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Your letters - posted July 1, 2007 (Part 1)

Posted in Q & A on Jul 01, 2007

Posted July 1, 2007

My peeps: This is the second in my three-part series paying tribute to Arab free-thinkers. With Hamas ruling Gaza and Iran empowering radicals all around Israel and Palestine, the West Bank hangs in the balance. Imagine the pressure on Muslims there to clam up and conform.All the more reason I’m privileged to bring you the voice of “Dalia,” a young Palestinian who hopes to screen my film, Faith Without Fear, in the West Bank later this year. She’s the first to call for an end to the occupation. Yes, she tells me, illegal Jewish settlements must be dismantled. But so must Arab tribal traditions. Yes, she says, checkpoints and curfews are dehumanizing. But so are honor crimes. Yes, the security wall sucks. But so do the suicide bombers.Read this letter from Dalia. It’s about having higher expectations of ourselves and our families. To some, that’s betrayal of the community. To me, that’s faith in humanity.

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“Irshad, I’m 21 years old… I live in the West Bank… I think… And I’m honest with myself. A few days ago an online friend from the UK told me about ur book. I did check the web and downloaded the Arabic version e-book and also downloaded ur documentary ‘Faith Without Fear’ and watched it last night… I was happy because finally someone spoke up and said a true word…Here in Palestine I’m accused [of] so many different things… very much like what u r accused of… being mossad or zionist and faithless. My dad thinks I’m buddhist too!!!!! Wow wow wow wow…I was hit and shut up and abused by my own family because I think in a different way… Two years ago I escaped from home trying to get somewhere else where I can have some free space to think and talk to people… My try failed and they brought me back home through their relations with people in our great government and intelligence system…

The house was very much like a volcano at that time… They thought I went out of my mind… Or a “genni” was inside of me… And so my dad wanted to burn my books and threatened to kill me on many occasions… At that point I realized that talking to them was in vain and I decided to keep silent and think on my own…

Now I’m a Muslim with a universal point of view… Afraid to speak up but waiting for the right chance to break through… And this chance may be very close as I’m willing to go to US for my graduate studies… Of course my family refuse now because I’m supposed to get married and start a family with someone I don’t even know…

But I’m not willing to live in silence forever because I believe that Muslims and Islam need us… Need us to talk and write and tell the truth… Take care and keep speaking. Love to u.” - Dalia (not her real name)

Irshad replies: I’m deeply sorry that you’ve suffered so much hardship at the hands of your family. But judging by your letter, you seem to have retained all of your dignity. You remind me of what Eleanor Roosevelt once said: nobody can take away your dignity without your permission.Meanwhile, Dalia, you can express yourself freely and safely on Project Ijtihad’s MySpace page. Check out the debates already raging on it. We welcome your voice. If you continue being ostracized by your family, consider Project Ijtihad your other family. Let’s have some spirited dinner table conversations - without fear of rejection.