Losing Enlightenment
A Palestinian, a French and a German were summoned to meet God. God told them that they could each ask him one question that he would answer. The German went in to meet god and came out crying. The others asked him why he was crying. The German said he asked God about when will the German race rule the earth, and god told me the answer. I am crying because it will not be in my life time. The French went in and he came out crying. When asked about it he said that he had asked god about when will the French rule the earth. God told him the answer. I am sad because it won’t be in my life time. Finally the Palestinian went in and came out with a puzzled look on his face. The French and German wanted to know what happened. The Palestinian told them that that he said the following to God. I do not want to know when the Palestinians will rule the earth I just want to know when we will have our own country and live on our own not under military occupation. The German and French where curios, “so what did god say?”. The Palestinian man replied “God started to cry and he told me that it won’t be in his life time”.
The above was told to me as a joke 14 years ago. Only I didn’t laugh. Instead I averted my eyes and started to look at the floor for something to focus my eyes on. I noticed my black leather sandals that I was wearing. They had big bulky heals as was fashionable at the time. I started to wiggle my foot around, first side ways and then tip my toes up and down. Pretending my shoes were the most fascinating things in the world. Anything to distract me from the conversation that was going on. After a while my shoes did seem fascinating. They seemed like the most interesting thing in the world. How come I never noticed my shoes before?
I read the news, to find out that the state of Israel had fired rockets into a demonstration killing mostly children. Bush says he find this troubling but not troubling enough to halt or even curtail the 6 billion of aid sent to Israel every year that enables the aggression in the first place. And then people wonder why is there terrorism? Why are Palestinian people so angry? I get emails asking why don’t the Palestinians fight for their rights in peaceful and rational ways.
I wish to take every Palestinian to east hastings street in Vancouver. So
that they could see the native Indian junkies, the native Indian drug
dealers, the homeless and the native Indian prostitutes. This is what peace looks like
when the terms are dictated by your oppressor. In Vancouver we don't call
these people terrorists, we just call them scum bags, we call them pathetic
losers. Vancouver is a peaceful city, but that peace came at a price. Once
in a while when we get all self righteous and we want to feel superior we
throw these people a quarter, in return we expect a grateful smile and a
pleasant thank you to bring closure to a feel good venture.
You may call us terrorists, you may tell us that we should resist the occupation in peaceful ways, you may tell us that the terrorism is killing innocent civilians. And you are right. Yes! if we were a truly enlightened group of people then yes, we would accept our harsh fate, we would watch the occupier kill our children and we would say, may god forgive you. We would pray day and night hoping that god would deliver us from this hardship. We would sit around hoping that the messiah would come and help to liberate us. Unfortunately, we are not enlightened. We are just average people born in
desperate times. Perhaps we don't believe in God as much as we proclaim we do. Jesus would agree with you he too would say take a peaceful and a rational path. He would tell us to love our enemy the way we love ourselves. but then Jesus would come and reside with us, hold our hand and share in our misery. Buddha would agree with Jesus too, he too would say revenge will destroy you in the end. He would tell us that peace comes from the inside, but then Buddha would not preach from a distance, he would come and show us how it is done. Unfortunately, there are no enlightened ones living among us, only Hammas, only Hammas will reside among us, hold our hands and share in our fate. We can't afford to be picky at this point. You may say what you like about the Palestinians. We have many social problems, most of them have nothing to do with Israel. Among us lives the idiot, the stupid, the lame, the selfish and the ignorant. But then some of us are smart, funny, warm, loving and sophisticated. You may call us terrorists and we understand, we forgive you because you haven't tasted the bitterness of living under occupation. We do not seek to be enlightened, we do not seek peace. Our goals are much more modest. We seek two things and two things only. We seek dignity, and that we have already achieved and we seek survival - all bets are off on that one.
We did not choose to live in Israel; Israel chose to live on top of us. History will say that the fathers of Israel chose the wrong indigenous population to oppress. Nobody will dare throw us that self righteous quarter for we are too scary. We are terrorists.
