Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will recount it to thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee. (Deuteronomy 32:7)
This organization shall be known as HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF JEWS FROM EGYPT, and not of Egypt or of Egyptian Jews, but FROM EGYPT
RENDESVOUS With Prof ADA AHARONI
A MUSLIM JOURNALIST INTERVIEWS PEACE WRITER PROFESSOR ADA AHARONI
Interview by: Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury
Professor Ada Aharoni, writer, poet, playwright and lecturer has kindly accorded an exclusive interview to Weekly Blitz. It was a great honor for our newspaper to interview such a celebrated personality with international repute whose works are highly appreciated and acclaimed by scholars, philosophers, writers and journalists around the globe. Born in Cairo, Egypt, she has published 25 books to date that have won her international acclaim. She writes in English, French and Hebrew, and her works have been translated into several languages. Believing in the power of the word, she is confident that literature and culture can help to heal the urgent ailments of our global village, such as was and conflict. The themes of love, reconciliation, coexistence and peace, are therefore major ones throughout her various works.
Prof Aharoni has been awarded several international prizes and awards and she has been nominated as a candidate for the Nobel Prize in 2003.
Presently she is running a number of social organizations the major one of which is IFLAC, which she founded in 1999 (the International Forum for the Literature and Culture of Peace). We proudly present the excerpts of her interview:
A MUSLIM JOURNALIST INTERVIEWS PEACE WRITER PROFESSOR ADA AHARONI
Congratulations for being named candidate for the Nobel Prize. Your main mission is the establishment of peace through bridges of culture. What about the issues of religious harmony and peaceful co-existence?
A: Thank you very much for your congratulations. I was very surprised when I was nominated by Michael Holmboe from Norway, and by the HSJE in New York, but of course quite pleased.
I very much believe in the power of culture, literature and words, in building harmonious bridges of understanding between people and nations, and also between religions. Religion is an integral part of culture, and if we want to create peace and harmony between people we have to take into account and address the needs of their various beliefs and religions.
Q: What was the driving force, which led you to the establishment of IFLAC?
A: The driving force was the absurdity of war. Every war ends with an Agreement or a Peace Treaty, why do we have to kill our sons before we reach the Agreement? I was deeply influenced as a child at the Alvernia English School in Egypt, by the poetry of the British peace poet Wilfred Owen, who denounced war and wanted to abolish it through his poetry. I was so moved by his poems that since then I became a peace activist through writing. Later, I decided because I was so moved by peace poetry, others would be too, and I decided to found an association to attempt to banish the whole concept and practice of war through literature, culture and communication, at the beginning (1977), it was called "The Bridge," later it became "Friends of Literature" (1985), and in 1999, I founded IFLAC: The International Forum for the Literature and Culture of Peace.
Q: The Conflict in the Middle East, and more particularly the tragic murders and destruction of properties are very common in both Israel and Palestine. Although the peace process is on, but it seems that the process is being always unexpectedly halted and interrupted by a third force. Would you kindly elaborate on this?
A. It is not only a matter of property which is being destroyed, but something much more precious than that - human lives! There is really no need for so much hatred and violence, as the Palestinian State could have been established already in 1948, as the UN suggested then that there would be two States: Israel and Palestine. The Israelis accepted, but the Palestinians refused, and there have been so many wars and bloodshed since! Today both sides are fighting again for what they can have without bloodshed.
Q: As a scholar and writer of high repute, how do you evaluate the best possible ways of ending the conflicting situation?
A: The best solution is the TWO STATES solution: Israel and Palestine living harmoniously side by side. What should be done now to get to that is to listen to Mr. Abu Mazen, the Head of the Palestinian government who has severely condemned the Suicide Bombings, and to listen to organizations like IFLAC that has appealed to the UN and to the Governments of the World to start urgent campaigns against the glorification of the "shahid - the suicide bomber", and to severely condemn suicide bombings as an act against humanity. The Palestinian - Israeli Conflict is affecting the whole world, and should be resolved as soon as possible. The stopping of those atrocious suicide bombings would give a chance for the peace negotiations to go on and for the conflict to be resolved at the satisfaction of both sides.
Q: Leaders of the European Community and the United States have forecasted that Israel will be recognized by most of the Muslim States by 2004. At this juncture, do you think the people of Israel are ready to welcome and accommodate foreigners?
