Bangladeshi NGOs address education gap for minorities by Tuli Dewan
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Inside this edition 19 - 25 August 2008
Peace is hard work in the Middle East and beyond
by Deanna Armbruster
In this fourth article in a series on Jewish-Muslim relations, Deanna
Armbruster, author and executive director of the American Friends of
Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam, extends the example of the Jewish and Arab
inhabitants of the Oasis of Peace – who have decided to face the
reality of living side-by-side with one another, challenged daily with
the hard work of peace – to the larger realm of Muslim-Western
relations.
(Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), 19 August 2008)
Bangladeshi NGOs address education gap for minorities
by Tuli Dewan
Describing the challenges faced by multi-lingual societies where
certain students struggle to learn a new language in order to access
public education, Tuli Dewan, programme manager of Green Hill,
considers what Bangladeshis NGOs are doing to overcome this obstacle.
(Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), 19 August 2008)
Mahmoud Darwish: a people and a poet
by Ibtisam Barakat
Ibtisam Barakat, author and educator, mourns the recent loss of
respected Palestinian poet, Mahmoud Darwish who, inspired by a vision
of reconciliation, moved "between skies and across borders".
(Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), 19 August 2008)
~Youth Views~ Making a home in a foreign land
by Saher A. Ashary and Meryem Maaroufi
Saher A. Ashary and Meryem Maaroufi, students of the University of
Sharjah and Al Akhawayn University respectively, evaluate the
successful integration of Arab and Muslim immigrants into broader US
and European society, and ask what can be done in our technologically-
linked global community to learn from one another's examples.
(Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), 19 August 2008)
Free speech is a two-way street
by Shahed Amanullah
In light of the impending publication of the controversial book, Jewel
of Medina, editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com Shahed Amanullah asks,
"Why do Muslims appear to be so sensitive about what the media says
about them?"
(Source: altmuslim.com, 7 August 2008)
Peace is hard work in the Middle East and beyond
Deanna Armbruster
Oasis of Peace, Israel - In Israel, there is a village where Arabs and
Jews live as neighbours. Both groups endeavour to create a just
society that can be a model for peace in the region.
What's it called? Oasis of Peace. Though the town's name gives the
impression that it's some sort of magical, idealistic utopia, the
people living there are challenged daily and deeply by the reality of
an intractable, painful and violent conflict. Like anything worth
attaining, peace comes with hard work.
There are fears that the village will somehow threaten the 5.4 million
Jews in Israel and 5.1 million Palestinian Arabs in Israel-Palestine.
It won't. Only one couple, living there now for more than 25 years, is
mixed. The other 54 non-mixed families are Jewish, Muslim, and
Christian; they share strong convictions about their own identities,
but have made a determined effort – for more than three decades – to
live alongside one another and thus impact society.
Much can be learned from Neve Shalom, its Hebrew name, or Wahat al-
Salam as it's called in Arabic, about interfaith relations.
In the local Jewish-Arab primary school, children study one another's
faiths with natural curiosity. Students break the fast together at
Ramadan, share a succah at Sukkot, and exchange small gifts at
Christmas. And dialogue begins, but never ends, in its Pluralistic
Spiritual Center where discussions transcend religion in the
recognition that this conflict is not Torah versus Qu'ran versus
Bible.
The difficulties arise when the issues of the conflict are placed on
the table.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a political strife between two
national groups about land, resources, security, freedom, equality,
power, identity, and justice. Productive dialogue must include
recognising this and not limiting description of the conflict
exclusively to inter- and intra-religious issues.
Seeking a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict requires a
look at the big picture. The ultimate goal should be to create
stability for Israelis and Palestinians so they may live securely and
freely alongside one another in a spirit of cooperation and mutual
respect.
That means building common ground, sharing narratives and
acknowledging the pain and suffering of others. Israelis and
Palestinians, Jews, Muslims, and Christians need to show a willingness
to recognise one another. It ultimately means seeing an enemy as an
equal in humanity. Easier said than done.
Resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the leading domino to
seeing any meaningful dialogue between the Arab world and the West.
Without such a catalyst, dialogue will be slow. And dialogue provides
the forum for understanding and for seeking resolutions; resolutions
do not come without talking.
The West needs to learn more about Islam not because it's the faith of
"our enemies" but because, like the children in Neve Shalom/Wahat al-
Salam, it's the faith of our neighbours.