Unfortunately, my black leather sandals with the bulky heals have long been worn out. I finally had to throw them away. But luckily I have my pretty platform shoes. I bought them last year for 100 dollars. I normally would not spend so much money on shoes or any clothing article. But I was particularly depressed on that day. Somehow when I am depressed I don’t think about the hungry children in Africa and I have a higher propensity for buying things I wouldn’t buy normally. So I bought myself brown platform sandels with butterflies embroidered into the side of the heal. They look very girly. Completely out of character for me. But today I am glad I bought them , because I desperately need to wear them. I always get so many comments and compliments when I wear those shoes.
14 years ago, I was walking around in downtown Vancouver on a beautiful sunny summer day. Right on Robson street there was about 10 Hari Krishna followers. They were wearing pink robes. They had a drum and some of them had cymbals that made a sharp sound. They were dancing around looking very happy and chanting “Hari Krishna, Hari Krishna, Hari , Hari, Hari Krishna”. What a bunch of losers, I thought to myself. Why don’t they get a real job instead of wasting their days chanting all day long. Like that is going to make a difference. I know absolutely nothing about the Hari Krishna religion. But all the followers seem to have that happy enlightened look on their face, as in a bit light in the head. Maybe each Hari Krishna gets a lobotomy upon joining.
About one month later, I was sitting in coffee shop drinking a cup of coffee. I had taken a much needed coffee break from work. I was staring at my coffee feeling all sorry for myself. I was working long hours for months now. I had worked on every single weekend for months. The bugs in the software I was working on seemed to pile up. As our dead line approached the work only seemed to increase and it seemed highly unlikely that the dead line would be met. I was so stressed out about it I couldn’t even think straight. I was only 21 years old. I hadn’t learned the lesson that in a tough situation I should do what I can and not worry about the rest. I hadn’t learned the lesson that there is life after “the project” nor did I realize yet that every hardship happens for a reason. I was young and foolish. As I was sitting there feeling sorry for myself, along came the Hari Krishna crowd. Chanting, happy, like they had no care in the world. I stared at them sitting in my miserable state and wondered who the loser was. The stressed out computer geek that is miserable or the happy bunch that are enjoying a beautiful summer day. For a second I fantasized I would get up and join them. Simply walk away from all my troubles and spend the rest of my day chanting, singing and dancing. What a wonderful way to spend a sunny afternoon in Vancouver. The thought seemed more appealing as I thought about it. The thought of running away from my problems. I gulped down the rest of my coffee and went back to the office. Nah! I better fix a few more bugs.
Damn! I was this close to reaching enlightenment and I missed it.
Vancouver is a very new age city. Yoga studios are on every street corner and people like to use words like karma, enlightenment, good energy, zen, universal, harmony and feeling good on the inside. These are the kind of people that like to wear crystals, peace symbols and burn candles. I suppose it is all very harmless. As for me, when life becomes too painful and I need a distraction, I go for the shoe approach. I suppose that is pretty harmless as well. As in, pretty useless.
There is a way between voice and presence where information flows.
In disciplined silence it opens.
With wandering talk it closes. .... Rumi
11:35 AMGood post Ihath
7:02 PM
When I get discouraged about the the economic disparity, the greed of the powerful, the plight of the powerless, I try and comfort myself with the thought that ultimately good will triumph over evil. Then I think of the Native Americans.
Your comparison of the NA's in Vancouver to the Palestinians is very apt. This truely is where they will find themselves if they don't resist at whatever the cost.
I sometimes go to Santa Barbara, Ca. where I have family. If the Palestinians would behave they could be like the Mexicans are in SB. They could garden, wash cars, collect garbage, etc. for the Israelis.
The people of Palestine have already achieved moral power in the world, they fight the greatest military power in the history of the world with their feeble weapons and their mighty will. They have won an important victory. A hollow victory when one must watch their land bulldozed, there trees uprooted, their young children brutilized and killed.
Thoughtful post Ihath, as is the norm with you.
