| In the aftermath of 9-11 Muslims in America were charged with addressing the theological interpretations that were used to justify such atrocities. Imams and traditional institutions brushed these interpretations under the rug, claiming it “had nothing to do with Islam,” failing to counter the radical narratives head-on. Why? Because it would have meant speaking out against their own tribe. So MPV stepped up to explain and counter these narratives, despite the vilification by the traditional institutions and death threats. It wasn’t until the reign of terror that ISIS inflicted against Muslims and religious minorities alike that in 2014, Muslim religious leaders issued a theological based condemnation of this ideology. (And by the way, condemnation is easy, but what, if anything, did they actually do to root out radical ideologies in the global Muslim community?) When the Christian Right began their alliance with the Political Right, prominent Christian leaders refused to nip the problem in the bud. Since 2017, they have allowed QAnon to immorally manipulate Christian symbolism, and why not? As long as “we” win the election and “we” get the power to legislate anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ+ laws. Along with my progressive Evangelical friend Doug Paggit, I co-authored an op-ed, “Radicalized Christian nationalism is one of the biggest threats facing the US” detailing the dangers of this alliance. The legislating of “Christian” laws enforced on the rest of the population was a power grab that was a long time in the making. In 2019, Christians started challenging the status quo. Among these groups were progressives like Red Letter Christians, Catholics for Choice and from various denominational backgrounds. When the Hindutva movement began to dominate nearly every sector of Indian society, prominent Hindu organizations and personalities here in the U.S. played it safe, oftentimes outright supporting President Modi and the deep pockets in the tech industry. Countering the radical Hindu theology narrative was Hindus for Human Rights. Now is the time for American Jews to stand up against the gross manipulation of their religion used to justify atrocious human rights violations and war crimes. Holocaust scholars worldwide, including those in Israel, have called the killing, starvation, rape, forced displacement, and violence in Gaza the “G” word - genocide. Jewish Voices for Peace, If Not Now, and Rabbis for Human Rights are conscientious Jewish voices calling out their own tribe. And just like the disdain I received from my fellow Muslims, they too have received an epic amount of contempt, to the point of being called Hamas sympathizers. And yet despite this vitriol, voices of reason, truth, and morality persevere. Rabbi Steven Jacobs painfully recounts how he can’t reconcile the talk about liberation at Passover in the sacred reading “Let all the hungry come and eat,” with “How are we not grieving when millions of people (Palestinians) are starving? I can’t reconcile that, not as a compassionate Jew.” We all have to own up to the twisted versions of our faiths that our respective co-religionists have managed to mainstream. I have. What is it going to take for the Rabbinical religious elites to finally condemn such mass killings in the name of Judaism? As I watch the intentional starvation of Gazans and the increased destruction of homes in the Occupied West Bank, I have to also challenge the homophobic wave we’re experiencing in the U.S. Combining these two causes dear to us, we at MPV are saying “There’s no Pride in Genocide.” Onward and upward… Ani Zonneveld President & Founder of Muslims for Progressive Values |