Just as Oasis of Peace is doing, we need to move beyond Arabs as
people who are inherently scary. We paint adversarial facades to
create enemies, but we must challenge ourselves to break stereotypes,
question basic assumptions and raise awareness. Beyond that, the West
needs to learn about the economic, political, social, and cultural
conflicts facing the region.
The issues between the West and East are not just those of religion,
but of political dynamics, struggles for resources, self-interest,
independence, and power relations. As we begin to understand this we
will strengthen those relationships.
There are another 500 families on a waiting list who want to move to
Oasis of Peace. This fall, 15 of these families will break ground on
their plots and begin to build new homes and new futures. They are
coming with loads of goodwill and perhaps little understanding of the
great challenges that they will confront.
But they offer the world a ray of hope.
The residents of this small village are single-handedly removing
obstacles by demonstrating that peace is within the grasp of people
who seek it and are willing to sacrifice their bias so that all may
share prospects of peace.
As they provide the example to those in the region it will soon be up
to the rest of us to follow their lead.
###
* Deanna Armbruster is the executive director of the American Friends
of Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam and the author of Tears in the Holy
Land: Voices from Israel and Palestine. This article, part of a series
on Jewish-Muslim relations written for the Common Ground News Service,
originally appeared in The Christian Science Monitor.
Source: Common Ground News Service, 19 August 2008, www.commongroundnews.org
Copyright permission is granted for publication.
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Bangladeshi NGOs address education gap for minorities
Tuli Dewan
Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh - Participation by minorities in
development efforts is essential for dispersing the fruits of
development to all segments of society equally. But a culture of
minority participation in the national development effort is not often
found in Bangladesh and important segments of society are left without
the tools to participate. However local non-governmental organisations
(NGOs) are working to fill this gap.
Bangladesh is a predominantly Muslim country with the fourth largest
concentration of Muslims in the world. Other religious, linguistic and
cultural groups in the country – Buddhists, Hindus, Christians and
animists – constitute 10 percent of the total population. Established
as a parliamentary democracy, reflective of the country's religious
diversity and pluralist character, Islam was made the state religion
in 1988 and the present government has been operating in a state of
emergency since January 2007.
The people of Bangladesh are not as homogenous as many assume, and
most ethnic minorities are incidentally trapped in social
underdevelopment.
Though education has been recognised as a universal and fundamental
human right, quality education continues to elude indigenous learners
in the Chittagong Hill Tract (CHT) region of Bangladesh. Inadequate
educational resources coupled with high drop-out rates – with almost
20 percent of drop-outs attributed to linguistic obstacles – create an
environment where inhabitants are neither benefiting from development
efforts, nor are they equipped to participate in them.
The CHT region, located in the southeast corner of Bangladesh has an
area of 5,092 square miles and is home to 11 ethnic minorities who
differ from the population in the neighbouring plains not only in
terms of geographical setting but also in ethnicity, socio-economic
status, language, culture, religion, lifestyle, customs and tradition.
Chakma is the largest indigenous ethnic group in the CHT, and the
predominant language spoken, followed by Marma, which is spoken in the
southern part of the region in addition to local languages. However,
primary school children in the CHT are required to take classes in
Bengali – the state language. This linguistic barrier makes it
difficult for them to understand textbooks or follow their teachers'
lessons. School becomes boring for them and eventually they start to
lose interest in learning.
Linguistic challenges in elementary school naturally impact higher
education. Problems in understanding the language at this early stage
result in weak learning, whereas curriculum becomes easier for
students to understand when education is offered in a child's mother
tongue. This helps unlock a child's intuition, power of thought and
imagination.
Although the 40th session of the International Labour Organisation in
1957 adopted a resolution (Article 23(1) of Convention 107) that
clearly provides for indigenous children's education in their
respective mother tongues, little has been done by the government to
implement this. Moreover, Article 33 (kha) of the CHT Accord signed by
the Bangladesh government and Parbartty Chttagram Jana Sanghati Samity
(PCJSS), a regional political party that spearheaded the movement for
indigenous rights, also provides for primary education in indigenous
languages. And Article 17 of the Bangladesh constitution stipulates
that all children should receive an education that is compatible with
the needs of the society – indicating that there is no legal barrier
to providing education in regional languages.
In the absence of government assistance, a few NGOs have launched an
initiative to teach Chakma, Marma and Tripura children in their
respective languages at the pre-school stage in a few schools in and
outside the municipality area.
This struggling initiative will likely only succeed with support from
the national government and would benefit from assistance from
international donors. However, if successful, this initiative could
prove a model for other countries with linguistically diverse
populations that suffer from development challenges in multiethnic,
multicultural societies.