3:18 AM
It is okay to treat yourslef to a luxury. I amnot too big on shoes, but I have purcahsed over 20 tailor made suits while in Korea, and while there may have been more altruistic things to do with my money, I have been part of a process that has turned South Korea from one of teh poorest nations on Earth in 1953 to a nation with a per capita income of $15,000.00 US
The shoes you bought may have led to an eventual transfer of capital to someone who would contribute the money perhaps to make an investment in Africa or even in Palestine to create more commerce and jobs in the region.
Do not feel too hopeless. Your essays have been a factor in changing my own views rearding Israel and Palestine, though my plan would be to bring capitalism and commerce to the Palestinians.
In my own mind, I can see the Israleis and Palestinians benefitting far more from marketing the historical value of their land and pictures I've seen of the Gaza strip show a beautiful land that could make an excellent beach. Israel would also be more secure with a middle-class Palestine that would have less to be angry at Israel about and would also turn her attention to the treatment of Palestinians in neighboring countries, and with an emphasis from fighting to commerce, both Israel and Palestine could double if not triple their GDP, and have per capita incomes to rival Canada and the US (espeially when factoring in per capita income to cost of living ratios).
8:09 AM
The eternal question is not 'Who am I?' or 'Why am I here' or even 'Who is God?'. It is 'Just how many pairs of shoes DOES a girl need?' I think the answer is unfathomable. I find shoe shopping a great comfort in stressful times! I have been shopping alot lately. Btw; great, soulful post!
6:58 PM
I don't know. I guess I am stupid. It seems to me that the Palestinians are paying the price for all those wars where the Arab countries tried to destroy Israel and finish what Hitler started. Therefor Israel fought back and took the West Bank and Gaza. The Arabs refused to negotiate and dumped the territories on the Palestinians. "Here, you try to take this from Israel, and stay out of Jordan, Egypt, Syria, and Lebanon."
So, they have been trying ever since. When Israel agrees to give 98% of what they died for to the PA, Arafat gets scared and refuses because he knows that what his people really want is all of Israel and they will kill him if he agrees to less. So, it is an impasse, because Israel does not want to commit suicide and a lot of Palestinians do.
Now, Hamas is really torqued, because Israel wants to withdraw from the Palestinians. Oh, no, Hamas can't have that, because then what excuse will we have for our existence? We will lose support for attacking innocent Israelis. So, let's kill some IDF soldiers and commit an outrage with their remains and Israel will have to come back and fight in Gaza.
I am not one of those who is happy about sending billions to Israel, which is a corrupt socialist regime. But the Palestinians cannot justify from history what they are doing to Israelis.
If you are miserable, it is because you know it is wrong to kill innocents and your conscience will not let you be happy - there are not enough shoes in the world for that when you defend evil.
9:14 PM
Lucky me. I don't need to go get therapy. I get free psycho analysis by Dr. Ron. Tell me Ron, are you certefied for the job or are your talents natural?
1:02 PM
The Palestinians could have had a state years ago. They decided, or Yasir Arafat aka Muhammad ibn-blahblah al-Nazi al-Husseini decided for them, that they were more interested in fighting the Jews for the right to "return" and flood Israel with people who would like nothing better than to destroy it, rather than accept peace and build their own state. If they were interested in peace, they could have had it. They were more interested in war. Were there a few hundred thousand Arab refugees in 1948? Yes, there were.. there were also a few hundred thousand Mizrahi Jewish refugees, expelled from Arab countries, who were settled in Israel, and today live normal lives. Anyway, the Palestinians who did not flee in 1948 already *have* a state. It's called Israel, and they are represented in the Parliament, they have their own political parties, and they even have a sitting Justice on the Israeli Supreme Court.
If what the Palestinians want more than anything is a State of their own and to live in Peace, there would be no "second intifadha". They would have accepted 97% of the West Bank and Gaza, Islamic authority over the Temple Mount/Noble Sanctuary, and would have started living their lives and building a society instead of holding onto unrealistic dreams of the "right of return".
By the way, would someone *please* tell Arafat to stop calling it the "Peace of the Brave"? Jews aren't stupid, we know what the "Peace of the Brave" was, and we are *not* the Qureish tribe of Mecca.
