatic creed, then the Moslems of the world have even stronger basis for upholding their convictions and their claims to the Holy Land. The Iranian President was clearly following the trends of the times, with Zionist rightists having their right of way in Israel and the building of the Jewish settlements continuing at full speed, not to mention the damned apartheid wall. What he was saying is we have our beliefs too and we should be ready to uphold them because this is what the Moslems of the World really want. We should not wait to let some fly by night terrorist organizations take the “banner of Jihad”, and distort all other facets of Islam, but approach the problem in an organized institutional manner using all the resources available to the Moslem World to ensure that justice is done wherever Moslems are the victims of a clear injustice.
On the statements about the Holocaust, it is not the first time such statements have been made, with respect to the exaggerated numbers, but in fact many western academicians and students have concluded that the number of victims of the Holocaust was indeed significantly less than the 6 million claimed. Whatever the case, should the people of Palestine pay the price of the crimes of Adolph Hitler? This is what the Iranian President is rightfully asking: Do two wrongs make a right?
The time is moving in favor of greater world tension as dogmatism begins to take over reason and pragmatism and this was more the fault of western ideologists like George W. Bush and the neo-con establishment that considers itself in a messianic mission to bring the Jews together in the Holy Land and eventually annihilate them to fulfill the destiny of the Will of God on Earth. Well, if that is the case then what Ahmedienjad might have said at the OIC Conference was more merciful for the Jews, then Evangelical proposals for Doomsday, which seems to be not much different than what Nazi anti-Jewish hatred invoked. He rightfully suggested that those who persecuted the Jews should pay the price and not the Palestinians. Indeed, they have been paying the price, although not in real estate, but in the large sums of compensation paid out to Israel and the Jews, most of which went into the building of the injustice meted out to the Palestinians. Even now, if the Germans wanted to make a contribution to any Palestinian philanthropy or the Palestinian authority, before they can do it they would have to pay ten times as much to Israel before that.
There is no telling now, where the situation in the Middle East is heading, with the Israelis further away from adhering to any efforts for peace than they have ever been and with Uncle Sam giving them the red light to do whatever they like.
What the Iranian President told the Moslem heads of state is that they should not expect any justice for their Palestinian brothers from anyone without demanding it and using all the power they have at their disposal to get it. Yes they are jolting words indeed, but perhaps Moslem leaders needed someone to jolt them as to the realities of this world and that they need not be necessarily the underdog all the time. The Moslem leaders in Mecca knew full well what Ahmedienjad was saying and whether they saw such statements as reflective of their own feelings or not, they certainly are not far from the feelings of well over 1 billion souls in this planet.
Perhaps, such jolting statements will remind the Israelis that it is better to opt for a peaceful way out of the problem before the whole world becomes enmeshed in a dogmatic conflict that will not be pleasant for anyone, most especially the Israelis, who know full well that their whole existence is not exactly based on orthodox grounds for statehood, especially when the price of such statehood was the misery and displacement of an entire indigenous population.
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