Two state solution « Penjihad's Blog

Israel or Palestine? “My Home!”

This is a small part of the well-known story of two families, a Jewish one and a Muslim one, who are rooted in the same land…in the same house.

Watch the video!

Steadfast Hope Video

I don’t believe there will ever be peace on “The Holy Land” as long as the game being played is a zero-sum game; “I cannot win unless you lose”.

Almost every Jews in Israel lives on land that has been stolen in some form or another and they justify it as the fulfillment of God’s promise to the Jews. God has been used as the ultimate justifier in every atrocity that we can think of, from the current Muslim-on-Muslim slaughters Continue reading →

December 13, 2011 Posted by penjihad | Uncategorized | bigotry, Civil Rights, Foreign Policy, Genocide, Hate, Islamophobia, Israel, Jews, Lemon Tree, Middle East, Olive Tree, Palestine, religion, Suicide bombing, Terrorism, Two state solution, US Foreign Policy | Leave a comment

Israel; Jewish State/Two-State

It looks like everything with regard to Israel, turns into an existential issue…”if this is allowed then it will doom Israel/Jews”, Blind Supporters of Israel seem to say. Others, who wish to support Israel and Jews are placed in the difficult situation of seeming to reject Israel (and therefore, Jews) or, underwriting Israel’s high-handedness and atrocities.

For decades, Israel has been asking and then demanding that the world recognize Israel as a legitimate state with most takers from Europe and Americas…a guilt-decision by the very nations that permitted or participated in the Shoah against Jews during WWII.

Now that there is explicit or, implicit recognition by almost every country in the world, Israel has ratcheted its demand up by several notches, it now demands that Israel be recognized as a JEWISH state; a state by Jews, for Jews and of Jews…clearly cleansed of the “Palestinian Problem” or, “the Demographic Bomb” Continue reading →

June 28, 2011 Posted by penjihad | Uncategorized | ADL, Civil Rights, Fatah, Foreign Policy, Gaza, Genocide, Hamas, Hate, Holocaust, Islamophobia, Israel, Jewish State, Jews, Middle East, Palestine, religion, Shoah, Suicide bombing, Terrorism, Thomas Friedman, Two state solution, US Foreign Policy | Leave a comment

A Permanent Peace Plan for Israel

(First published April 7, 2005) Peace in the Holy Land is very much a possibility but it is by no means easy. In fact, it can be argued that the most successful solution includes one country with Jews, Christians and Muslims living together in peace and harmony as they had for centuries before now.

One of the problems of current peace negotiations is that with blind support from the West, Israel has everything to lose and almost nothing to gain by giving up any of its territories. Continue reading →

December 27, 2009 Posted by penjihad | Anti Semitism, Gaza, Islam, Islamophobia, Israel, Middle East, Muslims, Palestine, US Foreign Policy | Foreign Policy, Gaza, Holy Land, Homeland Security, Islam, Israel, Middle East, Muslim, Muslims, Palestine, religion, Terror, Terrorism, Thomas Friedman, Two state solution | Leave a comment

About

Blogger Jafar “Jeff” Siddiqui is an American Muslim living in WA.. USA.

He grew up in the Khyber Pukhtunkhwa (North-West Frontier) Province and has maintained close contacts in Pakistan.

He is a member of American Muslims of Puget Sound and is a human rights activist. He is involved with movements for inter-faith understanding. He has contributed articles for a textbook on terrorism, used by US law-enforcement agencies. He has also presented discussions and written article, on the Indo-Pakistan hostilities and their impact on Afghanistan.; he writes articles and gives lectures on Civil Rights, American Foreign Policy, on Islam, on current affairs including events in the Middle East, South and Central Asia. His works have been published in various print media. He also gives commentaries on radio and TV on these subjects.

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Dare I say “Jihad”?

Occasionally, I use the term “Jihad” in my articles, as the action needed to help make changes to better the ills of society. I often get feedback in which people worry more about my use of the word “Jihad”, than they do about the injustice about which I wrote; some wonder why I would use such a charged word among non-Muslims.

I intentionally use “Jihad”, because I want to jolt Muslims AND non-Muslims; “Jihad” cannot and must not become de-legitimized just because some people do not care to understand the true meaning of a sacred term and decide to associate it with terrible things.

“Jihad” springs from the Arabic “Jhd” which means “struggle”; “Jihad” means the act of struggle, “Mujahid” (Plural, Mujahideen) is someone who is doing “Jihad”.

At the core (the highest level), it is the duty of every Muslim to struggle against the basic negative predispositions we all have as humans…greed, envy, jealousy, rage, deceit, theft, murder etc.

