{"id":192,"date":"2009-03-30T22:51:24","date_gmt":"2009-03-30T22:51:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2009\/03\/30\/fair-enough-but-kindly-direct-me-to-all-the-nonpalestinian-gandhis-out-there-today\/"},"modified":"2013-05-07T18:36:48","modified_gmt":"2013-05-07T23:36:48","slug":"fair-enough-but-kindly-direct-me-to-all-the-nonpalestinian-gandhis-out-there-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2009\/03\/fair-enough-but-kindly-direct-me-to-all-the-nonpalestinian-gandhis-out-there-today\/","title":{"rendered":"Fair enough, but kindly direct me to all the non-Palestinian Gandhis out there today."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Needless to say, I don't often find myself tempted to link to The Weekly Standard<\/em>
\non much of anything, let alone the Middle East peace
\nprocess. Its editor Bill Kristol is, after all, a proverbial hawk and
\nneocon, one of the thought (mis-)leaders whose Ahab-like ideological obsessions and
\ntruly abysmal geopolitical prognostications helped drag America over
\nthe cliff after 9\/11 into a chasm of dangerous war-mongering and grossly unconstitutional lawlessness.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless,
\nthe current issue has an cover article worth pondering by progressive Israeli Mideast analyst and activist Gershom
\nGorenberg entitled \"The Missing Mahatma: Searching for a Gandhi or a Martin Luther King in the West Bank\"<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He reflects on the oft-lamented absence of non-violent resistance from
\nthe Palestinian struggle for independence today (though we must remember that the First Intifada was largely non-violent, a fact that didn't prevent Israeli forces from literally firing a million of rounds of ammunition<\/a> on Palestinian protesters during its first 6 weeks). American media treatments of this topic\u2013a veritable literary genre in the
\ncase of some benighted pundits\u2013are often terminally myopic and hypocritical, and though Gorenberg is a kindred spirit I inevitably have some issues with his take. Still, his is a sensitive and thoughtful exploration of a difficult and mine field of a topic that deserves to be pondered. <\/p>\n

The article begins with an fictional
\naccount set in the near future of a Palestinian imam leading protesters
\non a US Civil Right era-style march to pray at Al-Aqsa that ends
\nviolently and in an international PR fiasco that forces the Israeli
\ngovernment to negotiate with him etc. etc. It then analyzes the
\nrealworld historical factors that make this scenario seem so agonizingly fanciful. An intriguing historical footnote that he explores is the case of
\na 1980s Palestinian activist\u2013now an American professor\u2013who practiced non-violent resistance and was summarily
\ndeported by Israel (not to mention marginalized within the PLO before then). <\/p>\n

I still need to digest the piece a bit more before I comment further, but in the meantime here are some observations on the problematic political backdrop of most MSM discussions of this as posted in my comment on Gorenberg's post<\/a> announcing the piece on the South Jerusalem blog.<\/p>\n

\n

A sensitive and thought provoking analysis of a complex and important issue.<\/p>\n

This
\nquestion is near to my heart as a Muslim who believes in nonviolence,
\nbut I am often struck by how little moral standing so many of those who
\npose it to Palestinians have on the matter given how rare a commitment
\nto nonviolence is.<\/p>\n

As much as I hope and pray for a peaceful
\nresolution to the conflict, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s a big mystery as to why
\na Palestinian Gandhi has yet to emerge. In how many other of the
\nworld\u2019s conflicts have we seen such an ethic take root? Gandhi and MLK
\nwere extraordinary leaders whose charisma and vision could change the
\nrules of the game. Such leaders don\u2019t grow on trees.<\/p>\n

Anywhere.
\nAvrum makes a good point that I would extend far beyond the region:
\nWhere are the NON-PALESTINIAN Gandhi\u2019s? Where are the leaders of
\nAmerican and European countries (which are not wracked by conflict,
\npoverty and second-class citizenship) who promote nonviolence in
\nanything other than empty rhetoric?<\/p>\n

Are Americans, Britons,
\nFrenchmen, Israelis, ad infinitum, any more demonstrably committed to
\nnonviolence than Palestinians? Once you factor in circumstances, I\u2019m
\nnot sure the answer\u2019s a yes.<\/p>\n

This doesn\u2019t apply to Mr.
\nGorenberg\u2019s piece, but I would argue that much of the MSM talk about
\nthe absence of a \u201cPalestinian Gandhi\u201d is so politically one-sided and
\nmorally inconsistent that it actually undermines the cause for peace in
\nthe Middle East. You don\u2019t promote peace by chiding one side for not
\nbeing Gandhian while the other is still actively pursuing its goals
\nmilitarily.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Richard Silverstein at\u00a0 Tikun Olam-\u05ea\u05e7\u05d5\u05df \u05e2\u05d5\u05dc\u05dd<\/a> and Paul Woodward at War in Context\u00a0<\/a> have sharply critiqued aspects of the essay. I think the objections they raise are necessary, even if I would give Gorenberg more benefit of the doubt in terms of the politics of the piece. <\/p>\n

