Irshad Manji (credit: Christinne Muschi/NYT)When you’ve been in the Mideast peace movement for as long as I’ve been and you’re Jewish there are certain ‘old saws’ that you hear over and over. A Jewish hawk will give you grudging respect and then take the legs out from under your perspective by saying: “What you’re saying is all well and good…but where are the voices for peace on the Arab side?” as if one can only believe in peace if someone on the other side does too. Of course, it’s better if you have a soulmate on the other side, but if you don’t that shouldn’t stop you from believing in peace.
Anyway, I’m delighted that Clifford Krauss in Saturday’s New York Times profiled a remarkable Canadian Muslim, Irshad Manji in his An Unlikely Promoter of an Islamic Reformation. Although she is a ‘lesbian with spiky hair and a sharp tongue’ and a free thinking intellectual, she also is a Muslim believer who regularly reads the Koran. She has also written a “searing critique of her religion” in her book, The Trouble with Islam: A Wake-Up Call for Reform
Ms. Manji is also a longtime broadcaster and public affairs talk-show host on Canadian TV. But while her listeners may love her (or not–she is known for a sharp tongue), Canadian Muslims don’t necessarily share this affection (as you could readily imagine). Though no fatwas has yet been issued against her, one can imagine that one may be days away if the Iranian ayatollahs read the New York Times looking for Muslim heretics.
I feel a deep sense of kindred spirit with Ms. Manji because anyone who prides themselves on thinking for themselves, but who also wishes to remain within a religious tradition (whether it be Islam or Judaism) walks a fine line between belonging and alienation. I have always thought of myself as someone who yearns to connect with my tradition, but who also often stands apart from it when a critical stance is called for. I feel this in spades as far as the Mideast conflict goes. I have always felt deeply alienated from the American Jewish mainstream consensus (among affiliated Jews at least) that Israel must be supported wrong or right because it is an endangered and threatened nation. This often puts me at loggerheads with the community I’ve chosen to be part of.
So I know something of what Ms. Manji must be going through. I wish her much luck and success in disseminating her views in the Muslim community. They are worthy of deep scrutiny.
If you happen to be a doubter when it comes to the subject of Israeli-Palestinian peace, please don’t ever again ask me where the Muslim peace lovers are. There are multitudes–if you look hard enough.
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