Disavow with no Mercy? Not in my Name!

It appears, yet again, that some people are determined to thrust us back into the Dark-Ages.

Gilad Atzmon, world-renowned musician, activist and writer; he is the author of 'The Wandering Who?' Learn more, visit: gilad.co.uk

(LONDON) - Finally, it appears that years of work, persuasion, temptation, pressure and coercion have yielded its fruits, with the publishing (made it into hyper Zionist hate-site Harry's Place) of the joined statement by Mr Ali Abunimah and a few others, in which they brazenly called upon Palestinians and their supporters to disavow Gilad Atzmon because of his alleged "anti-semitism".

Here, I cannot help but wonder, what does Ali Abunimah mean exactly when he invites people to disavow Atzmon?

Can this "disavowal" be understood as a modern secular-leftist substituted for the "good old" Judaic concept of Herem?

Are we not entitled to ask then, if that concept of "disavowal" is by any chance related to the Talmudic concept of excommunication, in which "the Talmud forbids coming within six feet of a person who has been excommunicated"?

Ali Abunimah opens his statement with the declaration: "Granting No Quarter", calling to deprive the accused of any mercy or forgiveness. Such daring harsh words which mean "not to allow someone any mercy" eerily resemble the sinister Kabbalistic invocation of Pulsa diNura, a "ceremony in which the angels of destruction are invoked to block heavenly forgiveness of the subject’s sins",

It appears, yet again, that some people are determined to thrust us back into the Dark-Ages. Not only do they exhibit severe intolerance towards those whom they disagree with, but also instead of defending their position and "refuting" such disagreeable ideas with logic, factual information and reason, they resort to fight them with unsubstantiated accusations.

Furthermore, they actively and shamelessly participate in barbaric rabbinic medieval type of behaviour, in which they call for the "disavowal" (modern-secular for excommunication) of those whom they perceive as "heretics" for daring to think outside the box or for being crazy enough to talk about taboos and cross the boundaries of "permissible" debate. Amazingly, even those who refuse to abide by such "rabbinical-style" orders are also sentenced for being guilty by association, so they get the excommunication treatment too!

I would like to remind Mr Ali Abunimah and the few individuals who signed his statement, that in our Islamic heritage, Arabic tradition and Palestinian culture that they claims to defend and protect, such concept of excommunication , Herem, Pulsa diNura, and exclusion from mercy and forgiveness, are non-existent.

I would like to remind them also that such foreign concept they are trying forcibly to shove down our throats and introduce to our culture under the pretext of "fighting racism", does not only stand in stark contradiction with the very core ethos of the culture they claim to be defending, but it reflects severe reasoning impotence as well as intellectual incompetence.

Indeed, our culture has suffered heavy blows under the repeated attacks of the past centuries, which caused some disorientation in its vision and practice in our era, however, facts remain;

In our inherited culture, we do not disavow, ostracize or excommunicate, we invite for debate

In our inherited culture, we do not burn books we disagree with, we refute with reason and facts.

In our culture, we do not forbid independent thinking, we encourage إجتهاد Ijtihad.

In our culture, we do not forbid deep critical thinking or unfamiliar creative ideas, we call it تفكر (thinking), تدبر (reflecting), تعقل (using the brain), تأمل (meditation).

In our culture, we do not say "grant no quarters", we say "ارحموا من في الارض يرحمكم من في السماء", have mercy on those on earth, the One in Heaven will have mercy on you.

In our culture we oppose double standard, we call it hypocrisy; one cannot pretend to oppose one type of racism (anti-Jewish racism) yet sneakingly participate in the concealment of Jewish anti-gentile racism by blocking information, aborting any debate about it and by silencing and shunning those who attempt to expose it.

In our culture we refuse to act as lackeys of our oppressors, as they sharpen their knives, we refuse to be ones who lay down on the floor while guiding them where and how to slaughter.

In our culture, we refuse to be fooled by sugar coated vacuous promises, NOT all the shiny teeth we see are necessarily smiles.

In our culture, we say selling your land equates selling your dignity and selling your honour.

The brain continues to buzz with burning questions:

Why is it that Ali Abunimah, his mentors and those who approve of his statement are keen to prevent Palestinians and their supporters from examining and analysing the ideology, the motivation and the method of operation of our occupiers?

Nahida Izzat is a Jerusalem-born Palestinian refugee who has lived in exile for over forty two years, after being forced to leave her homeland at the tender age of seven in 1967, during the six-day war. She has a degree in mathematics, but art is one of her favorite pastimes. She loves hand-made things and so makes dolls, cards, and most of her own clothes. She also writes poetry, participates in written dialogues and believes in building bridges, not walls.

She started writing when her friends insisted she should write about her memories, experiences and feelings as a Palestinian.When she did it all came out sounding—she was told—like poetry! So she self-published two books: I Believe in Miracles, and Palestine the True Story.

Her dream is to return back home to a free and liberated Palestine.

If you like poetry and are intrigued by the notion of learning more about Palestine, you can visit Nahida's blog Poetry for Palestine for more of her writings; prose, poems, letters and dialogues.

You can write to Nahida : nahidaexiledpalestinian@gmail.com