‘Switching Souls’ by Naima Nas, Egypt

We could spend another 100 years discussing, debating and dying over the right to the Holy Land. The question remains: who has the right to do what with it? What is it we actually want from it? Is it access? Control? A trophy? Or is it justplain victory confirmed on a written ownership document? With every passing day, the need for brutal honesty increases. And brutal it must be because brutal is all we have left. Thedeaths of the innocent and the guilty alike are brutal and unnecessary. Yes, unnecessary!

From an online book discussing this painful topic… “The trouble with sudden changes in procedures is: they contradict all the usual expectations – even when they are accompanied with a detailed and convincing manual.” I never got the manual. I did not even get the memo! No one did. It remains archived with our nation’s top secrets. It says ”the father of every Arabic nation fancied himself as reincarnation of SalahElDin, the great Muslim warrior who unified the [Islamic nation] against the undeniable danger of the Crusades. Imperialism was the bastard offspring of the Crusades, and Zionism is the devil child of both.” Who can resist that? It filtered like distilled poison to the men of God who seized it as the only safe route to resistance without incurring the wrath of the ruthless leaders.”(Switching Souls, 45)

Does it really matter what color the flag is at the entrance of a town, if everyone living in it is living? Isit really worth the endless pain and suffering? Is it? How much longer is every wannabe Salahudin going to “bravely” declare that he is willing to sacrifice the last life under his control – providing it is not his own of course! How long? How long are our children going to have to sacrifice their innocence, our mothers their children and our fathers everything? How long?

No, it was not right for an Imperial master to slice up a piece of land that was not his and offer it to others. Yes, it was an Arab land- predominantly- therefore the final decision to share it was ours. No, we did not handle the whole thing expertly and yes, we made too many mistakes. That is really the only summary of any use. So what now?

The choices are not plenty I am afraid. In fact there are only two options. Live together, somehow. Or, die together with the rest of the region, possibly more of the world we have now dragged into this mess. That is really it if we are honest. Because elevating the fight for the Holy Land to a sacred duty has stripped the sacred of its sanctity. It has desecrated the holy and demonized everything along the way.

Arabs (Muslim or not) and Jews(Zionist or not) have a choice to make and they better make it fast. Bury the hatchet and join forces to become the next super power, a power this planet has never seen a parallel to, or bring on the apocalypse in fast forward speed. Make a choice, make it now, otherwise … may God have mercy on us all. Mercy I am no longer sure any of us deserves.

Naima,

YaLa Young Leaders