- Feb 5, 2002
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I was about 5 years old when I saw the image of an Israeli soldier on the news on television. He was firing a tear-gas canister during the First Intifada (1987-93). It was then explained to me that the Israeli soldiers had tanks and guns with which to fight, whereas all that the Palestinians could do in exchange was to hurl rocks at them. It seemed so unfair. That was my introduction to a narrative of good and evil, a conflict between an “oppressor” who was entirely at fault, and the “oppressed” who did no wrong.
I figured that this narrative surely must have been true over the years that followed. I’d heard it reinforced, time and again, at the mosque. I’d heard it reinforced, time and again, in the houses of family and friends. The suspicion that the “Jewish media” dominated news coverage, thus brainwashing the American public at large, even instilled a particular pride in many of us Muslims for having known that which most of our neighbors had failed to grasp.
I had plenty of friends and relatives who’d pointed out that “he’s a Jew” whenever some sort of dispute or disagreement happened to arise with one. By my teenage years, I myself had begun taking note of whether some fellow schoolboy, whom I’d had some sort of schoolboy disagreement with, just happened to be Jewish. It was a way for us to be able to say “you see” to one another.
A few of my fellow Muslims had expressed loathing and suspicion of Jews. Others, whom I’d considered to be far more refined, expressed that their qualms were not against the Jewish people themselves, but against the Zionist state — an “apartheid state,” as we typically called it.
Continued below.
www.ncregister.com
I figured that this narrative surely must have been true over the years that followed. I’d heard it reinforced, time and again, at the mosque. I’d heard it reinforced, time and again, in the houses of family and friends. The suspicion that the “Jewish media” dominated news coverage, thus brainwashing the American public at large, even instilled a particular pride in many of us Muslims for having known that which most of our neighbors had failed to grasp.
I had plenty of friends and relatives who’d pointed out that “he’s a Jew” whenever some sort of dispute or disagreement happened to arise with one. By my teenage years, I myself had begun taking note of whether some fellow schoolboy, whom I’d had some sort of schoolboy disagreement with, just happened to be Jewish. It was a way for us to be able to say “you see” to one another.
A few of my fellow Muslims had expressed loathing and suspicion of Jews. Others, whom I’d considered to be far more refined, expressed that their qualms were not against the Jewish people themselves, but against the Zionist state — an “apartheid state,” as we typically called it.
Continued below.
Advent Thoughts About Gaza and Israel, From a Muslim Who Became Catholic
‘Lord, Let Us See Your Kindness, and Grant Us Your Salvation’ (Psalm 85)
