د تمدُنونو د همسازۍ لپاره دې ملګري ملتونه جروزالِم ته ولیـږدول شي (لومړۍ برخه)
دا هغــــه لیـکنــــه ده چې مـا(ځیرکیار) د اروا ښاد ډاکــترعــبدالصمـد حامــد په ټینـګار د ۲۰۰۸ د جنوری په ۱۵نیټه بشپړه کړې وه. هغه ډېـره خوښه کړه او د یو دوست په لاس یې د ملګرو ملتونو کوم مهم چاته ورسوله. ذکرشوي شخص ورته ویلي وو چې زما لیکنه به «شل کالونه وروسته [په ۲۰۲۸م کې] اهمیت ولري.» ما هم خپله دغه لیـکنـه د اسرائیلو د هغه مهال لومړي وزیر اِیهود اُولمیرت، د عرب هیوادونو مشرانو، د عرب لیګ او د اسلامي کانفرانس مشرانو، دفلسطین مشرانو، په اسـرائیلو کې د عیسوي فلسطینیانو د عـدم تـشـدد سازمان، دمنځني خـتــیـز د هـیوادونـو مشرانو،ګڼ شمیــر پـوهانـو او منوریــنو او په واتــیکان کې د هغـه مهال پـاپ بینیډیکت(۲۰۰۵تر ۲۰۱۳) ته لـیـږلې وه. خو یواځې د اسرائيلو د لومړي وزیر اِیهود اُلمیرت د دفــتر له خوا(۶ فبروري ۲۰۰۸م) په پوسته کې لڼـډ لیکلی غــبرګون راورسید چې زما د لیکلي وړانـدیـز «ډکون یې ملاحظه» کړی و:
“Dear Dr. Zirakyar,
On behalf of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, we acknowledge receipt of your proposal to relocate the United Nation to Jerusalem, and have taken note of its contents.”
د اسرائیلوله دوه لومړي وزیرانو نه د فلسطینیانو د رټلي ژوند په اړه واورئ: (۱) «یو مشهور متل دی:٫٫ دا مشکله ده چې یو یهود وې.٬٬ دغــه شان دا هم مشکله ده چې یـو فلسطینی وې. زه پرې پوهـیـږم.»(اریل شـرون لومړی وزیــر: ۲۰۰۱تر ۲۰۰۶). (۲) «که زه د مناسب عُمر(سن) فلسطینی وای، زه به بِلاخـره د ترهه ګرو سازمانونو غـړی شوی وای.»(اِیهود بـارَک لومړی وزیر:۱۹۹۹تر ۲۰۰۱).
زه ټولو افغاني ویبسایټونو او اشخاصو ته هیله وړاندې کوم چې زما دا لیکنه خپره کړي، او په نورو اغیزمنو او بشر دوستو انسانانو یې په ارت لاس ووېـشي. هرڅوک اجازه لري چې د دې لیکنې پښتو او انګرېزي برخې وژباړي او ویې ویشي.
RELOCATE UNITED NATIONS TO JERUSALEM TO HARMONIZE CIVILIZATIONS*
By:
Dr. Rahmat Rabi Zirakyar
(Independent Scholar, U.S.A.)
January 15, 2008
I have a Ph.D. in Political Science from the Free University of Berlin; taught at U.S., German and Afghan universities; currently independent scholar; recent book: Algebra of New Politics, 2006, in Pashto, the Afghan national language.
*) I owe a special debt to ex-deputy prime minister of Afghanistan, Dr. jur. Abdul Samad Hamed, who has contributed ideas that ultimately influenced this writing.
Addendum
December 19, 2013
This writing is dedicated to Abdul Ghafar Khan (1890-1988), a distinctive leader of nonviolent resistance who created the first nonviolent army of 100,000 Pashtuns during the British rule in India. He was honored by Pashtun people as “Badshah Khan” (Leader of Leaders) and “Fakhre Afghan” (the Honor of Afghans). In India he was respected as the “Frontier Gandhi”. He was born in an affluent family in Utmanzai village near Peshawar, Pashtun-Khwa. The 6 foot 4 towering Afghan of Pashtun heritage was a distinctive magnanimity of character, benevolent behavior, progressive mindset for a peaceful transformation of unfair societal structures, and courage to peacefully fight for the eventual withering away of the British colonialism and its sub-colonialism in Pakistan, which functions as a comprador state.