Somehow I don't get how it is that a prerequisite to Arab peace with Israel is that all Jewish settlers must be removed from Gaza and the West Bank, so as to ethnically cleanse them of Jews and make them "Judenrein", but Israel must also accept the "right of return" and allow Arabs to live in Israel. Jews have *no* right to live on the West Bank, but they must accept that Arabs have the right to live in Israel?
I ask you... one side has franchised (allowed to vote) its minority population, and has given them representation in government. The other side wants to expel every last one of its minority population, and a good portion of the majority would kill every last person in the minority if given the chance. Not only that, but they would like to kill or expel everyone in their neighboring country as well!
So, which side is racist again? Which side is Apartheid?
5:50 PM
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8:04 AM
I said nothing about the circumstances in which Arabs living in Palestine in 1948 fled from their homes. I *did* point out that an equal or greater number of Jews in Arab countries fled from their homes during and after 1948. Your number of 800,000 is inflated, as most statistics that have anything to do with the Arab-Israel conflict are, but there is also the inescapable truth that there would have been *no* refugees at *all* if there hadn't been a war in the first place. Who invaded whom in 1948? I'm pretty sure it was Israel that was invaded by the armies of no less than seven Arab nations. Anyway, believe it or not, most Jews don't want to live "on top of" anyone. We'd much rather live next to you, but you don't want us there. Believe me, that's nothing new.
8:07 AM
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10:01 AM
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10:10 AM
Dear Zionist Entity, when people insist on quoting from the "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion". I just have to shake my head, I have nothing to say to such a person. Everybody with any credibility knows that the The protocols of the elders of zion is a complete fabrication. The infamous Czarist forgery claiming to reveal a secret Jewish plot to rule the world. No credible historian not left wing, not right wing not any other kind will claim that that book is anything but fraud. There is complete census on this matter, yet there are people who continue to believe it. In the 60s and early 70s, Israel tried to publish an account of what happened that has since been proved to be a complete fraud as well. From the story that Palestinians left on their own account to the story that the land of Palestine was empty and these people came from other lands just because they want to annoy Israel. Today, among all historians, American, Israeli and British there is complete consensus about what happened. Even the right wing Israeli historian Benny Morris agrees with the world accepted account on what happened during those years, from the 800,000 ethnically cleansed from their land to the massacres. Yet there are those who refuse to believe and chose to repeat the lies. I just shake my head; I have nothing to say to such people. I don't have the gifts of Ron which would enable me to psycho analyze such behavior; I just know that arguing is useless.
7:13 PM
"Lucky me. I don't need to go get therapy. I get free psycho analysis by Dr. Ron. Tell me Ron, are you certefied for the job or are your talents natural?"
No, but I have been called certifiable.
7:20 PM
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8:16 PM
Ron, Anybody with a sense of humor about himself is ok in my books even if I disagree with them. As for my part, today I discovered that a google search on "ugliest iraqi woman" points to my blog .... yeah! So I am certified by google to be the ugliest Iraqi woman, no small feet let me assure you.
1:46 AM
Dear Ihath
I really like reading your posts and i appreciate your efforts. I have a question going back to one of your original posts 'denouncing religion'. Why do you believe so? After having read your thoughts i thought a woman as you would know better. Maybe i understood you wrong you really didn't denounce your religion you meant something else? Care to help me out here since i have been wondering about this for quite some months now and i am very puzzeled. By the way I live in Glasgow and probably go to the same place for majalis as you mentioned in another one of your posts. Hoping to hear from you soon. (zakazmi@yahoo.co.uk)
Zeeshan Abbas Kazmi
9:07 AM
Zeeshan, If your faith is a source of comfort and direction in your life, then power to you. It doesn't matter what I think.
6:55 PM
ihath,
It is kind of you to have no hard feelings. Thanks. And I'm sure you look just fine. Even without shoes.
3:34 AM
Ihath, after reading many of your postings, some beyond beautiful, 9i think you should be publishing.
"You may call us terrorists,"
Better to call terrorists terrorists.
