Rabbi Jonathan Sachs Hugs Mike Ghouse

Hugs with Rabbi Jonathan Sachs

Washington, DC, November 12, 2015-- Emeritus Chief Rabbi of UK delivered a talk upon the release of his book, “Not in God’s name, confronting religious violence” at the Brookings Institution.   I'll just highlight a few key points as the full conversation will be available at Bookings archives soon.

A meaningful Hug with the Rabbi

In the Q&A segment, I responded to Rabbi's typical question, where are the moderate Muslims and which he answered it himself; there is none. 

I spoke up, Rabbi, I've some good news for you, there are 6 million moderate Muslims here in America, and I'm one of them. You came to the right place, welcome to America. May you be soaked in peace and drenched in peace, shalom.

Let's work together in creating cohesive societies rather than living in fear of each other? I'm here to answer any question about Islam and Muslims any one has.

The Rabbi welcomed my offer and wanted to give me a hug, and I said, I'll walk up-to you (I was in the very back of the room), but we decided to hug after the event.

I asked him, “Rabbi, since you correctly traced radicalism among Muslims to the year 1979, compounded by the fatwa on Rushdie, the first ever fatwa with universal application, I have to ask you this. Do you think all this mess with Iran could have been avoided, if we (the Americans) had asked Shah of Iran to step down in 1979, signaling to the people of Iran that we are with them and not their oppressor? Had that happened, the Iranians would not have become our enemies, right?

 Indeed much of the mess was started with the Iranian revolution. He acknowledged the question and said we have to think about it. He did not have much to answer other than saying that he wants to look forward and not backwards.

I did not get to ask few more questions like; how reliable is the survey he quoted? That 83% of Palestinians want Israel wiped out? Was the same question asked of Israelis?

He said Israel is more isolated than ever before, anti-Semitism is on rise... I wanted to ask if there was any reflection on his part to see what Israeli policies have contributed towards such isolation. He also said that a majority of Muslims support suicide bombing which I disagree, he is given cooked up figures to justify Islamophobia. I am a Muslim in touch with thousands of Muslims around the world, and it is rare for any Muslim to support suicide bombing. The Quran forbids killing oneself or killing others, the loosy goosy ones do it because they are nuts. I don't buy their piss poor excuses and give them a break. I will say to them you SOB, you are the one who killed and I am going nail your tail for that.

There is a lot of research on the topic including my observations atwww.IsraelPalestineDialogue.com 

Well, the Q&A Session ended, and I started walking to the front. Amazing thing happened; I hope there is a video of it. As I walked, the people started opening up for me to walk thru – like Moses did when the Nile was split, and the conversation was passed on from the back to the front…. … Going for a hug? Rabbi’s hugger is going…. you remember the movie crocodile Dundee? You may recall how Kathleen Turner’s dialogues were passed on from group to group until it reached Dundee all the way to the train in the Subway?  Hell, yes, I enjoyed it. 

Well, the Rabbi was ready for me for the hug! And we hugged each other and promised to work on mitigating Islamophobia, Anti-Semitism, Misogyny, racism, Xenophobia and homophobia – all evils of humanity that break the society apart.  Yes, we have a lot of work to do, and do, we will. 

We exchanged cards, I was representing American Muslim Institution and he was representing the office of Emeritus Chief Raabi.  

After that, I had some heart to heart conversation with a few Jewish friends, including meeting Mati Engel, director of National Initiatives of the Embassy of Israel, whom I will contact in the next few weeks. 

An Orthodox Jewish Lady had good questions about the two solutions; my response was security for Israel hinges on justice for the Palestinians and vice versa. One will not happen without the other.  

Another person asked me a million dollar question – Why can’t the Arab Lands absorb the Palestinians?  My response was instant – why should they? Don’t the Jewish people longed for a home? Shouldn’t the Palestinians long for their home? Home land is like a mother, people are emotionally bonded to her, you cannot extricate one from the other.   Besides, if Arab or anyone out there absorbs the forcibly evicted people from their homes, you will be legitimizing such evictions, as a civilized family of nations, we cannot do it. I am not in favor of it. 

Palestinians and the Israelis can live on that land together; we have to build mechanisms for that – The Israeli and Palestinians have to see each others sufferings and empathise their apprehensions, as humans, they have to give full dignity to each other. It can be done and I hope to get to that some day. Indeed, the current Israeli President, Mr. Reuven Rivlin believes and supports the idea of Israel Palestine Confederation of which I am a Board Member.

