On Leading, Following, Stopping Harm, and Moderation.

EDIT 26 July 2015: I solidly and publicly condemn the publication of information about MLI Cohort III participants for the purpose of publicly identifying them.  I will never support what I see as stalking. I will continue to support efforts against MLI in other ways - which which bring as little harm as possible to anyone.

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Hearing of the devastatingly bad timing of the third cohort of the Muslim Leadership Initiative and seeing new petitions and articles by Kamal Abu Shamsieh and Dr Omid Safi, I have been applying myself to listen carefully to the voices of Palestinians and their dedicated allies.

The first time that I heard of the Muslim Leadership Initiative was last January, when a flood of articles and Facebook posts filled my Facebook experience. I saw the calls to name and shame the participants and spoke out against them, calling such efforts as potentially dangerous.

Then I learned that close friends of mine were among the first and second cohorts. It suddenly became personal for me. When I saw name and shame advocacy, I saw my friend's faces, imagined them being thus outed, and considered the possible harm and even potential dangers of such a situation.

Then a video surfaced showing the faces of more than a few of the second cohorters. I was on fire. What if something happened to my dear ones on account of this video? And what the heck did people think they were doing, publishing it? I counted the days, even the hours, until everyone was home, safely ensconced inside their own walls. To this day, I avoid content written by journalists who endorsed the use of that video or who published that video.

Through all of this, there are certain things that never changed about me. I remained a staunch supporter of Palestine. Remained. Since the year 2000, when Ariel Sharon invaded the Al Aqsa compound with armed guards, I have supported Palestine. In 2002, I discovered boycott lists consisting of individual companies (many of them have continued to show their vileness in other regard, so I continue to boycott them). I followed Nora Barrows Friedman on KPFA radio as she detailled Israeli human rights abuses against Palestine. I am no friend of Israeli policies against Palestine.

I remain firm in my conviction that campaigns to name and shame MLI participants are morally wrong and potentially very harmful.

The vitriol of discussions taking place regarding MLI had serious impacts on me. Ad hominems were levelled at me and others. As far as I can tell, it is the vitriol of those discussions which eventually resulted in the loss of my Facebook account, as someone(s) reported it to Facebook for a Real Name violation in the midst of those discussions. The loss put on hold my work for two different organisations while I endured compounded, very painful waves of PTSD, depression, and other mental illnesses for three months.

Hena Zuberi of Muslim Matters addressed the negativity unleashed by MLI detractors in an op-ed:

"The world is not black and white. We have to have follow-up with discussions about how academic engagement hurts the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement (BDS). We have to leave room in our opposition for differences in opinion – that is what we ask of others and that is what we should give to them." (1)

I defended my friends as part of the whole of two MLI cohorts. I said things by which I continue to stand. I said other things which were simply untrue. I acted in ways of which I continue to be proud; and also in ways which I now know to be wrong. My dedication to my friends does not excuse that of my behaviour which was wrong. The ferocity with which I defended them does not excuse the vitriol wielded against me and others.

A review of items which feel important to me:

* Participants in the second cohort were unaware of the funding sources for MLI until sometime during their travels in Palestine and Israel. (2)

* Various supporters of MLI acted disgracefully, talking over Palestinian voices, centering themselves in place of Palestinians, denying (3) the unanimous voice of Palestinians calling for compliance with BDS. (1)

* Many opponents of MLI acted disgracefully. As I stated before, ad hominems were flung about, and I curiously lost my Facebook account in the midst of all of the arguing. Kamal Abu Shamsieh has added his own thoughts to this problem, even as he has shifted his views to opposition of MLI. (2)

* I firmly reject the application of the term "leaders" on MLI participants by other than the participants themselves - this in an attempt to justify calls to name and shame MLI participants. In this regard, I point to the wording on the MLI site itself, indicating that the programme is designed for "emerging...leaders," which is distinct from leaders.

* There is a petition available on PetitionOnline through Care2 Petitions which is, for the most part, written in a way that makes it more accessible to the mindset of a broad audience than certain previous others. (4) This petition is subsequent to another calling for an end to MLI, which is most worthy of one's attention and very generally accessible to most people's mindsets. (5)

* If MLI was designed to convince Muslims of the validity of zionism, it failed miserably. I am connected to even more MLI cohorts, and not a single one of them has posted anything in favour of the Israeli government. In fact, I have seen ferocious support from them for Palestine, especially when facts and data regarding children are published in news articles. Even while they were in the company of zionists in occupied Palestine, they challenged those zionists. (6)

* However, MLI has itself failed to impact the mindsets of the zionists with which it has interacted. (5)