On an Islamic board a couple of years ago, iwondered aloud why Palestinians didn't follow the proven strategy of non-violence. One Ilsama told me that most Palestinians are Mulsimn, and that Islam does not allow non-violence. I thought that Islam must allow a winning strategy. Do you think that Indians were any more entlightened than Palestinians when they followed Gandhi-ji, and with great courage, perseverence, and fortitude, made it impossible for the British to stay in their country?
As you know, there are those who are working for peace acroos the borders from both Palestine and Israel. It is to these people, and the hope that this movement grows, that hope must be entrusted, for the leaders have other goals.
Back then i was directed to an article by a Palestinian, (perhaps it was Edward Said)who offered another view. He told that as a yound man he came to live in palestine after living abroad as a youngster. one day, while driving, he accidentally hit a woman in the streets. She assured him that she sufferred no injury, and after accepting his apology, she left. His father told him he had done a freat wrong, and that he must seek out her family, meet with the leaders, apologize, and ask what he can do for reparatins. They would make some enormous demand that he could not meet, and his family would argue it down, until they agreed on some "penance." (The details, of course, are richer.)
The writer then compared israel to his son. He said that Israel was like a man escaping over the wall from a confinement that was punishing, full of torture, and threatened death. Unfortunately, as he jumped from the wall, he fell on a man. Since he was interested only in getting away and securing himself, he merely muttered his apologies and ran away. In his haste and need to secure himself, he injured many in the man's family.
But the writer said that even today (2002), if Sharon would go to the man's family and start the process of apologies, some agreement could be reached. He maintained that when israel went over the wall, even those landed on had some understanding of the plight ogf jews in Europe. he thought that with proper apologies and payments, family to family, thingwes could be heeled.
Now, i thought about this, in that violent spring. it seemed to me that even IF Sharon wanted peace, and listened to our writer, he could find no one in authority willing to negotiate with him on these terms.
In fact, it seemed to me that Sharon and Yassin had the same goal: to avoid peace. They seemed both to want a one natin solution, and had merely a gentleman's disagreement about which nation should rule "from the river to the sea." That could be decided when peace was completely destroyed.
I fashioned fantasy pophone calls for my boardmates between these sly old frinds. During a lull, a week with no suicide attacks, Sharon phones up Yassin:
S: What the H is going on? Didn't we have an agreement. You know I have those peaceniks!
Y: You guys intercepted 4 bombers last week.
S: You know i can't stop that. You've got to try harder. Look, for get jurusalem next week, try another city. But you've got to keep it up.
Y: And you'll retaliate, as we agreed, right?
S: When haven't I?
Y: To our cause.
S: To our cause.
Now i based this on an agreement whereby Palestinian terrorist would target civilians indiscriminately, giving Israel the moral high ground to retaliate. this way, Israel would keep US aid meant to keep israel alive as a nation, and would stop any threats to stop the aid if israel didn't stop some of its more immoral practices, like settlements.
On the other hand, Sharon agreed to strike back in a sloopy manner, always aiming for a legitimate target, but usually killing civilians. At the time, four times as many palestinians were dying as Israelis. This gave Yassin the moral high ground to strike the evil oppressors. And a good time was had by all. (In fact, in one of my fantasy phone calls, Yassin complains that they had agreed on 3 to 1, and Sharon agreed to rampo it down, and, indded, that happened!)
It seems to me that peace will not come from the leaders. It will come from the people, like those who recently drew up a plan for peqce, from both israel and Palestine. No Americans, no UN. Maybe a Gandhi-ji will arise. Or maybe people can just learn from him.
I have another plan, based on the old peter Sellers movie about a bankrupt nation which seeks its fortune by declaring war on the US abd losing, since this was a proven method to get a large infusion of money and assistance. I think that Palestine should simply throw itself on the good will of the US, and ask for just what it needs to have the same thing that Israel wants and gets, the same support, the same aid, the same guarantee of existence. Then, if the suicide bombings would stop, the AMERICANS would prevent Israel from doing all those immoral things.
It's worth a try. All the terror strategy has done is prevent America from coming down on the Israelis, and bought them time to gradually institute such injustices as the settlements and the stealing of water.