More notes will be appended in a few days right here at: www.TheGhousediary.comand www.israelPalestineDialogue.com

Dr. Mike Ghouse is a community consultant, social scientist, thinker, writer and a speaker on Pluralism, Interfaith, Islam, politics, human rights, India, Israel-Palestine and foreign policy. He is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. More about him in 63 links at www.MikeGhouse.net and bulk of his writings are at TheGhousediary.com 

Is It Time for the Jews to Leave Europe?

Is it time for the Jews to leave Europe?
Link - http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2015/03/is-it-time-for-jews-to-leave-europe.html

I am deeply saddened with the extent and prevalence of Anti-Semitism in Europe. Jeffrey Goldberg, the author of the article has put together a comprehensive and precise educational document.

I have been collecting information for a while to speak and write an article on rise of Anti-Semitism and how to mitigate and reverse the trend. Personally, I have been doing my tiny little share of work towards it through education at the annual Holocaust and Genocides event for the last eight years, and standing up for Jews (just not Jews, but all humanity that is harassed) every time and against any one when I saw the ugly head of Anti-Semitism.

February 15, 2015: A man worships in the 
Ohel Abraham synagogue, near where the anti-Semitic 
riots in Sarcelles erupted last summer.

Reading this article in Atlantic has  discouraged me beyond my own abilities to be positive. I can empathize with the Jews how they feel about this. What's wrong with Goddamned God to put his own creation through such turmoil?   For the last two hours, I was obsessed with the ugly thought, "I cannot do anything about it" and wanted to shut down and walk away.

I am back again, took a deep nap and woke up with a strong feeling, that I will not be discouraged, and I will continue to do my share of work.

One of my tiny judgments is my observation that the partial "rise" in Anti-Semitism in Europe and across the globe has to do with Netanyahu's brutal policies towards Palestinians. Much of the 'current" prejudice against Jews may  actually be anti-Netanyahuism, rather than Anti-Semitism. 161 of the 166 Nations consistently feel slapped by him, as he went against their resolution (UN) every time. He blatantly violated the UN resolutions, he even slapped Joe Biden with more settlements against the US policy.  That is no way to build a nation, and it has its own expressions reflected in Anti-Netanyahuism, which unfortunately the people of Israel are paying.

Like most of the moderate and progressive Jews, I am reading and expressing all aspects of the issue, with a few  judgments here and there and resisting and questioning myself at my blog Israel Palestine dialogue. I have spent a considerable amount of time, writing over 100 articles and I am not going to give up, if I do, how can I blame others for chickening out?

There goes my half a day and I feel this is an investment in righteousness. I am deeply committed to do my share of Tikkun Olam in building cohesive societies where no one has to live in apprehension or fear of the other.

Anti-Semitism is a curse on humanity, it is a dangerous virus that messes the social fabric, and take it from me, those who have this virus, are also infected with the brother viruses like Homophobia, Islamophobia, xenophobia, racism and misogyny. If you got one, you got the others. We must all take a stand against these evils of the society, that feed off each other.

This is a historic documents to read and teach about the evils of inhumanity, hatred, bias, stereotyping and prejudices towards the minorities.  This is the story of minorities every where, as a Muslim kid, I have experienced a touch of the similar incidents mentioned in this article, but shamefully not as much as others to feel the agony in full, but I feel the apprehension and sadness, and it is painful to me.  What I clearly see is the harassment of Hindus, Christians, Shia and Ahmadiyya Muslims in Pakistan;  Hindus, Buddhists and Ahmadiyya Muslims in Bangladesh, Muslims Christians and Dalits in India, Jews in France and other nations, Palestinians in Israel, African Americans, LGBT and Muslims in the United States. It is there every where.

We all have to do our share of work in our own circles, immediate neighborhoods and communities. Shame on us, if we take the attitude, "I don't want to offend them" or worse,
"they are not against me, why bother"  If we seek goodness of people around us, all will be the beneficiaries of goodwill.

Jeffrey Goldberg's article " Is it time for the Jews to leave Europe" in the Atlantic magazine. is worth studying.

A few excerpts where I paused and was lost are;

"I’ve spent much of the past year traveling across Europe, in search of an answer to a simple, but pressing, question: Is it time for the Jews to leave? Europe is a Jewish museum and a Jewish graveyard, but after the war it became, remarkably—and despite Hitler’s best efforts—home once again to living, breathing Jewish communities. Is it still a place for Jews who want to live uncamouflaged Jewish lives?"