* It is increasingly possible for MLI to be independently funded and to change its modus operandi, yet it continues to refuse to do so. (2)

* The third MLI trip coincides with the one-year anniversary of Israel's most recent major assaukt on Gaza. (4)

* MLI has been harmful to Palestinians. (5)

There are many parts of the latter petition by Kamal Abu Shamsieh, "Palestinians Unwelcome the Muslim Leadership Initiative," with which I agree. There are some with which I disagree. There appears to be a personal boycott on an individual level in the petition. I disagree with personal boycotts and prefer the use of dialogue to encourage thoughtful growth on the part of MLI participants. I wholeheartedly agree with the demands made of MLI directors by Abu Shamsieh and others. I find myself in agreement with just about every aspect of the former petition, "Call for Immediate Halt to Muslim Leadership Initiative." While there could be a concern regarding appropriation, the centering of this petition on Palestinian voices, the discussion by this petition of justice for a diversity of peoples, and the very respectfully worded appeal to Imam Abdullah Antepli all speak to the high quality of this petition. The one concern that I had about the former petition was heard with understanding by one of the authors; I did not request that any change be made to it.

As Muslims, we are naturally inclined towards the establishment of justice for oppressed peoples. With that in mind, I call on Muslims to carefully consider the impacts of their words and actions while they call other Muslims to justice. When we call on each other as Muslims to desist from hurting other Muslims, I think that we we need to engage with them in a way that does not harm them. I am a survivor of stalking. I know what it is like to be followed, to have my identity and safety compromised. I do not wish this on others, even those with whom I disagree. I have personally seen the results of respectful dialogue with MLI participants - results which were not obtained in the toxically vitriolic discussions which were taking place. I know the success of these kinds of conversations in which the privacy of the conversants has been preserved. I have been personally impacted in very hurtful ways by the vitriol of discussions surrounding MLI and firmly reject that style of argument. I wouldn't wish the months-long suffering which I endured on others, even my enemies.

Let us remember and honour peace as the bottom line in our interactions with others.
-Freedom ToBe

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Endnotes
(1) Zuberi, Forward.
(2) Abu-Shamsieh, Healing.
(3) My own observations based on Facebook posts and articles written after the return of the cohorts.
(4) Abu Shamsieh at al, Unwelcome.
(5) Abu Shamsieh et al,  Call.
(6) Private conversations.

References

1. Abu Shamsieh, Kamal. "A Palestinian's Journey Towards Healing" Huffinton Post. 22 May 2015. Web. 25 July 2015. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kamal-abushamsieh/a-palestinians-journey-to_b_7339586.html>.

2. Abu Shamsieh, Kamal et al. "Call for Immediate Halt to Muslim Leadership Initiative (MLI), Sponsored by Shalom Hartman Institute," Care2 Petitions. nd. Web. 25 July 2015. <http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/927/756/193/>

3. Abu Shamsieh, Kamal et al. "Palestinians Unwelcome the Muslim Leadership Initiative (MLI), Sponsored by Shalom Hartman Institute," Care2 Petitions. nd. Web. 25 July 2015. <http://www.thepetitionsite.com/465/039/192/palestinians-unwelcome-the-muslim-leadership-initiative-mli-sponsored-by-shalom-hartman-institute/?taf_id=14071387>.

4. ToBe, Freedom. Author's personal experiences. 16-31 January 2014.

5. ToBe, Freedom. Private Conversations. nd.

6. Zuberi, Hena. "Muslim Leadership Initiative: Finding the Way Forward," Muslim Matters. 04 February 2015. Web. 25 July 2015. <http://muslimmatters.org/2015/02/04/muslim-leadership-initiative-finding-the-way-forward>.

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This image for the purpose of Facebook visibility:

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Listeria in Your Sabra Hummous

because I am not yet awake and hardly literate, I am copy-pasting from the Detroit Free Press (even though I hate Gannett, that slave profiteer) ... a word first, though, that while I bought hummous recently, I don't have to worry about listeria - because I boycott the crap out of that apartheid-supporting corporation

Listeria in hummus prompts national recall by Sabra
Robin Erb, Detroit Free Press
09 April 2015
http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2015/04/08/listeria-detected-hummus/25491479

Inspectors with the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development learned of the possible contamination by Listeria monocytogenes after routine inspections March 30 at a Kroger in Port Huron, according to Jennifer Holton, MDARD spokeswoman.

Samples from the prepackaged product were collected for testing, and the results came back days later. Michigan officials alerted inspectors in Virginia and officials with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration who, in turn, are working with Sabra.