But like political leaders everywhere, who mainly think of their own power, the palestinian leaders have said that if their strategy doesn't work, we should just do it some more.
3:48 AM
Please accept my apologies. It is obvious that this old man has difficulty finging the right keys. Please excuse my typos.
10:39 AM
Hey, i remember those type of sandles.
hmm, anyway, since when did peace and enlightenment mean "accept our harsh fate"? I saw a fantastic photo once, of Buddhist monks throwing a mud fight while they were building an earth wall. They were all absolutely covered in mud and heaving it at each other with great grins on their faces.
I don't think you're a terrorist Ihath, i think you're a mud-heaver.
:]
btw, perhaps peace does come at a price. At the price of the last resort, after everything else has been tried.
12:07 PM
Averroes,
ihath-ji would like to know the name of the Peter Sellers movie you mentioned in your comment.
Emigre,
ihath the mud heaver. I like that. I like that lots. The mud heaver with a big grin.
4:52 PM
Ihath-ji, which i say with all respect, the Peter Sellars movie is called "The Mouse that Roared." Apart from its political satire, it is hilarious, with Sellars playing three roles. One running joke is his being called "the father of our country," and, if one looks carefully, one can find a cow which looks a lot like Sellars!
8:08 PM
You know the only reason that Palestine is still occupied is that occupation turned out to be the most effective way for Israelis to keep the terrorists out of Israel. The check points catch a terrorist every day. The number of suicide bombers go way down during each incursion...
So all of the rhetoric about the intefada being "risistance to the occupation" is backwards. Yet another lie from the propagandists who support Arafat or worse groups like Hamas.
The war in Palestine is a self fulfulling prophesy. As long as the Palestinians want to - (well, if I was home I could quote two Mufties, A Saudi king and hundreds of others calling for complete genocide of the Jews), as long as Palestinians won't accept living in peace they create their own misery.
But if you live under a tiny hating despot like Arafat, a failed wanna-be hiter (and yes I believe I can find a quote by Arafat directly naming Hitler as the beginner of the work he wished to finish), as long as you make such men your leaders, then you will down in lies. You will drown in the misery such men need to keep their eternal wars going.
The Israelis are just innocent people, they are not a plague. As long as you consider ordinary people a plague, then you make yourself into a monster.
9:33 AM
Speaking of non-violence, Gandhi, Palestine, Zionism etc, here's
Aron's post on the topic . In that post he cites Gandhi's 1938 letter on the topic, which is printed at the bottom of
this page .
I wonder what these armchair analysts, who blithely demand that palestinians resist non-violently, think of Gandhi's advice to european jewry of that time.
Ihath: great, thoughtful and humourous blog.
5:43 PM
I know several Hari Krishnas and although they do seem to have a lot of fun chanting, I don't believe that any of them are actually enlightened.
I don't understand the title of your article. How can you lose something you're claiming you have not experienced? I'm not enlightened, but I've become a lot closer to it by creating peace within my self. The negativity spewing out of both Israelis and Palestinians is intensifying the war that has lasted off and on for over 2000 years. It's like 2 children fighting over a toy.
For those of us that are lucky enough to live in a relatively free, semi-peaceful environment, let's GROW UP and use our minds and bodies to be bridges of peace. NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE. If we can put people on the moon, the Palestinians and Israelis can co-exist in peace. Maybe human beings are more connected to each other than is visible to the naked eye. Perhaps our thoughts and feelings create the reality that we live in. For example, writing and thinking negative things about Israelis intensifies the conflict on more levels than we can see.
Try this: Think about someone or something that you love. Feel that love in your heart. Take some deep breaths and spread that feeling throughout your body. Now, with each exhale let that feeling flow to the middle east. Think about BOTH Palestinians and Israelis living together in peace, abundance and harmony. People like Jesus and Buddha can feel this type of energy and will definitely be drawn to be with you when you make the change. I beg you to please shift the thoughts and feelings in your Being so that you're able to attract more enlightened types to help your cause. This type of a practice is more affordable than new shoes. By the way, don't knock yoga until you've tried many different forms. It could really help you make the changes that it sounds like you're ready to make. Many blessings.
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