###
* Tuli Dewan is a programme manager for Green Hill (www.greenhill-
cht.org), a non-governmental organisation in the Chittagong Hill Tract
region of Bangladesh. This article was written for the Common Ground
News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org.
Source: Common Ground News Service, 19 August 2008, www.commongroundnews.org
Copyright permission is granted for publication.
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Mahmoud Darwish: a people and a poet
Ibtisam Barakat
Columbia, Missouri - On the afternoon of 9 August, I was getting ready
to give a talk about Palestinian olive trees to a gathering of authors
and thinkers at Keystone College in Pennsylvania. For the title of the
presentation, I cracked the word olive in two, and turned it into O'
Live! But death mocked me.
Shortly before I left my room for the talk, the phone rang. It was my
friend, musician Saed Muhssin, calling me from San Francisco. His
voice was deep like a valley, barely climbing up to speak: "Have you
heard?" he asked. "This is hard news", he warned. "Mahmoud Darwish
died today."
My mind cried. My heart ached with all of the unhealed Palestinian
losses that are recalled with each new loss – losses Darwish made sure
to record in his poetry. "I belong there. I have many memories",
Darwish wrote. Memories that he recorded in at least 30 books of
poetry and prose, translated into at least 20 languages.
He was born in 1941, and published his first book of poetry before he
was 20-years-old. For over four decades, Palestinian and Arab poets
were inspired by him, referred to him, imitated him, debated over his
poetry.
Saed and I belong to Generation M, an identity we invented several
years ago. I grew up on the West Bank under Israeli occupation and
Saed was an Israeli citizen. Both of us Palestinian, we had completely
different lives. But underneath, we shared a similar deprivation, a
hunger for freedom, for a more beautiful world. We filled our hunger
with the poetry of Mahmoud Darwish, and we called ourselves Generation
M.
In the absence of home, Darwish turned language into a spacious tent –
for us and for all who needed a home. He turned yearning into a
meeting place. Those in exile could meet our mothers through his
mother – whom he hadn't seen for many years – when he wailed:
I yearn for the bread my mother bakes
I ache for my mother's coffee.
And her touch.
He used the Arabic word ahennu for yearn, which means a yearning
filled with affection. It's a word that wakes up a thousand feelings
at once, with the hint of a desperate impatience.
In 1982, he wrote "lasta wahdaka" – you are not alone, for Yasser
Arafat when the Palestinians were driven out of Beirut. Darwish said
it also to everyone on Earth, anyone who was forced out into exile for
the nth time.
And his question: "Where should the birds fly after the last sky?"
made me invent an endless number of new skies, stacked like mattresses
for the refugees of Earth.
Darwish, the name in Arabic means a pure, spiritual wandering man, was
precisely that for us. He moved between skies and across borders –
between Palestine, Israel, Russia, France, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, and
other countries. Wherever he was, words in his hands were a magic lamp
that set free the genie of the Arabic language. He knew the heart of
the Palestinians. He knew that they had only one wish for the genie,
one yearning request of their language – "home."
As seen in his language and poetry, Darwish had a vision and passion
for achieving justice. He helped in writing Arafat's famous address to
the United Nations General Assembly in 1974 in which Arafat pleaded
with the world by repeating three times, "La tusqeto al-ghusna al-
akhdar min yadee" – don't let the green branch fall from my hands.
In 1988, Darwish drafted the Palestinian declaration of independence
in which he said that peace is achievable with a two-state solution –
one Palestinian, one Jewish. He wrote that peace is possible "on the
land of love and peace".
Inspired by the vision of reconciliation, he emphasised that Palestine
would be a society that thrives on human rights, equality, democracy,
representation, social responsibility, and complete respect for all,
especially women and people of different faiths.
At one of Darwish's last performances, in July 2008, the audience in
Ramallah received him as though they suspected it might be the last
time they would see him. They stood up like the fragrant spruce trees
he often plants in his poetry. "Think of others", he told them.
As you prepare your breakfast – think of others. Don't forget to feed
the pigeons. As you conduct your wars – think of others. Don't forget
those who want peace. As you pay your water bill – think of others.
Think of those who only have clouds to drink from. As you go home,
your own home – think of others – don't forget those who live in
tents. As you sleep and count the planets, think of others – there are
people who have no place to sleep. As you liberate yourself with
metaphors, think of others – those who have lost their right to speak.
And as you think of distant others – think of yourself and say, "I
wish I were a candle in the darkness."
