Loading ...Change of Mind: Sole Palestinian-American Participant in MLI Program Withdraws His Support
The Muslim Leadership Initiative, sponsored by the Shalom Hartman Institute, has been a topic of great controversy in the American Muslim community and beyond. Altmuslim published a few perspectives in late January/early February, for and against the program. The third cohort is readying to leave for Jerusalem this summer. With the recent withdrawl of support from the program’s sole Palestinian participant (thus far), Altmuslim felt it was important to include his essay as part of this series, albeit four months later. We welcome your comments below.
By Kamal Abu-Shamsieh
“I don’t decide to represent anything except myself. But that self is full of collective memory.” – Mahmoud Darwish, Palestinian national poet
I am the only Palestinian-American who participated in the Muslim Leadership Initiative (MLI), a program sponsored by the Jerusalem-based Shalom Hartman Institute, inviting Muslim-Americans to learn about Judaism, Zionism and the Jewish people.
My involvement in MLI is the continuation of a personal journey towards healing that began over 20 years ago, a journey that has forced me to confront layers of trauma, pain, anger, and loss. I lived under Israeli military occupation for 27 years. As a child, I have vivid memories of soldiers lobbing tear gas canisters into my grade-school classroom. I remember roaming the streets of Ramallah collecting empty bullet shell casings in the hour or two of respite after multiple round-the-clock curfews. After graduating from college, I became a journalist to give Palestinians the opportunity to tell our own story. I assisted in the production of several documentaries, most notably Journey to the Occupied Lands, a PBS Frontline film, and People and the Land.
In 1991, Israel imposed a network of barriers that restricted my movement within the West Bank, banning my travel to Jerusalem and Gaza, as well as between Palestine and Israel. The combination of systematic roadblocks and the Israeli army’s refusal to grant me travel permits made it impossible for me to advance my journalism career. In 1993, I decided the time had come for me to move to the United States. The reality of living under occupation sparked an inner paradigm shift: my voice and existence matter as forms of resistance.
In 2001, my late mentor, Dr. Maher Hathout, encouraged me to engage in Muslim-Jewish dialogue. The Los Angeles-based dialogue aimed at fostering better relations between the two communities and resisting the import of the Middle East conflict into our local neighborhoods. Discussion focused on faith, U.S. Muslim-Jewish relations, civil liberties, and the Iraq war, yet I felt frustrated: There was never discussion of the Zionist influences on American Jews, the immorality of the occupation or how to end it.
Last year, I was saddened by the vocal opposition of some Muslim-Americans in response to the launching of the Muslim Leadership Initiative. Some questioned the all-expenses paid program and the intentions of the organizer. Others refused to rationally dialogue to understand the goals of MLI, instead jumping to their own conclusions. It seemed irresponsible to use tactical differences to accuse participants of treason, complicity with the occupation or “faith-washing” without evidence to prove such claims.
I reached out to the Muslim co-coordinator of MLI, Abdullah Antepli, a former seminary colleague. The point of MLI, he explained, was opening the doors to working with Orthodox Jewish leaders. I consulted with prominent Muslim-American and Palestinian leaders, including Palestinian Christians. Although I was aware the majority of Palestinian-Americans’ response to MLI was very negative, I decided to join the program.
My participation was grounded in Islamic theological values. Confronting injustice and seeking benefits have always been integral to the legal and ethical foundation of Islam. My goal was to engage Zionists to learn, address injustice and create partnerships to benefit Muslim-Jewish relations. Those goals were the measure by which I set out to evaluate the effectiveness of my participation. Disengagement would have been a far easier task after all, yet I embraced the challenge.
In January, I traveled to Jerusalem as part of the second MLI cohort. I was intrigued by the broad-based curriculum reflecting Jewish diversity politically, ethnically and religiously, a curriculum also offered to rabbis and Evangelical Christians. Lectures included biblical covenants, Jewish chosenness, Jerusalem and its significance, and political Zionism. Discussion led to challenging Zionist perspectives, which resulted in a better understanding of Zionism. Until then, I had received most of my information on Zionism from my own community, not from its primary sources.
Source: www.patheos.com