These are the codes:

040822011143/300067 – Sabra Classic, 10 oz. – 3-059/Best before May 11;

040822011143/300067 – Sabra Classic 10 oz. - 3-060/Best before May 15

040822014687/300074 – Sabra Classic, 30 oz. – 3-059/Best before May 11

040822342049/301216 – Sabra Classic Without Garnish, 32 oz. – 3-059/Best before May 11

040822017497/301290 – Sabra Classic, 17 oz. Six Pack – 3-058/Best before May 11

040822017497/301290 – Sabra Classic, 17 oz. Six Pack – 3-059/Best before May 11

040822342209/301283 – Hummus Dual Pack Classic/Garlic – 3-058/Best before May 11

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below image for Facebook Visibility purposes

On Being a Leader (MLI)

Just to clear up any remaining confusion: "emerging" means "not there yet." When, therefore, someone speaks of an "emerging leader," that someone is not referring to a finished, polished, and refined leader who is available for All The Public Scrutiny™.

Of course, none of this ever gives anyone permission to creep-stalk anyone else in the dark of night with a videocamera to record another person or group of persons. It does not give anyone permission to use the resulting footage to worm out the identities of participants of a programme that you don't like and publicise that information all over the place.

There are many ways to support a people oppressed by a genocidal regime. Demonstrating an utter lack of respect to other people and their safety should not enter the mind as one of the possibilities.

On Travelling, Love, and the Nature of Discourse - Megapost

On Travelling, Love, and the Nature of Discourse

(a megapost regarding the MLI trip to Palestine)

There have been times over the past few days when I have not been specific about whether I support MLI or not. In many cases, I have allowed the turn of a discourse to paint me in a certain way. I feel that there are bigger concerns to address at the moment than clarifying my opinions on MLI; and to be perfectly honest, I am still in the process of determining just where I stand.

My ambiguity with regard to MLI itself is not to be confused with the clarity, strength, and certainty of my support for the *people* who participate in MLI. I might be quiet about the former, but I am certainly not quiet about the latter.

In the meantime, I refuse to accept the conflation of support for those who travelled to Palestine and Israel with the MLI with the justification for the colonisation and theft of Palestinian land, existence of settlements, and diminishment of the real import of genocide against Palestinians. The fact that I cast my moral support behind those who made the MLI trip does not negate my opposition to Israeli policies. The same is true of others who have similarly raised their voices.

I find the attitude that one must fully agree with every detail of the political platforms of someone else in order to adopt certain lables or participate in certain spaces very disturbing. It feels to me like an all or nothing, black and white with no shades of grey, you're with us or against us kind of expectation. I honestly feel that that kind of mentality makes spaces unsafe. It silences discourse and drives a wedge between people who have even the slightest difference of opinion on issues.

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The fact is that people whom we know and love have been on an MLI trip in the past or are on one now. If we have a problem with the people participating on these trips, the first place to discuss the issue is in private with those persons. Some have gone public about their involvement; of course one can engage them in those public fora.

I have no problem with efforts to learn more about MLI and its backers. Fact-finding endeavours are understandable and to be encouraged. There are organisations behind MLI or linked to it which are downright frightening. It is also only natural to be opposed to the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Those who have been watching Israeli atrocities against Palestine over the years are painfully familiar with its genocidal oppression and brutal aggression. It is, therefore, human to take action in support of Palestine and Palestinians: protests, letter-writing, boycotts, social media engagement, etc.

In all of that, it should be just as obvious that stalking people, shoving cameras into their faces - even after they have stated that they do not want to be filmed, and exposing their identities and thus putting their safety at risk, is ENTIRELY UNACCEPTABLE. It is not acceptable to air their faces and voices in public videos, especially after they requested not to be filmed. How shameful. How disgraceful. Our friends and loved ones could well be hurt as a result of this kind of stalking.

Yet this is precisely how Ali Abunimah of Electronic Intifada, in conjunction with anonymous Jerusalemite blogger Zalameh, has been doing. I wash my hands of Mr Abunimah, whom I used to respect, and of any EI writings which are his.*

Disclaimer Section
* I am pro-Palestinian.
* I have engaged in Pro-Palestinian rallies.
* I boycott.
* I have attended pro-Palestinian lectures.
End Disclaimer Section

It is sad that I would need a disclaimer section like that. What is even more sad are these efforts to publicly air the faces, voices, and names of people who need their privacy protected. These are not CEOs of multinational corporations. They are not multi-millionaires who donate lavishly to Israel's occupation of Palestine. In fact, they regularly condemn Israel's policies against Palestine.

