Life Outside The Tunnel - Part II

In order to participate in the democratic process we need to be informed. Unfortunately limits of time and the tunnel vision that mainstream media creates rarely allow us to see the broader picture. This can lead to a lack of understanding and even worse to dangerous misconceptions. When it comes to the Middle East and relations with the Muslim world, our tunnel vision is a true recipe for bad policy and missed opportunities.



In the second part of Life Outside The Tunnel I'd like to share a few more hopeful points of view and developments that you may have missed or had no chance to see.

Should Palestinians Forgive Israelis?

This controversial and daring opinion piece was written by Samir El-Youssef, a Palestinian writer born in a refugee camp in southern Lebanon. It appeared in Daily News Egypt, "the country's only independent English-language daily." For this op-ed piece he draws on the fictional character Hannah from Israeli author Amos Oz's novel "My Michael." Having co-authored the book "Gaza Blues" with a best-selling Israeli novelist, Samir is no stranger to Israeli literature.

He sets the scene in his opening paragraphs:

"… the protagonist Hannah recalls her childhood friends, Khalil and Aziz, two Palestinians who in 1948 disappeared along with 800,000 of their people. In the last chapter she imagines her two friends coming back to blow everything up. By then Hannah has descended into madness... She must also know that the destruction of the Palestinian society was necessary for the creation of Israel. Unlike her generation, however, Hannah is willing to admit what she knows; but that’s only because she is mad."

Samir writes that it’s an almost universal belief amongst Palestinians that Israel's creation was their 'Naqba' or catastrophe. Current events tell us that the deep resentment over Israel’s refusal to acknowledge any responsibility in that Naqba is a major roadblock to peace. Samir wonders if a mad Palestinian Hannah could bridge the divide by taking the courageous and cleansing step of unilateral forgiveness:

"A Palestinian Hannah would also acknowledge that the damage has been done and attempts to undo Israel could only lead to further damage—and that Palestinians must forgive Israelis. Forgiveness is good, and a decent society must do the good thing; it might also be the only hope to save present and future Palestinian generations from the curse of a damaged past."

Realizing that such an act of forgiveness would be an enormous risk, Samir concludes his appeal with:

"This is probably a mad dream; a Palestinian Hannah might not exist, not in the near future, and if she existed she might be failed by the Israelis. The alternative, however, is the greater madness of a conflict that would go on for the next 60 years."

The entire article is well worth a read.

What’s going on in Qatar?

In part 1, I wrote about the recent interfaith meeting in Qatar. That initiative and much more happening there is the inspiration of what some might consider a very unusual couple in the Middle East: Emir Hamad the ruler of Qatar and his 'activist' wife Sheika Mozah.

In a recent Time magazine special report we get an inspiring and hopeful introduction to the shared future vision of Qatar’s ruling family. Time writes about the multi-pronged modernization process the Emir is spearheading including gradual political democratization, increased gender equality, intellectual openness and in particular a near revolutionary focus on modern education.

Although the country is not without its critical problems, including the treatment of migrant workers, the Emir’s overarching world view is quite progressive for anywhere today and especially in the Middle East. When showing off Qatar’s new Museum of Islamic Art to the correspondent, he shares his thoughts on the future:

"Our young generations are going to understand that in the past, the Arabs were open, they mixed with many people. They'll see pieces that represent the Arabs in Spain and will realize there were three religions — Islam, Christianity and Judaism — mixing and respecting each other. We were living together in peace then. We can do it now."

But what’s most curious in this Gulf sheikdom is the role that the Emir’s wife, Sheika Mozah, is playing in the country’s march forward. She is no behind-the-scenes confidant but is playing an instrumental, visible and vocal role in the most major changes.

Here are a few of the things she had to say in her interview in Time:

On her own role:

"His Highness believes that in order to guarantee sustainable development, you have to start with education. The public system we have is stagnant and outmoded... He gave me a free hand to implement these social reforms... We believe our people deserve the best. If we do not utilize all the wealth that we have in the interests of our people, history will judge us."

On women in society, the gender gap and individual freedoms in Arab societies:

"I think they (young women) understand that you don't need to lose your Arab identity to be modern. There were some voices trying to drag us to the stereotype of the feminist movement. Another stream followed the very conservative way... For me, we need to find our own way... We have to cherish our culture and heritage and at the same time be modern... It (gender gap) is serious as part of the huge scale of human violation that is taking place today in this part of the world. People will burst someday. People can see what's going on in the world. They want the same quality of life that other people are enjoying when it comes to freedom and enjoying rights and expressing opinions. We have to be serious about our problems and shortfalls. It's time to have self-reflection and self-criticism if we are really genuine about our reforms and if we want to make a historical change."

Time Europe’s fascinating special report on the evolving Middle East also included articles about the major economic changes taking place, the role of the youth as well as the persistent problems we are all too aware of. Unfortunately, the American edition of Time that week only included the article about Hezbollah. And if there is one public that needs a broader view of the sometimes subtle positive developments in the Middle East, it’s America’s. And that’s one example of the tunnel vision we suffer, partially due to the  limits and biases of mainstream media.

In the next article, I will close with an Episcopal bishop’s experiences in Iran, another impressive woman leading great change inside and outside of her own country and we can wrap up by taking a look at how a billion Muslims may think about these things.

In the meanwhile, keep looking outside the tunnel with open eyes, an open mind and a hopeful spirit.