“I know this is a dangerous thing to say … but the Holocaust didn’t satisfy.”

"Another man, of Sudanese background, explained that the Koran itself warns Muslims to fear double-crossing by Jews. “They killed the prophets and tried to poison the Prophet Muhammad,” he said. I did not hear critiques of Israel’s occupation policies."

"Europe has blamed the Jews for an encyclopedia of sins. The Church blamed the Jews for killing Jesus; Voltaire blamed the Jews for inventing Christianity. In the febrile minds of anti-Semites, Jews were usurers and well-poisoners and spreaders of disease. Jews were the creators of both communism and capitalism; they were clannish but also cosmopolitan; cowardly and warmongering; self-righteous moralists and defilers of culture. Ideologues and demagogues of many permutations have understood the Jews to be a singularly malevolent force standing between the world and its perfection."

Full article by Jeffrey Goldberg is at http://israel-palestine-dialogue.blogspot.com/2015/03/is-it-time-for-jews-to-leave-europe.html

Mike Ghouse 
www.MikeGhouse.net
Speaker on Israel  

Gaza Crisis ; Do we fault religion or the individuals like Netanyahu, Mashaal and Obama

Do we fault Religion or the individual for the Gaza Crisis? We need to be demanding an apology from Benjamin Netanyahu, Barak Obama and Khaled Mashaal.

The Arab Daily News
http://thearabdailynews.com/2014/08/06/fault-religion-individual-gaza-crisis/

By Mike Ghouse

English: Khaled Meshaal in a meeting with spanish journalists (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Some of the powerful leaders in Christianity tend to be sadistic men, and their tailor-made-God loves killing people, and they remorselessly justify and cherish massacres of Palestinians, because God will come soon to the earth if that happens. Does Jesus want blood on his hands to come back?
The Powerful Jews and Muslims are no better either; they have got their scriptures completely wrong. One’s bigoted God has promised them the land robbing from others, and the other’s bigoted God tells them not to make friends with Christians and Jews. The interpretations for the following verses need to be corrected now; Exodus 23:31-32, Deuteronomy 1:8, Genesis 15:18-2 and Quran, 5:51 to prevent abusers from justifying injustices and outright hate. God is not a bigot; it is our insecurity that makes us make him a bigot.

Continued at Arab News - http://thearabdailynews.com/2014/08/06/fault-religion-individual-gaza-crisis/

How to achieve Security for Israel and Justice for the Palestinians

How to achieve Security for Israel and Justice for the Palestinians
Link: http://israel-palestine-dialogue.blogspot.com/2012/11/how-to-achieve-security-for-israel-and.html 

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The long term security of Israelis hinge on justice to the Palestinians, and peace to the Palestinians depends on the safety of Israelis. One will not happen without the other. In view of accomplishing the twin goal, both parties have failed the respective populations. The following essay may not be comfortable to a segment of Jews and Muslims, but the recommendations must be factored in to finding a sustainable solution.   

Security may be broadly defined as living without fear and apprehension, the state of security exists when the Israelis can go about shopping in the malls without caution, drop their guard when their children and family members ride a bus, and when they visit the pyramids, they can do so without second thoughts.

Justice to the Palestinians exists when they can live without worries of getting kicked out of their own homes, when have their own identity in the world as people of Palestine, have their own passport without the apartheidic restrictions, rights to the land they can call their own, and move about freely without check posts or the walls.

The Palestinians and Israelis are indeed endowed by “their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." 

Now let’s acknowledge the actions of the parties in the light of accomplishing that twin goal and put them back on the track.  

When a child or a spouse is pushed around, placed on a curfew,  threatened, and his or her liberties stripped, he or she is left with few options than cursing, hurling dishes, and  quietly or blatantly destroying the belongings of the oppressive man of the house.  In your work place, when you are pushed around, and cannot do much against the tyrant boss, what do you do? Regardless of where this happens, be it in the United States, China, Israel, Saudi Arabia or Mexico, the response would be similar. 

It is shameful to justify the behavior of the oppressor, “They did not listen to him, they were disobedient and destructive, and the man of the house did the right thing; beat the crap out of them and teach them a lesson.” 

The woman who is raped is blamed for going to the bar, or wearing a mini skirt or getting drunk while shooting the pool with the boys. This stinky attitude is even prevalent among women.     