It's a difficult subject to write about, especially given all the blinkered baggage the MSM brings to it, so my hope is that he follows it up with a discussion of some of its other dimensions and contradictions.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Needless to say, I don’t often find myself tempted to link to The Weekly Standard on much of anything, let alone the Middle East peace process. Its editor Bill Kristol is, after all, a proverbial hawk and neocon, one of the thought (mis-)leaders whose Ahab-like ideological obsessions and truly abysmal geopolitical prognostications helped drag America […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":357,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-middle-east"],"yoast_head":"\nFair enough, but kindly direct me to all the non-Palestinian Gandhis out there today. - Akram's Razor<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Needless to say, I don't often find myself tempted to link to The Weekly Standard on much of anything, let alone the Middle East peace process. Its\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2009\/03\/fair-enough-but-kindly-direct-me-to-all-the-nonpalestinian-gandhis-out-there-today\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fair enough, but kindly direct me to all the non-Palestinian Gandhis out there today. - Akram's Razor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Needless to say, I don't often find myself tempted to link to The Weekly Standard on much of anything, let alone the Middle East peace process. Its\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2009\/03\/fair-enough-but-kindly-direct-me-to-all-the-nonpalestinian-gandhis-out-there-today\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Akram's Razor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-03-30T22:51:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-05-07T23:36:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Svend White\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Svend White\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2009\/03\/fair-enough-but-kindly-direct-me-to-all-the-nonpalestinian-gandhis-out-there-today\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2009\/03\/fair-enough-but-kindly-direct-me-to-all-the-nonpalestinian-gandhis-out-there-today\/\",\"name\":\"Fair enough, but kindly direct me to all the non-Palestinian Gandhis out there today. - Akram's Razor\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2009-03-30T22:51:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-05-07T23:36:48+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/#\/schema\/person\/f9db140b6c8f68946a6ff4474bad8040\"},\"description\":\"Needless to say, I don't often find myself tempted to link to The Weekly Standard on much of anything, let alone the Middle East peace process. Its\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2009\/03\/fair-enough-but-kindly-direct-me-to-all-the-nonpalestinian-gandhis-out-there-today\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2009\/03\/fair-enough-but-kindly-direct-me-to-all-the-nonpalestinian-gandhis-out-there-today\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2009\/03\/fair-enough-but-kindly-direct-me-to-all-the-nonpalestinian-gandhis-out-there-today\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Fair enough, but kindly direct me to all the non-Palestinian Gandhis out there today.\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/\",\"name\":\"Akram's Razor\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/#\/schema\/person\/f9db140b6c8f68946a6ff4474bad8040\",\"name\":\"Svend White\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/102bd380e329795710632f1246548993?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/102bd380e329795710632f1246548993?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Svend White\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/author\/svendwhite\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Fair enough, but kindly direct me to all the non-Palestinian Gandhis out there today. - Akram's Razor","description":"Needless to say, I don't often find myself tempted to link to The Weekly Standard on much of anything, let alone the Middle East peace process. Its","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2009\/03\/fair-enough-but-kindly-direct-me-to-all-the-nonpalestinian-gandhis-out-there-today\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Fair enough, but kindly direct me to all the non-Palestinian Gandhis out there today. - Akram's Razor","og_description":"Needless to say, I don't often find myself tempted to link to The Weekly Standard on much of anything, let alone the Middle East peace process. Its","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2009\/03\/fair-enough-but-kindly-direct-me-to-all-the-nonpalestinian-gandhis-out-there-today\/","og_site_name":"Akram's Razor","article_published_time":"2009-03-30T22:51:24+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-05-07T23:36:48+00:00","author":"Svend White","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Svend White","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2009\/03\/fair-enough-but-kindly-direct-me-to-all-the-nonpalestinian-gandhis-out-there-today\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2009\/03\/fair-enough-but-kindly-direct-me-to-all-the-nonpalestinian-gandhis-out-there-today\/","name":"Fair enough, but kindly direct me to all the non-Palestinian Gandhis out there today. - Akram's Razor","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/#website"},"datePublished":"2009-03-30T22:51:24+00:00","dateModified":"2013-05-07T23:36:48+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/#\/schema\/person\/f9db140b6c8f68946a6ff4474bad8040"},"description":"Needless to say, I don't often find myself tempted to link to The Weekly Standard on much of anything, let alone the Middle East peace process. Its","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2009\/03\/fair-enough-but-kindly-direct-me-to-all-the-nonpalestinian-gandhis-out-there-today\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2009\/03\/fair-enough-but-kindly-direct-me-to-all-the-nonpalestinian-gandhis-out-there-today\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2009\/03\/fair-enough-but-kindly-direct-me-to-all-the-nonpalestinian-gandhis-out-there-today\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Fair enough, but kindly direct me to all the non-Palestinian Gandhis out there today."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/","name":"Akram's Razor","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/#\/schema\/person\/f9db140b6c8f68946a6ff4474bad8040","name":"Svend White","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/102bd380e329795710632f1246548993?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/102bd380e329795710632f1246548993?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Svend White"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/author\/svendwhite\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/357"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=192"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}