Reflections on the launch of another war

Azher Quader
President, CBC
November 7, 2023

“An eye for an eye will leave the whole world blind.”

Gandhi

But maybe the blindness that rage creates, may someday allow others to see and recognize that settling scores through violence is never a good way to solve our problems.

The world we live in is bitterly conflicted at many levels today – be it race, religion, climate concerns, nationalities, territorial rights, political philosophies, social preferences and personal or national agendas , to name just a few.

Whether it be the Ukrainian Russian War or the Palestinian Israeli conflict the parties on all sides of the divide have their arguments to offer, justification to make and remain separated by seemingly irreconcilable differences. Months, years and sometime decades go by with the issues staying unresolved while those who often  have the power to make a difference simply decide not to exert their nonpartisan influence.

Such is the status of the Palestinian Israeli conflict which has its birth from 1948 when the State of Israel came into being, in realization of a long-held goal of Zionism (the establishment of a Jewish national home in Palestine) as conceived by Theodor Herzl in 1906.

At the end of the First World War around 1916, when Britain , France and Russia , were having great difficulty in overcoming the Germans the British enlisted the support of the rich and influential Jews in England in return for the promise to support the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine. This promise made by the Foreign Secretary of England, Arthur Balfour has come to be known as the now famous Balfour Declaration. With this started the steady migration and settlement of Jews from around the world to Palestine.

Today there are over 7 million Jews and 2 million Arabs living in the state of Israel with the Jewish population having grown from 600k at its onset in 1948.

Along the way there have been 5 bloody wars, 2 UN resolutions that have remained ignored and a few accords and agreements that have failed as well. Both sides have played the blame game with the Palestinian masses suffering a life of captivity and brutal oppression imposed upon them by the apartheid State of Israel.

On October 7 , 2023 Hamas, launched a surprisingly violent attack inside Israel killing over a thousand civilians and taking several hostages (estimated around 200) as well. This prompted a full-blown bloody war of retaliation by Israel who promised to eliminate Hamas from Gaza and destroy everything and everybody that came in their way.

Sadly, history reminds us that wars and violence carried out to solve our differences or disputes really don’t help much in securing peaceful outcomes, though successful for a while, are often doomed to fail in the longer term.

Yet humanity thus far seems unwilling to learn this lesson and continues to travel the same road causing untold misery and suffering for masses of people.

Let us review the stark statistics of man’s misadventures with wars and violence through recent times:

World War 1 – 17 million killed

World War 2 – 60 million perished

Vietnam Conflict – 3.8 million died

Korean War – around 5 million died

Iraq war – about 1 million died

American Civil War – 600,000 total casualties

With 10-13,000 unfortunately dead and counting in Gaza today, some among us  can still say that they have personally witnessed worst death tolls  during our own lifetimes from these terrible encounters. 

Clearly the record of these horrible exchanges is deadly and the results are unsettling. In spite of this, our passion for building empires and conquering territories remains unabated and our lust for land still languishes and lingers.

One new instrument of exerting “soft” power and influence over countries that “misbehave” has additionally emerged, through the  employment of  economic sanctions. This approach kills civilians just the same, from hunger and withdrawal of essential humanitarian services, and through loans that enslave powerless countries to become their helpless economic slaves.

For a happier, more secure and peaceful world, it is important if not imperative that we find a better way. The better way may not come without a price to pay, but compared to the price we have been paying thus far, for a conflicted and insecure world, it would be worth its price for attempting something different.

Here is a brief short list to consider:

1- It starts with “leaders” who have a better vision for what it means to live with freedom, peace and security.

Not freedom for some and slavery for others. Not peace for some while a state of war and violence for others. Not a life of comfort and security for some while a life of fear and terror for others.

2- It means a greater commitment for “dialogue” with a willingness to listen and learn and not remain trapped in the moorings of one’s own positions.

3- It means toning down the rhetoric and passions for “nationalism “ and embracing the idea and logic of globalism, where each nation and community is vested in the interest of the other.