The Hutus justified the massacre of Tutsis, as the oppressors always do.  When President Habyarimana of Rwanda was assassinated in 1994, the Hutu majority went on a killing spree and we witnessed the Rwandan Genocide of the Tutsis. When Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of India was assassinated in 1984, the Hindu mobs went on a killing spree of the Sikhs. The Muslim mobs have gone on torturing the minorities in Pakistan, Indonesia and elsewhere. The words used and justifications made were similar.  The oppressors, rapists, murderers and tyrants always justify their behavior. 

Hamas Terror 

We unequivocally condemn Hamas for their random shelling of the rockets into Israel; and the shameful acts of terrorizing the civilian population in Israel.  As a Muslim I protest their acts, and request the Organization of Islamic Countries to join the Muslims worldwide in condemning these acts, and demand Hamas to give up terrorizing the innocent and seek solutions through civil process.

Paul Goldstein, my Jewish American friend living in Norway writes, “These (acts) have instilled fear into the daily lives of innocent Israeli civilians throughout the country, and have hit major cities, causing injuries, damage, and fatalities. Many hundreds of rockets are hitting Israel daily.” And he adds, “No country in the world can or should tolerate being subjected to continuous rocket attacks against its major population centers. With sadness, I concede that Israeli military action is necessary in this emergency situation to protect its citizens in safety, Jews and Arabs alike.” 

President Obama also defended Israel, “Israel has every right to expect that it does not have missiles fired into its territory, “and, "If that can be accomplished without a ramping up of military activity in Gaza, that's preferable...”

The actions of Hamas are unforgivable, and I appeal to the thoughtful among you, did we give them choices to act differently?  

 “When peace comes, we will perhaps in time be able to forgive the Arabs for killing our sons, but it will be harder for us to forgive them for having forced us to kill their sons.” -  Former Prime Minister of Israel, Golda Meir.

Israeli Reaction 

In every ugly massacre or genocide, whether it was the Hutsies, Hitler, Saddam, Assad, Gaddaffi or others; they rulers wanted to teach a lesson to the entire population for the acts of the few.    

Can we justify these acts to keep the urchins, spouses or irritants in their place? I am severely disappointed at the short-sightedness of President Obama and his administration.  We should have paid attention to the missiles long time ago and found solutions then, instead of waking up one day and justifying brutal retaliation.  

What was Prime Minister Netanyahu doing all these months, instead of initiating a dialogue he chose to pound Gaza, did the think that the missiles will stop reigning on their own?  

The illegal settlements and lawlessness has to stop; it brings despair to the Palestinians who want peace. The brutal retaliation needs to stop, it is a burden that the Prime Minister may escape but the Israelis will have to carry it on their psyche for generations to come. Is that the kind of Nation Israelis want?  Does violence solve the problems, has it ever?  

Unintended consequences  

If the United Nations were to place “Cease fire” for vote today, more than likely, 178 nations will vote yes, and five will go against it including the United States, Israel and a few dependent nations. Do you think the people of the 178 nations feel resentment and bitterness toward the powerful? This is not good for Jews or Israel and the world in the long haul. 
The retaliatory actions taken by Netanyahu, and endorsed by Obama are detrimental to Israel’s security in the long run.  Their actions do not mitigate conflicts, but flare up and prolong the eternal dream of Jews to live in peace and security. Not only that, they massively contribute to the growing anti-Semitism which has been the very reason for the suffering of Jews for over 3000 years.  

 Injustice against the weak will not go un-reacted to, the only thing the people around the world will feel is build resentment towards the United States and certainly events like this will contribute to Anti-Semitism. Take a look at the Anti-Israel rage across globe as violence in Gaza goes on http://rt.com/news/protest-israel-gaza-war-984/
Call for action. 

The United Nations need to call for an immediate cease-fire; both parties need to hold the fire. Goldstein, “Israel cannot cease hostile action on its own side while Hamas continues to terrorize with impunity the citizens of major cities with long-range rocket attacks.” 

In the interest of Security for Israelis and Justice for the Palestinians, President Obama has to play an honest broker of peace, which will be tough on our ally Israel. Demand the Israeli Parliament to invite Hamas leadership to join the talk immediately on our grounds at the Rose Garden. If Saudi Arabia and Egypt are convinced about our sincerity, they will bring Hamas aboard.

Our support to Israel or Palestine should be based on results. We have caused the conflict to prolong, and we bear the responsibility to find solutions. We need to be just and honest.

The Jewish people want sincerity as much as the Palestinians, they don't want duplicity from our leadership, and they had plenty of that in since 1948. They need sincerity and security for Israel and Justice for the Palestinians.

