(First Published in The Weekly Blitz, Bangladesh)

 

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 has founded in 1999 (the International Forum for the Literature and Culture of Peace). We proudly present the excerpts of her interview:

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Q: 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 is very common both in 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 has been so many wars and bloodshed since! Today both sides are fighting again for what they can have without bloodshed. The suicide bombers (shahidim) sent by extremist and fanatic groups, mainly the Hamas and Jihad, to blow up innocent people, children and babies on buses, are making it very difficult to continue the peace process. After every suicide attack there are retaliations by Israel, and then another suicide bomber is sent to create more horrendous havoc and thus the tragedy on both sides continues.

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 Moslem countries. Israel already has a Peace Treaty and full recognition with Egypt and Jordan, and by all the non-Moslem countries. 20% of the Israeli population are Palestinians, most of them Moslems. 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.

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 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 per cent 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?

A: Religions are supposed to make people accept and love each other and be kind toward one another, to have good values and do good deeds. The religious extremists do just the contrary, they are intransigent and violent, and they want everybody to believe in what they believe and conduct their lives the way they do. And if people see things differently, they are called "infidels" and are a target of violence and death, imposed by those fanatic murderers. The whole idea of feeding young minds with promises that if they kill themselves as "shahidim" they would go to heaven, and ravish 72 maidens, is so atrocious, that it should be strongly condemned by every sane human being. The truth is they will go straight to hell, for in every religion killing is a sin. I have written a poem about one aspect of this atrocious behaviour which is a sin against humanity, and here it is:

 

TO A SUICIDE BOMBER

Deluded, brainwashed suicide bomber
they lied to you
when they brainwashed you
with sleek murderous words
in their stupendous "shahid" washing machines
where they only wash young brains like yours
with bomb-flamed slogans
and rat poison soap-suds

They lied to you when they told you -
you will surely go to heaven and ravish 72 young maidens
when you courageously blow yourself up,
and kill many, many innocent people -
they lied to you

and you did not have the courage
to ask them: "if so,
why don't you go?"

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?

A: This is a large question. One third of the members of IFLAC are Moslems, 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 Moslem State, and together with my Turkish counterpart, Dr. Husamettin Olgun, we have arranged the whole program, which includes several Moslem speakers, such as ambassador Safwat Ayoub from Egypt, Palestinian Ibtesam Mahameed from Israel, speakers from Indonesia, India, Pakistan, and of course several Moslem 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.

Q: Leaders of a number of the Muslim countries are now considering to accord recognition to Israel. How do you look at it?

A: It would be very welcome if all the Arab countries would recognize Israel, after its 55 years of existence, just as Egypt and Jordan. If we had peace in our region we could together turn the whole of the Middle East into a Switzerland! All the tremendous amounts of money and assets that have gone into arms and killings could now go into education, workplaces, and better living conditions for all.

Q: Media has a great role to play in establishing peace in the Middle East and in ending the conflicts between Israel and the rest of the Arab world in particular, and the whole of the world in general. But, in most of the cases, the media did not play its due role. What do you think about this?

A: I think you are certainly right. The media is sometimes biased and does not show the true picture from the field. For instance, why are we only shown killings and attacks, and never shown Jews and Moslems, like at IFLAC, reading peace poetry together, celebrating Ramadan and Hanouka together, going on outings with their families together? It was high time the media decided to cover normality and not only "sensational" murders and attacks. The media has to realise that "peace" is newsworthy, and give us a strong hand in building the peace between Israelis and the Palestinians, and the Moslem world, and in ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Q: Being born in a Muslim dominated country, do you feel that Muslims in general are extremists and fanatics?

A: Not at all. I think that extremists and fanatics are a small minority. However, unfortunately, they are a very loud minority and make themselves heard and felt through their violent actions. The silent majority has to take the upper hand and to oppose such nefarious extremism which is causing so much harm to the majority of the Palestinians and the Moslems. I have always had Moslem friends and they follow all the good values of Islam, including the crucial Sura from the Koran: "He who walks in peace - walk with him." The Israelis together with the true Moslems can indeed hand in hand help to solve the Israeli-Arab conflict. After all, Isaac and Ishamael were brothers, and both the sons of Abraham. The two brothers should by now embrace each other instead of killing each other.

Q: In most of your poems, we feel different fragrances of certain of your messages to mankind. Your poetry is as magical as your celebrated life. As a poet, what was your immediate reaction during the recent bomb blast in Baghdad and Jerusalem, which killed a number of innocent people?

A: Thank you very much for your warm words of appreciation of my poetry, I do not know if I deserve them. As a reaction to the recent bomb blast in Baghdad and Jerusalem, which killed 20 UN workers in Baghdad, and 19 in Jerusalem, mostly children and babies - I wrote an APPEAL to the Secretary General of the UN, Mr. Kofi Annan and to the governments of the world, to start an urgent and powerful campaign against the glorifiction of the shahid suicide bomber. I have not written any poems about this incident yet, it is too terrible to put in words.

Q: Would you kindly comment on the contribution of Weekly Blitz to the peace process, and do you have any message for the people of Bangladesh?

A: I deeply thank the Weekly Blitz, and its chief editor, for its brave stand and commitment to peace in the Middle East, and especially for its admonishment of Peace between Moslems 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 picture 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 Moslem world and to the whole of our global village.