Safana Anna Makhdoom

Salaam a’laikum. This is the wondrous Muslim greeting of peace which we Muslims all send upon one another when we meet and also in passing. Peace be upon you my brother or my sister.

I love my religion so much that I will not allow it to be bastardized by the likes of Alan Dershowitz or his dirty documentary, directed by Michael Yohay.

Yesterday I had the ugly experience of watching the film “The Case For Israel: Democracy’s Outpost” at the UNO campus, courtesy of the Jewish Community Center of Omaha and the Jewish Studies Center at UNO.

This movie was clearly and openly racist. I will address two issues only as the space is limited: Israel is presented as a democracy, an “island of sanity” among a sea of totalitarian dictators.

Upon questioning the presenter of the film of the characteristics of a democracy, he said one was the protection of minority rights in a democracy. Interesting, I thought. Israel does not protect the rights of the Arabs. In fact, it denies the Israeli Arabs their rights.

For instance, until recently, the Ministry of the Interior had issued ID cards to all citizens that would list “nationality” as Jewish, Arab, Druze or Assyrian. Where was the nationality “Israeli”?

This designation, then, would influence who would get profiled by police, who would be able to lease land from the Jewish State and more and more and on and on. Obviously, being Jewish in a Jewish State would confer some advantage. Just ask any Palestinian living in Israel what those ID cards meant to them.

Is it not true that Israel has erected an illegal apartheid wall, which is a violent structure complete with watchtowers housing freshman snipers, in the name of “security” to protect itself from the paranoid delusions that a homemade rocket might defy tremendous odds and actually hit a target?

Is it not true that Arabs in Gaza had nice warning leaflets dropped on their cities 12 hours before the aerial attack on Gaza in December 2008, a prototypical use of the threat of violence for political means? Is it not true that an Israeli settler is required to be armed by Israeli law?

Let me just say, being a proud Shia Muslim, that people can try to marginalize us, but we will not be marginalized. We will never apologize for our beautiful religion, way of life, cultures and languages. We will never be ashamed of our contribution to humanity and the human heritage.

Muslims are an amazing, fierce, loving, generous people and no amount of propaganda will change the reality. We will fight this dirty attempt to bastardize our religion. We fight it with our humble manner and in our contribution to society.

Do not try to engage me in the dialogue of how Muslims are terrorists. I will not dignify that perfidy with any answer. In no way will Muslims forget who the real terrorists are.

In no way will I be afraid to criticize the Zionist state for fear of being labeled anti-Semitic. How could I? I am a Semite.