A:I hope they are right and that Israel would indeed be recognized by most of the Muslim countries. Israel already has a Peace Treaty and full recognition with Egypt and Jordan, and by all the non Muslim countries. 20% of the Israeli population are Palestinians, most of them Muslims. Israel receives and welcomes tourists from the whole world. If a foreigner would like to become an Israeli, like in every other country, he should make a demand and wait a couple of years until his demand is accepted.
If you are asking about the return of the Palestinian refugees to Israel, this is another question. In 1948, when the State of Israel was established, 650,000 Palestinians fled, mostly to Lebanon, and there they have been kept in camps in the most dire conditions, without being allowed to work or to build houses for 3 generations. These poor Palestinians have suffered a great deal for three generations, and when the State of Palestine is established, in Gaza and the West Bank, they could choose to go there. However, there is no question that they can be allowed to return to Israel. They have now become more than 3 million people, since then, and if they are allowed to come back to Israel, it would mean the destruction of Israel, which just has a population of 5 and a half million, including the one million Palestinian Israelis. Israel and the US and the European Community are ready to compensate the Palestinian refugees for what they left behind when they fled, but in no way can they allow them to return to what does not exist anymore, after 55 years.
return to what does not exist anymore, after 55 years.
There were more Jews from the Arab countries who were thrown out or fled starting in 1948.
A million Jews from the Arab countries then, were forced to flee with just their shirts on their backs (like me and my family from Egypt). The property of the Jews from the Arab countries like Iraq, Egypt, Syria and Lebanon, was thousands of times more than what the Palestinians left behind in Israel when they fled.
If the Arab nations want indeed to help their Palestinian brothers and sisters, instead of sending them arms to kill, they should free the assets and property of the Jews from Arab countries which are still in Arab banks, and put it at the disposal of the Palestinian refugees so that they can remake their lives and be normal citizens again in the land of Palestine, which we hope will be established soon. Seventy five percent of Israelis are for the establishment of the State of Palestine as a neighbor to the State of Israel and living on good terms with each other and flourishing together. If the suicide bombings would be stopped at once this could be arrived at quite soon. Q: How do you look into religious extremism and using of religion as a mask to justify crimes like murdering of innocent people, destruction of property and many unkind activities?
Q: Writers, poets, journalists and scholars are the best ambassadors of the various nations. Since you are residing in Israel, what role are you playing presently as ambassador of the people of Israel for building a bridge of understanding and trust with other countries especially the Muslim states?
This is a large question. One third of the members of IFLAC are Muslims, and when people abroad learn about that, it is already a step forward. We have some IFLAC branches in various Arab villages, and all our literary and cultural activities are performed together. This year our annual IFLAC Conference is in Turkey (in October 2003), which is of course a Muslim State, and together with my Turkish counterpart, Dr. Husamettin Olgun, we have arranged the whole program, which includes several Muslim speakers, such as ambassador Safwat Ayoub from Egypt, Palestinian Ibtesam Mahameed from Israel, speakers from Indonesia, India, Pakistan, and of course several Muslim Turkish speakers.
In addition, as Vice President of the Hebrew Writers' Association, and Head of its Foreign Committee, I am organizing a conference of Egyptian, Jordanian and Israeli writers in Tel Aviv and Haifa, as well as in the Druze village of Dahlia, in Israel, in December 2003. I am confident, as you say, that because writers are the best ambassadors of their own culture, we will be able to create strong bridges of understanding and harmony at this innovative conference.
between Muslims and Jews, and the recognition of Israel by all the Arab States. I hope Bangladesh will be the next State to recognize Israel, and that we will have diplomatic relations between our two countries established soon. I also hope the Weekly Blitz will continue to be a brave and courageous ambassador in bringing the true pictures of Israel and the strong yearning for peace by both the majority of the Israelis and the majority of the Palestinians, to the whole of the Muslim world and to the whole of our global village.
FOR MORE INFORMATION YOU ARE INVITED TO VISIT THE WEBSITES BELOW.*********************************************************************
Prof. Ada Aharoni President IFLAC: International Forum for Literature and Culture Conflict Resolution. P.O.B: 9934 Haifa, Israel 34341
972-4-8243230
Homepage: http://ada.up.co.il
Books: http://books-ada.up.co.il
Hebrew: http://ada-books.up.co.il
IFLAC: http://iflac.up.co.il
NEW HORIZON:
Online IFLAC Magazine, and LIRIT http://New-Horizon.up.co.il
JAC- Research and Stories on Jews from Arab Countries -
http://jac.up.co.il
Join the Global IFLAC Forum for the Culture of Peace
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IFLAC_USA/
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