Badshah Khan spent nearly 40 years in British and Pakistani prisons. He was one of the five most iconic heralds of nonviolent struggle in the 20th century: Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Mother Teresa, and Nelson Mandela. The world knows about the iconic acts of these four nonviolent resistance leaders. But how about “Badshah Khan, the mountain of a man they called The Frontier Gandhi” (Tarek Fatah)?! Regrettably, I must say that the world has ignored and overlooked the torchbearer for independence, peace and progress: Fakhre Afghan Badshah Khan! Why? Very probably, because he was Pashtun and Muslim?! Immediately after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December of 1979, Badshah Khan said that “the Russian [Soviet] and American war started in Pashtun land”. The engine of that war continues to be lubricated by Pashtun blood.
CONTENTS
Main Idea
Three Religions, Two Peoples, and One Sacred Space Under One God
Proposals for Solutions in the 20th Century
“Clash of Civilizations” Through a “Geopolitical Prism”
Power Sharing in the United Nations for Civilization Harmony
UNESCO Run International Peace Academy: “Thou Shalt Not Kill”
Dismantle the Fantasy about Each Other
Globalization Needs a Balancing Global Movement: Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances
MAIN IDEA
The point I want to emphasize here is this: Relocating both first the UNESCO headquarters and thereupon the United Nations (UN) headquarters to Jerusalem could: (A) contribute a more lasting and creative solution to the very serious conflict over Haram Sharif (Temple Mount); (B) enhance the much needed harmony of civilizations; and (C) pave the way for a balancing global movement that can support pluralism, tolerance, power sharing, the system of “checks and balances,” and an egalitarian ideal.
Three Religions, Two Peoples, and One Sacred Space Under One God
“This world resembles the ball of the human eye. The white of the eye is the ocean, which encompasses the whole world, the black of the eye is the inhabited world, the pupil of the eye is Jerusalem, and the human face reflected in it is the Temple [Mount].” Mahzor Vitry, p.7, quoted in Rivka Gonen, Contested Holiness: Jewish, Muslim and Christian Perspectives on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Jersey City, NJ: KTAV Publishing House, Inc., 2003. [Mount] in quotation added by Zirakyar. Mahzor Vitry is a voluminous compilation of Jewish “festival” prayers which flourished throughout the 13th and 14th centuries in Germany. See Encyclopedia Judaica, second ed. vol. 13, Thomson/Gale, 2007, p.363; and Jewishencylopedia.com [22-10-2007].
U.S. President Jimmy Carter (1977-1981) points out to the sensitivity regarding the Holy City, Jerusalem: His “carefully worded paragraph on the most sensitive issue of all, the Holy City,” was difficult for Israeli Prime Minister Menachim Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat to accept. They “requested that this paragraph be deleted from the final text” of the Camp David Accords negotiated in September of 1978. (Jimmy Carter, Palestine Peace Not Apartheid. New York and London: Simon & Schuster, 2006, pp. 47-48), emphasis added.
There were more than sixty proposals for the solution of the problem of Jerusalem in the
twentieth century. ( Marshall J. Breger and Thomas A. Indinopulos,Jerusalem Holy Places and the peace process. Policy Paper Series No. 46. Washington, DC: The Washington Institute or Near East Policy,1998- more on this study, see below).
Permanent peace in the Middle East is achievable only if the problem of Jerusalem can be resolved to the satisfaction of all sides. Jerusalem is a unique city in the world. It is a city where “temporal, spiritual, political, cultural, and territorial converge.” (John L. Esposito and Mohammed A. Muqtedar Khan, “Religion and Politics in the Middle East”, in Deborah J. Garner, ed. Understanding the Contemporary Middle East. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2000, p.329). Jerusalem is heritage of humanity and holy city of two peoples (Palestinians and Jews) and three monotheistic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam). This uniqueness surpasses any local political sovereignty.
The Temple Mount (Haram Sharif) in Jerusalem is the site that hosts all three religions. It is the place where God brought all thee religions to meet each other in harmony.
However, “ the Temple Mount dilemma” emerged. The ancient Jewish Temple of Solomon and later the second Temple of Herod the Great was destroyed in 72 A.D. by the Roman Emperor Titus. Holy to three relegions, the Temple Mount in East Jerusalem is also the world bloodiest and most fought-over site. Temple Mount is 1/6 the size of today’s Old City and covers some 35 acres, “potentially the most volatile 35 acres on earth.” Richard N. Ostling, “Time for A”, Time, June 24, 2001. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built in the forth century A.D. (333) by Emperor Constantine (the first Christian ruler, who converted to Christianity, possibly in 312). It was built over the site where Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected. For centuries the door keeper of the Holy Sepulchre is Muslim. The site of the ancient Temple lay abandoned until the arrival of the Muslims in the seventh century (638 A.D.) Jerusalem was the site of the first Qiblah or direction of payer for Muslims. Later, the Islamic Prophet Mohammad changed the direction to Ka’bah of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Muslims called Jerusalem al-Quds (Holy). It was Jerusalem, where the second Muslim Caliph Omar inaugurated in 638 A.D. (17 After Hijri) the Islamic Hijri calendar, starting with the year of migration of Prophet Mohammad from Mecca to Medina. Palestinians dream of al-Quds as the capital of Palestine. Muslims believe that Ka’bah was built by the Prophet Abraham to celebrate the glory of One God. At that time Arabs were following a form of idolatry, each tribe keeping its own idols at the Ka’bah. Prophet Abraham offered his son Ishmael for sacrifice. According to the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament), Prophet Abraham was to have sacrificed his son Isaac.
