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By
Mr. Khaled Nusseibeh
There
are moments in the annals of human history when nations face,
sometimes willfully-- at others under compulsion-- the bitter
burdens of conflict. Each nation, in the ebb and flow of historical
movement, has had a taste of both triumph as well as defeat. At each
moment of such conflict individuals and states have grappled with
the imperatives of an ethic of conduct, or have at other times been,
to grave consequence, oblivious to the importance of a moral premise
for behavior in times of war.
The
modern world has, in this closing century of the second millenium,
been profoundly shaken by the brutalities of modern warfare, the
extent of which brutality and suffering has been unmatched in the
preceding millennia of human civilization. The two world wars, the
camps of incarceration of the Stalinist Soviet Union, Nazi Germany--
and the multiple conflicts of this century have visited on both
innocent and culpable life a heavy toll of suffering and death;
likewise, the unfolding conflicts in Palestine, Iraq, Lebanon, and
the Balkans have entailed a saga of oppression, the unethical
targeting of innocents, the expropriation of legitimately acquired
wealth and substantial abuses of human rights.
When
children are targets of war, when the honor of women and men is a
weapon in the arsenal of foes of dimmed moral vision, when the
rights of civilian populations under military occupation are
violated men and women of sense must pose the question: is there a
code that can prevent human descent into the code of the jungle
under conditions of conflict? Or have those participating in current
conflicts forgotten the lessons of previous wars, or can’t they be
awakened to a code of conduct, adherence to which, may be disaster
preventive for future generations?
To
speak in simple terms: there are ground rules for peaceful
co-existence between states which may be enhanced when basic and
politically tolerable restraint is shown by politicians and military
personnel of all ranks in times of conflict. In other words, ethnic
cleansing, attempting to starve a portion of a civilian population
as a weapon of battle, rape of women, destruction of vital food
crops, violence against children, plunder of the private property of
a population under occupation, and degrading treatment of prisoners
of war, all contribute to writing the following chapter of human
conflict and suffering.
Islam
has an ethic of conflict which is both humane, reasonable, and
merciful to protagonists in a conflict: Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq, the
first Caliph of Islam, captured an important part of this ethic in
these words which he addressed to his troops in A.D. seventh
century:
“O
people, be alerted to ten matters, so learn them from me; do not
betray.., do not cheat, do not defile dead corpses, do not kill a
small child, or an aged man, nor a woman, do not cut or burn trees
of palm, do not cut a fruit bearing tree, do not slaughter a sheep
or a cow or a camel except for your nourishment; and you will
encounter people who are dwellers of cloisters (i.e. monks and
priests) so do not harm them…" (Quoted from:
Mawsu’t Al-‘Alam Al-Islami/’Umar Al-Armuti, pp.205)
All of
the preceding, in my view is relevant to the issue of Jerusalem
which the One God of humanity has sanctified and blessed as the land
of peace, holiness, and human surrender to Heaven. Such blessing is
anchored in human striving to accept the races of earth, to build
monuments of equity and tolerance, to defend what is inviolable in
God’s Law, to water the plant of human glorification of God Almighty
through deeds which do justice to an orphan, which support a
righteous struggle to prevent the bulldozing of a home, which spread
knowledge that is useful to people in their livelihoods-- but which
also helps people in their struggles for salvation in the hereafter.
It is
very often a paradox that perpetrators of injustice and its victims
are sometimes driven, through the blinding influence of power, or
the sense of grievance at victimization-- to unethical methods and
views of struggle. In a word, any struggle that is injurious to
Religion, property, inviolable life, the dignity of people, the
integrity of the family is reprehensible-- under circumstances of
both military preponderance or under conditions of occupation;
Muslims and people of goodwill will continue mourning the occupation
of the Holy City of Jerusalem and will hopefully, continue to reform
themselves and to strive that it is restored to righteous and
tolerant sovereignty.
June 5, 1999
Mr.
Khaled Nusseibeh is a translator and writer. He currently manages
the Ubada Center for Writing and Translation Services in Amman. Born
in Amman in 1961, he obtained his BA and MA from Columbia and
Princeton Universities, respectively. Mr. Nusseibeh, who originates
from Jerusalem, specialized in Near Eastern Studies with a focus on
Islamic thought and studies.
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