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| Ashleigh Werner |
Written by Ashleigh Werner,
an Australian Jew ashleighlsw@gmail.com
Islamophobia. What
does it mean? No, I mean what does it REALLY mean?
I guess the usual
definition that everyone gets is the “dislike of or prejudice against Islam or
Muslims”, and all that jazz, but I mean, what does it mean for our society and
why? For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Ashleigh and I am Jewish.
I am an Australian Jew who has had an incredibly privileged life, and yet, here
I stand, speaking out against Islamophobia, and most would question why. Well,
let me tell you…
To me, Islamophobia is
not just a fear or prejudice towards Muslims, and to me, Islam, is not just its
own religion. It is a representation of every religion, based on monotheism, a
strong sense of ethics and love and cherishing of the things holiest to us.
The past week for me,
has been one of great self-discovery, and even greater worldly discovery. I met
my first Palestinian that was not involved in politics, I had a productive
argument with a human rights activist, and I celebrated Hanukkah with a group
of youth, world leaders from every religion across the world… and I cried.
For those who don’t get this reference… I don’t cry… ever.
My point is this… as
Jews, we live our lives based on 3 moral and ethical teachings – Tzedakah
(Charity), Hessed (Kindness) and Tikkun Olam (Healing the World). Islam teaches similar moral and ethical values – kindness, justice and caring for
others. Christianity and Catholicism preach, again, similar moral and ethical
values – justice, freedom, kindness. SO based on the idea that people hate what
Islam STANDS FOR, technically, hatred against my fellow brothers and sisters of
the Islamic faith, is hatred against both myself, as a Jew, and my brothers and
sisters of Christianity and Catholicism.
But wait… I hear
people saying that they are against radicalisation of Islam. Well, that’s another
point right there. I guess you could say that that is a valid point… except it’s not. An FBI report recently showed that out of all terrorist attacks
perpetrated on American soil between 1980 and 2005, only 6% were from Islamic
extremists.
WHAT?! Yes, even I was shocked by that. Actually, embarrassingly, 7% of terror
attacks in this time period were committed by Extremist Jews, but I have not
heard about a single one of them. Reference
People are failing to
see that terror attacks may not even have any religious backing because people
will hate no matter if they believe a book told them to do so or not. As well
as this, Islam actually teaches, as one of its holy teachings that one must not
kill unjustly. Radicalisation in all forms is not an accurate representation of
what a faith teaches, and people need to see this.
After re-reading all
my facts and writings, I realise that it may sound as if I am angry. I am and
I’m not. It is difficult to be mad at people when they aren’t receiving the
correct information; however it is so frustrating that people are taking what
they hear to be the whole truth and not seeking any facts to back it up. Hating
someone is incredibly frustrating and tiring, and the beauty you miss out on by
blindly hating a people is incredible.
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| Ashleigh Werner |
As a Jew, blind hatred
is something I am, unfortunately, accustomed to, and have been all my life.
Blind hatred is what led to awful atrocities such as the Holocaust. As a Jew,
it is also my responsibility to shed light on unjust situations. This is the
most unjust situation.
After having the
incredible opportunity to actually discuss faith and religion with people from
all faiths and no faith, I have come to this incredible realisation – hatred
against one, is hatred against us all, and rather than demonising the other, we
should be standing in solidarity. Religion came about as a set of moral
teachings in order to monitor wars and hatred… the irony.
As a Jew, I stand in
solidarity, as a human being, I stand strong and refuse to be a part of the
hatred that seems to be taking over the world as fast as the spread of
technology has. As a lover not a hater, I write these words from a place, not
only of love, appreciate and peace, but ironically so, a place of panic and
desperation, as I have seen how far blind hatred can go and do not want to
think about the possibilities of going back there. From me, my Muslim other
halves will not receive hatred, judgement or even intolerance, they will
receive love and overall, they will receive respect for who they are and what
they believe in.
I say all of this,
however I do have to admit that until the past year, this was not something I
even realised myself, even more so in the past week. And it is true what they
say, that dialogue can break down the barriers that society had helped create.
I am extremely thankful to have had the opportunity to
have in depth conversations with some of the most incredible people I have ever
met who have inspired me beyond belief – and these people come from all
different faiths and backgrounds. Sometimes it just takes getting out of your
comfort zone and being uncomfortable to really gain a new perspective, a new
zone and a new friend, two or 100!
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