S2E1: Palestine Pt 1 – 1400 OMG

By Prof Saeed Khan

Anti-Semitism in Europe

Our story begins in Europe in the 18th century. At that time, Palestine was part of the Ottoman Empire. More specifically, it was generally considered part of the Greater Syrian Province, an area that includes modern day Palestine, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq west of the Euphrates. At that time, Ottoman Law protected the rights of all Jews and Christians living within their borders.

The situation in Europe, however, was a different story. In Eastern Europe, Russia and Ukraine, many Jews lived in rural, agricultural communities called shtetl. The locals made Jews their scapegoats for any political and economic turmoil. This led to a concept called Pogroms i.e. organized campaigns of violence and discrimination against the Jewish community. A good example of this is what occurred in 1882. A major pogrom was ordered by Tsar Alexander III which included many laws that limited where Jews could live and which occupations they could hold. These Pogroms served as a distraction for the community from the growing public frustration with poor conditions in Russia.

In Western Europe, the situation wasn’t much better. Most Jews lived in urban centers. In order to be accepted in society and to escape explicit anti-Semitism, many chose to secularize. The only alternative was retaining a visible Jewish expression, but this often meant living in ghettos, a segregated community that did not mix with broader society.

Secularized Jews felt that by becoming secular and/or converting to Christianity, they would be seen as assimilated and accepted in western countries like Germany, Austria, Great Britain and France, though anti-Semitism was still present, lurking under the surface.

But one event in 1894 changed everything and shook the Jewish community of Europe. This is known as the Dreyfus Affair.

The Dreyfus Affair and the Birth of Zionism

Captain Alfred Dreyfus was an officer in the French Legion. When military secrets were leaked, the commander needed a scapegoat. So Dreyfus was wrongly accused of reason for supposedly communicating French military secrets to German embassy officials in Paris.

Dreyfus was not given a fair trial and was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment, even after the actual culprit was discovered (and acquitted). This exposed the deep anti-Semitism of the French, as they were satisfied with the outcome, and ignored the injustice that they had done. It showed that even the most liberal and enlightened French people at that time had a deep dislike for the Jews.

This incident caused a media frenzy. Many journalists began to write about the topic, exposing the hypocrisy of the French government. The most important of these writers was Emile Zola. This caused a political crisis and eventually led to a retrial of Dreyfus. However, despite the clear proofs of his innocence, he was still given a 10 year sentence. Eventually, he was pardoned, but it was only in 1906 that he was fully exonerated from these crimes.

The entire incident shook the Jewish community to its core, both in France and elsewhere. They now felt that no level of assimilation or stature would immunize them from anti-Semitism. They needed a solution. Some of their thinkers arrived at an idea to protect them from Anti-Semitism: Zionism.

Zionism is the idea of establishing a Jewish State in the original land of Israel, which at that point in time was Palestine, a province of the Ottoman Empire. Many Jews became convinced that they needed to migrate to Palestine and established their own land where they could be safe from Anti-Semitism. So began a mass migration of Jews to Palestine.

The Aliyahs

The mass migration of the Jews to Palestine is known in Hebrew as the Aliyahs. There were three major Aliyahs before the establishment of Israel. The first Aliyah took place between 1882 and 1903. During this time, thirty-five thousand Jews migrated from Russia and Yemen to Palestine. They established their own agricultural communities to support themselves there.

The second Aliyah took place between 1904 and 1914. During this period, over forty thousand Jews migrated, mainly from Russia, to Palestine. During this period, they revived the Hebrew language and established the Kibbutzim system. The Kibbutzim system refers to the sharing of communal wealth between the immigrants. This eased the path of immigration for many poorer Jews.

Finally, from 1919 until 1923, another forty thousand Jews migrated to Palestine. This time they came from various countries, including the Soviet Union, Poland and Romania. They further developed the agricultural sector the new Jewish community and established a National Council and various other administrative systems. Now there were more than one hundred thousand Jews settled in Palestine, they began to mobilize to formulate their own state.