Speaking openly about death, he had confessed to Al-Hayat, the Arab
newspaper: "I am no longer afraid of death. I used to be afraid of it.
But now I only fear the death of my ability to write and my ability to
taste life."
Continuing to wrestle with his art, he wrote, "I thought poetry could
change everything, could change history and could humanise…. Now I
think that poetry changes only the poet."
Dear Mahmoud Darwish, your poetry changed me.
###
* Ibtisam Barakat (www.ibtisambarakat.com) is the author of Tasting
the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007) and
founder of Write Your Life seminars which encourage people to find
their voice. This article was written for the Common Ground News
Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org.
Source: Common Ground News Service, 19 August 2008, www.commongroundnews.org
Copyright permission is granted for publication.
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~Youth Views~ Making a home in a foreign land
Saher A. Ashary and Meryem Maaroufi
Sharjah, UAE/Ifrane, Morocco - Global communication in the 21st
century has reduced the distance between people from different
cultures and regions, and immigration has brought people from
different civilisations closer to one another. Yet, diverse
ideologies, value systems and religious beliefs held by people sharing
the same physical space often result in divergent views on how
individuals should behave and the extent to which each group is able
to participate in society.
Tension between a country's native and immigrant populations is most
pronounced in Europe, especially when it comes to Arab-European
relations. Arabs and Europeans both hail from established
civilisations with strong but different value systems formed by
centuries of time-honoured religious beliefs and social habits.
An unwillingness to change on both sides has led to social
polarisation. According to Harvard University scholar, Jocelyn Cesari,
Arab immigrants in Europe have had a difficult time fitting into
society; they have the highest unemployment rates of all minorities,
and the greatest tendency to live segregated lives in the poorest
neighbourhoods. The implications of this polarisation were apparent in
the 2005 riots in France.
Examples of such schisms exist throughout the United States as well
but, overall, the United States has been much more accepting of new
cultures, partly due to its relative youth as a nation, and partially
because it accepts a smaller number of Arab immigrants, roughly four
times less than the approximately five million Arabs living in Europe.
This smaller group tends to stem from a wealthier, more educated
segment of society.
On average, Arab Americans do not live in ghettos and enjoy a richer
lifestyle, both financially, and in terms of quality of living.
According to data collected in 2000 by the US Census Bureau, they
appear to be better able and willing to take advantage of US
educational opportunities: 41 percent are college graduates, compared
to the 24 percent of the American population as a whole with college
degrees.
Their education and hard work pays off. The average income of an Arab
American family is $52,300, 4.6 percent higher than the national
average, giving this segment of society employment and lifestyle
opportunities and removing some of the burdens of unemployment and
segregation faced by their European counterparts.
However the events of 9/11 have hampered this progress. Now, the terms
Arab and Muslim (often used incorrectly as synonymous with one
another) are increasingly being associated with terrorism, extremism
and barbarism. Terrorist attacks, perpetrated in the name of Islam,
continue to fuel Western suspicion of anything Arab or Muslim.
In this age of increased communication, all societies, cultures and
social groups must find ways to understand each other in order to live
in peace and harmony. These are simple words, but require tremendous
commitment and efforts on the part of each of us.
Thankfully, individuals are rising to the challenge.
Many Arab-Americans are trying to explain their culture and religion
to Americans because of the backlash following the 9/11 attacks. For
example, an Arab man, Mehdi El-Afifi of Teaneck, New Jersey was
driving his daughter and her friends home on the morning of the 9/11
attacks when a woman began pointing her finger at the girls inside.
She yelled, "Take off your headscarves!"
Following this incident, Mehdi El-Afifi, along with his fellow
community members, began a series of talks explaining Islam and the
Arab world across New York and New Jersey. Together they visited
churches, synagogues, schools, women's organisations and youth clubs.
They raised awareness of their cultural differences, destroyed
negative stereotypes in the process, and showed that Arab and Muslim
Americans are not terrorists who want to bomb the country.
Individuals like these help bridge the gulf between citizens sharing
the same geographic territory. But more people must be involved;
today, a conscious effort is required not just from members of civil
society, but also from politicians, historians, and religious leaders.
Such examples as this could prevent further polarisation from
occurring around the world, especially in our global and
technologically-linked society where the power of improved
communication and interconnectedness enable us to learn from one
another's examples.
###
* Saher A. Ashary is a junior at the American University of Sharjah,
majoring in international relations. Meryem Maaroufi is also a junior
at Al Akhawayn University, majoring in international studies. This
article was written for the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and
can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org.