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The people whom I know who are taking part in this trip are love-filled, passionate for justice (on many fronts and issues), and supportive of Palestine. They are there to learn and participate in an information and experiential exchange. These are my siblings - and yours - striving to carve another path of peace. My love is with them. So is my unblinking support. I flatly refuse to say a word against these precious human beings and strongly condemn the name-and-shame efforts against them.

Travelling to Palestine and Israel, meeting with Israelis and Palestinians, challenging and being challenged - these are not war crimes. This is not Netanyahu strutting at Aqsa. It is not Caterpillar dropping off another shipment of bulldozers. It is not Motorola selling surveillance technology to the Israeli military.

I condemn in the strongest possible terms what Mr Abunimah and Mr Zalameh are doing to my beloved siblings.

* Someone whom I greatly admire and respect contributes to EI. I have followed and supported this person's work for more than a decade now and do not plan to stop any time soon.

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Image below for Facebook visibility purposes. Snagged from Wikipedia.

My Siblings, Whom I Love and Support

EDIT 7:45 am Eastern 14 January 2015:
It is only natural to be opposed to the Israeli occupation of Palestine. It is human to take action in support of Palestine and Palestinians: protests, letter-writing, boycotts, social media engagement, etc.

In all of that, it should be just as obvious that stalking people, shoving cameras into their faces - even after they have stated that they do not want to be filmed, and exposing their identities and thus putting their safety at risk, is entirely unacceptable.

Yet this is precisely how Ali Abunimah of Electronic Intifada, in conjunction with anonymous Jerusalemite blogger Zalameh, has been doing. I wash my hands of Mr Abunimah, whom I used to respect, and of any EI writings which are his.*

I condemn in the strongest possible terms what Mr Abunimah and Mr Zalameh are doing to my beloved siblings.
-Freedom to Be
END EDIT

Various folk are continuing the name and shame enterprise, threatening the safety of my Muslim siblings who are in the Holy Land to learn and participate in an information and experiential exchange.

Disclaimer Section
* I am pro-Palestinian.
* I have engaged in Pro-Palestinian rallies.
* I boycott.
* I have attended pro-Palestinian lectures.
End Disclaimer Section

It is sad that I would need a disclaimer section like that. What is even more sad are these efforts to publicly air the faces, voices, and names of people who need their privacy protected. These are not CEOs of multinational corporations. They are not multi-millionaires who donate lavishly to Israel's occupation of Palestine. In fact, they regularly condemn Israel's policies against Palestine.

Travelling to Palestine and Israel, meeting with Israelis and Palestinians, challenging and being challenged - these are not war crimes. This is not Netanyahu strutting at Aqsa. It is not Caterpillar dropping off another shipment of bulldozers. It is not Motorola selling surveillance technology to the Israeli military.

These are my siblings - and yours - striving to carve another path of peace. My love is with them. So is my unblinking support.

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Image below for Facebook visibility purposes. Snagged from Wikipedia.

On Travelling, Learning, and Controversies

These are My Siblings, and I Love Them.

There is a group of Muslims visiting the Holy Land for a couple of weeks this month. They are there to learn and participate in an information and experiential exchange. Many have taken it upon themselves to condemn these individuals as supporting, in one way or another, Israel's policies against Palestine.

My travelling siblings are intelligent. They will not be swayed by Hasbara. They can process information using their own valuable and highly-functioning brains.

The people whom I know who are taking part in this trip are love-filled, passionate for justice (on many fronts and issues), and supportive of Palestine. I flatly refuse to say a word against these precious human beings and strongly condemn the name-and-shame efforts against them.
-Freedom to Be

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Image below for Facebook visibility purposes. Snagged from Wikipedia.

Prayers for Nablus

There is a photo of the city of Nablus in the files section of my very old, defunct group homepage. Nablus heads up the district of Nablus in Palestine. I got the photo from someone else's website and added the hands on my own. The original picture was taken in 1948, before the Nakbah reached Nablus. In truth, the first major assaults on Nablus did not take place until 2000, when the most recent wave of the Intifada (Uprising). Much of the city's infrastructure and architecture was damaged, and since the occupation and recurring sieges - all illegal - which have taken place since 2000, Nablus and her people have been thrust into one of the worst social and economic backslides in Palestinian history.

Nablus lies in what is today called the "West Bank". It is nestled between mountains which are known as "Jabal an-Nar" - the Mountains of Fire. One of these mountains serves as a holy site for the nearby Samaritan community. Nablus has become known as the City of Fire because of the strength and determination with which their resistance fighters resist the illegal occupation of the zionist military and militant colonists.

For more information on this beautiful city, see http://www.nablus.org.