World War I

World War I was an event that forever changed the Muslim world. We discussed the effects of this war in details in episodes one and two of season 1. You can listen to those episodes for more details, but for now we will react the events that directly relate to the formation of Israel. Several events during World War I led to the formation of Israel. These include the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the British making multiple contradictory promises to various parties including the Arabs and Jews, and the division of the conquered Arab lands among Britain, France, and their allies. Let’s begin by recapping the British alliance with the Arabs, and the results of that.

The British needed allies in the Ottoman Empire to divide/fracture it. They found their ally in Sharif Husayn. Sharif Husayn is the appointed custodian of Mecca/Medina, or governor of Hijaz.

Despite being appointed by the Ottoman Empire, Husayn does not see eye to eye with them. Husayn, along with Faisal of Iraq, is convinced of the importance of unity among Arab speaking regions of the Ottoman Empire.

Join us next time as we dive deeper into the events leading to the formation of Israel during the aftermath of World War I.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this episode and don’t forget to let us know your thoughts. 

TO BE CONTINUED IN NEXT WEEK'S CCN.

A Christian Appreciates the Contributions of Muslims to American Society

by Dr. Craig Considine

I want you all to please get comfortable because we are going to use our imaginations for a bit. Okay?

I want you to imagine the following story as a book that has yet to be published. Picture it as a draft of sorts. When I am finished in ten minutes, perhaps all of us, collectively, can figure out if this book is worth publishing.

So please get loose. Open the mind. Breathe in and breathe out. Are we ready?

The story starts something like this …

A 19 year old young man, who has never met a Muslim in his life and knows practically nothing about Islamic traditions, enrolls in an Islam101 college course with the hope of being an intelligence officer. The young man is not a complete Islamophobe, but let’s just say he has some pretty questionable thoughts and ideas.

On the first day of Islam101, the young man enters the classroom to see an older professor, a brown man, an immigrant, and someone who identifies himself as a Muslim.

Remember, this was effectively the first Muslim that the young men has ever met in his life.

As Islam101 proceeds, the Muslim professor starts to rock the young man’s heart, mind, and soul by showing him a side of Islam and Muslims that is never seen in the media. As the months and years progress, the Muslim professor welcomes the young man into his small circle of researchers, and over the years, the Muslim professor continues to influence the young man’s personal, professional, and spiritual growth.

The Muslim professor even takes the young man on countless journey’s across their beautiful country, the United States, in order to improve relations between all people who call this place “home.”

Throughout their travels together, the professor and his student travel together to the homes, places of worship, schools, businesses, and neighborhoods of Americans of all walks of life. The Muslim professor even introduces the young man to some of the best minds in this country, including Noam Chomsky and Hamza Yusuf.

The young man would have never been able to participate in any of these travels if it were not for a generous $15,000 grant from a Muslim organization in the middle of a desert in New Mexico. That was certainly a generous gift, and the young man was thankful.

But the journey’s of the young man and the Muslim professor were not always smooth sailing.

One time, the young man was assaulted in Washington, DC. He was smashed in the face with a pint glass and suffered severe facial injuries that requires two surgeries, which were followed by another plastic surgery. The doctor who put the young man’s face back together just happened to be Muslim.

The young man had another life threatening experience on a journey, in Hollywood. He was at the home of a Muslim businessman to screen parts of his documentary. Within five minutes of the screening, an unexpected allergic reaction occurred, and the young man had to be rushed to the hospital.

And guess who took care of the young man in the hospital?

A Muslim doctor.

At this time in his life, as a 22 year old living off a small grant, the young man has no health insurance. As you know, having astronomical health care bills and no health insurance is a recipe for disaster.

What happens next is a beautiful act of charity. The host of the film screening, the Muslim businessman, covers the bills of the young man because he believes in helping those most in need.

Eventually, the young man clips his wings and journey’s throughout the world by himself, without a guide.

The young man decides to continue his studies, so he reaches out to Muslim communities of all backgrounds, in the hope that he could meet with them for research purposes. They end up welcoming him with open arms.