At the next level, it is the duty of every Muslim to fight against the ills that beset Mankind…hunger, disease, homelessness, illiteracy, injustice, lack of water, pollution etc.,

At the least important level, Muslims are required to fight those who attack us AFTER we have exhausted all other efforts towards peaceful resolution. Even then, if peace is at hand, even at mid-battle, one has to stop and accept terms that are just and preserve the dignity of all parties.

I would imagine these are things that every person needs to subscribe to, not just Muslims.

Yet, there is a growing body of opinion in the non-Muslim West, that “Jihad” can ONLY be equated with murder and mayhem and thus, anyone using the word, can be presumed to be associated with supporting murder and mayhem.

I would suggest that supporters of the body of opinion that would like to taint “Jihad”, are people who consider themselves at “War!” with Islam, Muslims and Arabs. They may be a growing number of people, but they are wrong and it would be wrong for Muslims to lend credence to this opinion by shying away from “Jihad” in word, or in action.

Not so long ago, the Jewish organization ADL, launched an attack on some Muslim groups because the Muslims were wearing the Muslim Affirmation… “Shehada” (“There is no God but one God, and Mohammed is His prophet”) on their headbands and the ADL said that the Shehada stood for terrorism.

There are a growing number of bigots who state that Islam’s holy book, the Quran, is a symbol of evil and violence.

What should Muslims do? Abandon the Shehada and the Quran?

Some may say that we should just not use the Shehada on headbands, why not? Either the Affirmation (Shahada) is sacred or it is not; if it is sacred, then wherever it is used, as long as the use is not profane, is also sacred. If the Shehada is used in a profane manner, then the reflection is not upon the Shehada, but on the abuser.

Hitler took the Swastika as his symbol and today, it strikes fear and revulsion in the hearts of many, especially Jews. However, the Swastika is thousands of years old and among Hindus, the “Savas Tika” (“Peace sign”) is a holy symbol, it is used to adorn temples and used by Hindus at almost every occasion…it can be clockwise or counter-clockwise.

Should the Hindus be asked to abandon the Savas tika as a symbol?

If we dared to make such an absurd demand, we would be laughed off the stage.

The Star of David strikes fear and revulsion among millions of Palestinian men, women and children; should the Jews be asked to abandon the Star of David as their symbol?

I am betting millions of Bosnian Muslims shudder a little when they see a Crucifix, or the Christian Orthodox cross, because of the genocide of Bosnian Muslims by the Serbs and the Croats in the name of Christianity in the 1990s; should those symbols be cast aside?

The principle of “use it or lose it” is quite valid here. If we retreat for any reason, we are acknowledging that our sacred and holy terms or symbols are sometimes themselves, evil. Once we give that ground, then we can no longer use our Savas Tikas, our Crucifixes or our terms…THEN, the bad guys have truly won.

I believe that as reasoned and rational people, we cannot allow ourselves to fall victim to populist bigotries. We must look at what the symbol actually stands for, rather than associate it with the negative events that were tied to it by evil people; we must be able to differentiate between Nazi Swastikas on one hand, and symbols and words that are sacred, on the other.

Jihad; it is a sacred duty for every Muslim, Christian, Jew, Hindu…for every human being of good will.

9-11 ADL Afghanistan AJC Al-Qaeda America American Anti-Muslim myth-buster Anti-Semitism bigotry CAIR Charlie Hebdo CIA Civil Rights Civil Rights in America Daniel Pipes Donald Trump Ethiopia Fasting FBI Foreign Policy Freedom of Speech Gaza Geert Wilders Genocide Gitmo Guantanamo Hate Homeland Security India Iran ISIS in America Islam Islamophobia Islamophobia in America Israel Jews Jim McDermott Kashmir law enforcement Middle East Minorities in Pakistan Muslim Muslim Civil Rights Muslim Civil Rights in America Muslims Muslims in America Obama Pakistan Pakistani Taliban Palestine Police Brutality Police Training Profiling Quran Ramadan religion Rep. Peter King Republican Party Robert Spencer Saudi Arabia Shia Shia Sunni Divide Suicide bombing Syria Taliban Terror Terrorism Thomas Friedman Torture US US Congress US Constitution US Foreign Policy War on Terror

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Penjihad's Blog

"To comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable"

Israel or Palestine? “My Home!”

Israel; Jewish State/Two-State

A Permanent Peace Plan for Israel

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Penjihad's Blog

"To comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable"

Israel or Palestine? “My Home!”

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Israel; Jewish State/Two-State

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A Permanent Peace Plan for Israel

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About

Email Subscription

Site info