4- It means recognizing that there is always a “third alternative” beyond the favored positions of the contending parties, which is not a compromise for either, but a win for both. We may not always get what we want and an apparent compromise today may turn out to be an ultimate victory tomorrow.

5- It means a desire to negotiate without any hidden agendas, for it is only when we are honest and recognized to be transparent, can we be “trusted” by those who mistrust us. Absent the vital element of trust, there can be no progress either in our personal relationships or our political deliberations.

6- It is to negate the belief that life is a zero-sum game and recognize that it

is a “flawed ideology”, which betrays a scarcity mentality not an attitude of abundance which is needed in a world where selfless sharing competes against insatiable greed. It is the recognition that the unconditional pursuit of self-interest is destructive to the culture of peaceful co-existence among communities, which value interdependence as a greater virtue than simple independence.

Needless to say, none of these suggestions for conflict resolution and international diplomacy are easy to accept much less to implement. But the alternative is equally unacceptable and painful, for it means continued conflict, insecurity, wars and bloodshed. Moreover, for any negotiations to succeed, the rival groups need to be willing to meet and discuss the options available.

Cynics may say that these are utopian beliefs, impractical ideas and challenge the self-interest of men and nations.

For over six thousand years of recorded history, we have listened and followed the voices of human intellect and found it wanting in resolving our disputes and creating a more just and peaceful world. Is it time to try something different, outside the realm of human intelligence?

For readers of the Quran which claims to provide  guidance “for all mankind” , the logic is simple and straight forward.

1- The Quran declares unequivocally that all that is in the earth belongs to its Creator, and in doing so removes the notion of territorial rights and conflicts that have plagued human societies.   Man by virtue of being a trustee has responsibility of administering what he possesses not only for his own benefit but more importantly for the benefit of others as well. Indeed, the purpose of man’s creation is a test of this responsibility.

2- The Quran also clearly states that “killing one is as killing all and saving one is like saving all”, (5:32 Al Maida), providing guidance to man on the way he is to administer this responsibility with the caveat that man has the freedom to follow this guidance or not as a matter of his choice. If man does choose to follow this guidance, the Quran promises a life of peace, prosperity, security and happiness in the Here and rewards in the Hereafter.

3- It is this idea of the “Hereafter” and a belief in the promise of the “unseen” as a matter faith, that ultimately inspires man to lead a life of accountability in which the higher values of human behavior become possible.

4- Readers of the Quran recognize also that this was the guidance given by all other messengers from the beginning of time. When man’s self-interest and desires corrupted this guidance, more messengers came from time to time to course correct the messages and the people..

5- Readers of the Quran realize also that this guidance is now permanently preserved in the Book, hence no more messengers are to come and the only way to course correct now remains from the Book itself.

6- For the idea of believing in one God to become real, man has to submit to His guidance which demands an abandon of all other alien desires, pursuits and passions, the “mini gods” he worships, which feed his self-interest and not the greater interest of all mankind.

In the end there may be times when all else fails and when peace and security are threatened resorting to force may become the only alternative.

Readers of Quran may also recall that persecution is worse than killing (2:191 Baqara).

They also know that in the struggle to establish a just and compassionate world, many sacrifices are needed, of one’s time, wealth, loved possessions and even life. Such sacrifices made in the pursuit of man’s role of God’s Vicegerency on earth is rewarded in the Hereafter through God’s unfailing promise of success and  eternal bliss, as recorded in the Quran. (62:10-12 As Saf)

Some day when all the looting, the uprooting and the killings are done, when all the bombs have dropped, when all the battles are won, the treaties are signed, and man is still hungering for peace and security, as he is today, he may find reason to seek the wisdom of the Divine and find the answers for that elusive goal he has been seeking, of being at peace with himself and his neighbor.

Let us hope that day is near and not too far.

Azher Quader

November 7, 2023

Azher Quader is a writer, thinker and community worker. He is founder president of Community Builders Council (www.cbc7.org ) and Compassionate Care Network (www.ccnamerica.com). He can be reached at azherquader42@gmail.com.