The two state solutions is the way to go forward and one of the most fundamental items to be included in the transaction is to develop a school curriculum without malice towards each other.  A new generation must be raised with hope and goodwill, so they can live in peace and prosperity. This should be an uncompromising goal. 

This is a life time opportunity for President Obama to forge peace between these two people, who have endured a lot of pain and both deserve relief. It’s time for him to earn that Nobel Prize that was dished out to him. 

It is in the interest of the world to build cohesive societies, where no one has to live in apprehension, discomfort or fear of the other.  The people of Israel have more options and power to change things, than the Palestinians. May God give sanity to the aggrieved parties to find peace. Amen!

Please visit:

• Video: Katie Pavlich and Mike Ghouse on Sean Hannity -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZGO6UIIxDg
• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/israel-and-palestine-moving-forward_b_1258261.html
• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/commitment-to-israelpales_b_1263793.html
• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/commitment-to-israelpalestine_b_1263803.html
• Mike Ghouse on Chris Krock/ Steve Malzberg Showhttp://muslimspeakers.blogspot.com/2012/11/mike-ghouse-on-steve-malzberg-radio-show.html

# # #

Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, peace making, foreign policy, Islam, Israel, India, Pakistan, interfaith, and cohesion at work place or social settings. He is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com. Mike has a strong presence on national local TV, Radio and Print Media, and is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News, fortnightly at Huffington post, and several other periodicals across the world. His personal site www.MikeGhouse.net indexes everything you want to know about him.

Obama can bring resolution to Israel Palestine conflict

Please note that this issue is mother of most of the conflicts in the world, and I am committed to finding solutions and have written over 50 pieces on the topic, and many have been published, that is a lot of time! The blog www.IsraelPalestineDialouge.com has got most of the stuff... there is very little in it that does not contribute towards finding solutions. Why am I passionate about this? Check out the series of three articles published at Huffington post or even the note "About" at this site, to understand my Passion. I want both these people to live without the fear of the other and it is doable.

Obama can bring resolution to Israel and Palestine Conflict

URL: http://israel-palestine-dialogue.blogspot.com/2012/11/obama-can-bring-resolution-to-israel.html

1. The first step is to call in Fatah, Hamas* and Netanyahu to the Rose Garden with no conditions.
2. Have each one place all his cards on the table, "What is that you want?"
3. Obama** (and his team, I hope I am on that team) to offer a proposal based on Security for Israel and Justice to the Palestinians.
4. Ask the parties to work towards that goal and come up with a viable proposal.
5. Call in the Arab Nations and Jewry around the world to ponder over this.
6. Develop a proposal with consensus, and offer to the publics in both nations, almost as referendum.
7. Call in Arab Nations to recognize Israel, which means ending hostilities, let the publics in those nations be a part of the campaign, after all monarchs and dictators come and go, the deal should be between the peoples of Arab Nations and Israel - the heads are merely there to carry out the will of the people. No treaty should dependent on individuals.
8. Iran's original beef was the Palestinian issue, if we move towards solutions, Iran will be easy to work with, they may feel that they issue is addressed.
9. The mother of most problems in the world is this conflict. We blame religion, terrorism and other things in vain instead of focussing on the issue.

* The right wing Christians, Jews and Muslims will scream bloody murder, Obama needs to win them as well, indeed, that should be the first step, and they need to be our allies in bringing an end to this endless conflict. The other approaches have not worked before and we need them to give this approach a chance.

** Obama is the second President after Carter, who is genuine in finding a solution, unaffected by the pressures from the right. Obama has the (newly acquired) balls to tell the parties like it is. No one in the past had that, neither were they neutral. In the past the Arab Nations and we (Americans) have screwed the process by siding with each side and strengthening their stance, rather than getting them to sit and talk. We have that right, we have nothing to gain, but they do. Peace dividends are innumerable.

When God created Animals, he gave them horns and animal teeth to bloody each other to resolve conflicts. Did he do that with humans? No, instead he gave us a tongue to dialogue and find solutions. Do we need to use it? Heck yes!

MikeGhouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, peace making, foreign policy, Israel, Islam, interfaith, and cohesion at work place or social settings. He is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com. Mike has a strong presence on national local TV, Radio and Print Media, and is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News, fortnightly at Huffington post, and several other periodicals across the world. His personal site www.MikeGhouse.net indexes everything you want to know about him.