Throughout Islamic history the Dome of Rock (Kubbat al-Sakhra in Arabic) has been religiously and politically important. For 1300 years the Dome of Rock has been a prominent symbol of Islamic sovereignty in the region and a dominating monument in the old city of Jerusalem. After Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia, the Dome of Rock is the third holy site of Muslims. The inclusion of Jerusalem (al-Quds = Holy) derives from al-Mi’raj, the ascension of the Prophet Mohammad to heaven. This event began at the Rock, the foundation stone of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem referred to in Jewish and Christian sources. According to Muslim tradition, the Prophet Mohammad put his foot on the rock, when he paused to pray in Jerusalem, to ascend to heaven.
In 622 A.D. the Prophet Mohammad migrated with his followers from Mecca to Yathrib, later known as Medina, “the city of the Prophet”. The Islamic calendar began with this migration (Hijra). In Medina, the Prophet Mohammad established the first Islamic society organized as a city state, where there was no “Dhimmis” (non-Muslim neighbors), but people of the document (agreement). Most probably during the second year of the Hijra (= 624 A.D.), the Prophet Mohammad drafted and promulgated a document which some scholars called “al-Dustoor al-Medina” (Charter or Constitution of Medina). This seminal political document defined relations among the people of a multi-religious plural society. Each community was free to practice its own religion (clause 25). Another important political skill or statecraft of Islamic Messenger was consultation with the people. “The Jews must bear their expenses. Each must help the other against anyone who attacks the people of this document. They must seek mutual advice and consultation, and loyalty is a protection against treachery….Yathrib[Medina] shall be a sanctuary for the people of this document.” (Clauses 37 & 39). For the 42 clauses of Medina Charters, see Muhammad S. El-Awa, On the Political System of the Islamic State ( Indianapolis, Indiana: American Trust Publications, 3rd ed., 1980), pp. 15-25; Maimul Ahsan Khan, Human Rights in the Muslim World: Constitutionalism, Fundamentalism, and International Politics( Carolina Academic Press, 2003, pp. 443ff; Ibrahima Sidibe, Freedom of Belief at the Crossroad of Civilisations, an Islamic Perspective, and Its Impact on Africa: The Cases of Egypt and Nigeria (submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Law, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, 27 October 2006), electronic version, pp. 49ff. Also visit “Medina Charter-wikisource”, 6 pages. http://en,wikisource.org/wiki/Consitution_of_Medina, [July 28, 2007]. In matters of Islamic political principles mutual consultation (Shora) is very important. It is one of the traits of Islam which should adorn Muslims whether they are only a group without an established state (like early Muslims in Mecca) or have established a state (as was the case of Muslims in Medina). Shora (consultation) is enjoined by Koran (the Holy Book of Islam): Sura al-Imran, 3:159; Sura al-Shora, 42: 38. Also, Koran says that God make mankind “a vicegerent on earth” (Sura al-Baqara, 2: 30). The word “Khalifa” (vicegerent, deputy) implies some kind of responsibility with which mankind is entrusted by God. The power of choosing, knowledge and responsibility will go with the mankind to make decisions. For the capitulation of Jerusalem in the seventh Christian century, the second Muslim Caliph Omar presented its inhabitants with “Amaan” (guarantee), a letter of protection, sometimes referred to as an official treaty. This treaty was apparently signed between Caliph Omar and the Christian patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop Sophronius, most probably in 638 A.D. (17 After Hijri). It granted “the people of Aelia [Jerusalem]” the protection of life, property and religious freedom in exchange for “Jezia” (poll tax). The “tenor” of this document reads: “In the name of most merciful God. This is the treaty for the people of Aelia [Jerusalem]. This is the favour which the servant of God, the Commander of the Faithful, grants to the people of Aelia. He gives them assurance of the preservation of their lives and properties, their churches and crosses, of those who set up, who display and who honour these crosses. Your churches will not be transformed into dwellings nor destroyed, nor will any one confiscate anything belonging to them, nor the crosses or belongings of the inhabitants. There will be no constraint in the matter of religion, nor the least annoyance.
ډاکتر رحمت ربی ځـیـرکیـار،امریکا
Zirakyar1234@yahoo.com