Source: Common Ground News Service, 19 August 2008, www.commongroundnews.org
Copyright permission is granted for publication.
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Free speech is a two-way street
Shahed Amanullah
Austin, Texas - Back in 1989, when the publication of Salman Rushdie's
novel The Satanic Verses sparked a new phenomenon of protests from
Muslims – particularly by those in the West – I was a student body
senator at the University of California at Berkeley, where the Free
Speech Movement was born in the 1960s. Two bookstores were firebombed
– apparently in retaliation for the book, though without any claims of
responsibility.
Along with several other Muslim students, I appeared on local
television to denounce the bombings and state our belief that while
Muslims could understandably be offended, no one had the right to
impose censorship or intimidate others with threats to their safety or
property.
That situation put us in the unique position of being targets of abuse
by Muslims and non-Muslims alike, who either painted us as
whitewashing a desire to impose our beliefs on others (this from the
public in general) or apologising for a legitimate Muslim rage,
regardless of whether it had crossed the line into violence (this from
fellow Muslims). It was a paradox that has repeated itself many times
in the 20 years since, most recently with the Danish cartoons and the
violent reactions that some Muslims around the world had to them.
Some of the more abrasive encounters between Muslims and others during
this time have not centred around politics or foreign policy, but
rather in this arena of free expression. Muslims have naturally taken
exception to the way their faith has been portrayed by some artists,
writers, and academics.
Non-Muslims have, in turn, criticised some books by Muslims that are
offensive, along with the institutions that sell them (as have we,
incidentally). In both cases, people often talk at and over each other
rather than to each other. Ideas are not exchanged, and the cycle
continues unabated.
So why do Muslims appear to be so sensitive about what the media says
about them?
Muslims have generally felt embattled during the past few decades as
their media image becomes increasingly unrepresentative of the average
Muslim. As they struggle against this imagery, they are told that the
pre-requisite for changing it is for them to meaningfully change the
behaviour of extremist Muslims, who exist far outside their sphere of
influence – often a half a world away.
Muslims in this position feel they have no other choice but to push
back harder against portrayals that are insulting or misrepresenting.
Some, unfortunately, push too far. But Muslims aren't alone in this.
Voices that seek to marginalise the presence of Muslims in public
discourse routinely do the same.
Two recent examples illustrate this: the attempts by New York
congressman Peter King and others to have "Why Islam" ads banned from
New York City subways (based only on the reputation of an external
supporter of these ads); and calls by some to prevent publication of
the forthcoming book, Jewel of Medina. Neither effort has succeeded in
effectively dealing with controversy, which will remain dormant only
to reappear another day.
Watching this exchange over time has taught me that the best response
to free speech is simply more speech in return. Anyone should have the
right to publish whatever he or she wants about Islam or Muslims –
even if their views are offensive – without fear of censorship or
retribution.
Muslims, however, shouldn't be expected to be passive consumers of
these views. An offended Muslim has the right – indeed, the
responsibility – to vigorously critique anything written about them or
their religion, provided they do not cross the line into intimidation
and coercion. In an ideal world, both parties would open their minds
enough to understand the other point of view.
Getting people on both sides of this equation to follow these
guidelines will take a lot of reconditioning. But the alternative, a
hyper-sensitive Muslim community that is unable to constructively
respond to external criticism (or internal criticism, for that
matter), coupled with a journalistic/artistic/secular community that
feels genuine fear and is prevented from free expression – cannot be
an option. We are witnessing today the stagnation and increased
misunderstanding that comes from a stifled discourse.
Ultimately, no one has the absolute right not to be offended, nor does
anyone have the right to live without the uncomfortable opinions of
others. This is true whether it concerns flag burning (which should
harm nothing other than a piece of cloth) or non-Muslim views of the
Prophet Muhammad (which should not have an impact on a Muslim's
sincere belief). Religion and a universal sense of civility both
dictate that emotions be kept in check to preserve social order. In
such an environment, the freedom to speak openly – and all the
benefits that come from it – can flourish.
To move forward, we all need to develop thicker skins, more open
minds, and a common understanding of the principles of free speech,
such as those that influenced me as a student and allowed me to
subsequently influence others. Only then will everyone – Muslim and
non-Muslim – be able to progress their societies and simultaneously
preserve their rights.
###
* Shahed Amanullah is editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com. This article
is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be
accessed at www.commongroundnews.org.
Source: altmuslim.com, 7 August 2008, www.altmuslim.com
Copyright permission is granted for publication.
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