However, before we share this blog post along with an emotional rant on how all Israelis bigots, perhaps it is a good opportunity for us to look into our hearts and ask ourselves: "Am I any different than the people making these hateful statements?"
I find it amusing how many Arabs rush to highlight the racist acts performed by Israelis or how they are often misrepresented in mainstream media while many citizens in Arab countries mistreat Filipinos, Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Blacks, and even people from other Arab countries. And yes, the occurrences of these mistreatments are not limited to only gulf countries. I am not suggesting that these hate crimes should not be brought into light, but it is certainly hypocritical of us to act like we are not guilty of it ourselves, at least to some extent. Perhaps we should first focus on what is in our control, our actions, before expecting other people to correct their actions.
This also brought me to another concern. The more I observe the reaction towards hate crimes, the more I realize how distorted our definition of justice can become. Now this is not a story about a hate crime but at one point in your life, you might have encountered the following scenario:
Person A of racial group X is upset because person B of racial group Y had done wrong taken person A's rights.
Swarms of people from racial minority group Y gather to proudly defend person B while choosing to be oblivious to the crime that was committed.
I know that this oversimplifies a story that may include racial group Y constantly being discriminated by some members from racial group X which causes a stir of emotions and resentment but that is never an excuse to do wrong. It just causes everyone to sink equally lower in terms of morality. I do believe in standing up for your brother in need and supporting him but maybe our definition of support needs revision. This is what I believe to be the correct definition of support:
Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) said, "Help your brother, whether he is an oppressor or he is an oppressed one." People asked, "O Prophet of Allah, it is all right to help him if he is oppressed, but how should we help him if he is an oppressor?" The Prophet said, "By preventing him from oppressing others." - (Bukhari)While this may seem like common sense to most of us, it is rarely acted upon. Maybe our pride gets in the way. Maybe its because love for our brother can sometimes blind us. But guess what? We are human beings before we are Canadians, Chinese, Palestinians, Indians, and so on. Be a proud human being and love your brother. It is time for us to reflect on our own actions before expecting anything from others.
"Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves." (Quran:13:11)It is also time for us to teach our children the true definition of justice and fairness and not to confuse it with racial or national pride. The road map to a better world requires to love one another as human beings and to stand up for the oppressed no matter who they are.