Over the years, the young man dines with Muslims, prays with them, dialogues with them, laughs with them, cries with him, marches with them, studies with them, and travels with them. Together, they collectively experience the joys and struggles that are so common among all human beings.

One Muslim family, in particular, becomes like family to the young man. He spends countless hours in their restaurant and mosque. He learns about the dynamics of their culture and their unique Islamic practices, which remind him of his own ethnic and religious traditions.

The young man does not see these Muslims as mere research objects or participants, but rather as fellow human beings who have a wealth of knowledge about our Creator, and ideas on how to contribute to the betterment of our communities.

Upon his return to the United States, the young man takes up a position at a university, where he decides to teach a course called “Muslims in American Society.”

In this course, the man brings to class countless number of Muslims, from community leaders, to activists, to imams, to athletes, and so on.

The students in the course interact with the Muslim communities around them, and these students introduce the man to many more Muslims who further enrich his own lived experience.

The draft of this book stops there, at least for now.

Perhaps you have figured it out by now, but if not, the young man in the story is me.

These stories, believe it or not, really did happen, and the Muslims discussed here have actual names, faces, and stories of their own.

You see, my work as an educator, scholar, public intellectual, or however you see me, is simply not possible – and nor were my previous experiences possible – without the selfless contributions of Muslims.

Think about it…

If it were not for the Muslim professor, I would have never fallen in love with knowledge.

If it were not for the Islamic organization in New Mexico, I would have never travelled throughout my country to learn about Islam and U.S. national identity.

If it were not for the Muslim businessman in Hollywood who paid my hospital bills, I could be buried in debt.

If it were not for the Muslim family in Europe, I would have never competed my studies.

If it were not for the Muslim surgeon in Washington, DC, I could have a mangled face.

And if it were not for the Muslim doctor in Hollywood who dealt with my allergic reaction, well, I may not even be here.

Quite simply, Muslims are part of who I am and who I wish to be. They are my past and they are my future. They are my family, my mentors, my role models, my friends, and most importantly – my brothers and sisters in humanity.

And for all of us here tonight, Muslims may be our school teachers, professors, doctors, lawyers, philanthropists, students, community activists, entrepreneurs, bus drivers, cab drivers, secretaries, social problems workers, psychiatrists, athletes, artists, musicians, bankers, public intellectuals, political figures, representatives, and so on.

In short, Muslims in the United States contribute everywhere, to everyone, and to every realm, of American society. They truly make our country go round.

Now that you have heard about these personal experiences and views, let me point out that they do not stand in isolation from my scholarship.

When I see polls that say U.S. Muslims are highly educated, I think of all the Muslim teachers and scholars who guide me and inspire me to gain more knowledge.

When I see statistics that reveal how U.S. Muslims believe in freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and freedom of conscience, I think about my friends who speak about their appreciation of the U.S. Constitution and the rights that it offers.

When I see books that highlight Prophet Muhammad’s love of humanity and his vision for a pluralist world, I reflect on the panel events that I have sat on with Muslims who also speak about the Prophet’s greatness.

And when I see news stories on interfaith relations or Muslims standing arm-in-arm with communities facing difficult circumstances, I am reminded of the times that I locked arm and arm with Muslims on the streets.

The findings and conclusions of various academic sources do not merely exist as theories or abstract ideas – they are real life. They are facts.

People like me, and so many others, recognize the contributions of Muslims because they have experienced them at the interfaith gatherings, the vigils, the hospitals, the schools, the businesses, the community centers, the grocery stores, the places of worship, and so on.

People in this country feel the contributions of Muslims in the lovely emails or texts messages, the hugs, the collective tears, the social media posts of solidarity, and even the common greetings of peace that we offer so often on a daily basis.

When we consider our lived experiences, we see stories of humanity, compassion, tolerance, pluralism, civic values, mercy, thoughtfulness, solidarity, belonging, inclusion, and community building.

These are the kinds of values that can transform our very existence here on earth.

And these are the stories worth telling, and, as such, they are certainly the stories worth publishing.

Don’t you agree?
 

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