Palestinian perspective: justice and peace - Essay Example

Palestinian authorities are under pressure to secure its legitimacy as a state, even as they strive to ensure that the widely unrecognized state keeps its part of the agreement it made with the Israeli government. However, the Palestinians are in fear that such a step will only lead to the legitimization of a disjointed territory, displaced community with no statehood. In trying to gain global recognition as a state, the Palestinians have rejected the idea of engaging in a war with the Zionists and Hashemites.

However, this has not stopped the Israelites from sabotaging any attempts for a Palestinians to achieve their long desired dream. This is because the Zionist have always believe that there is no legitimacy to the Palestinians in Gaza, not unless the natives (Palestinians) are denied statehood. Close to 85% of Palestinians believe that violence such as those meted upon Israel by Hamas achieves better results than negotiations (Unt.edu par 3). The Palestinians also wish to see Israel recognize the rights of its refugees to return to their original homes.

Different groups some from the Muslim world and others from the West have argued that Islam and democracy cannot go together. The West claims that Islam is anti-democracy and authoritarian. The Muslim community believe that secularism and democracy are similar, an idea which leads to Islam being misrepresented in the United States. By misrepresenting Islam in such a manner, the West rates Islam as inferior to Western liberalism and a barrier to world development and civilization. This misrepresentation is also accounted for in the way Muslims reject democracy perceiving is as a rule by man as opposed to Islam which is a rule by God.

Some Islamic teachings have been widely distorted and are being misrepresented in the West. The major areas of distortion and misrepresentation regard the status of women, Jihad, divorce, Prophet Mohammed and the difference between Ha’dith and the Holy Qur’an as noted by Geaves (107). The Muslim community in the United States has been faced by massive stereotyping which is a major cause of Arab misrepresentation. In America, Muslims are perceived to be terrorists (especially after 9/11) and Bedouins irrespective of origin.

They are also closely associated with negative images found in American movies, marketplaces, books and newspapers. The occupation of Palestine by the Israelites has led to a lot of military and civilian confrontations, the Palestinians mainly being misrepresented by the American community. Palestine’s political activities have been misrepresented in America as the latter claims that these acts aim at gaining aid from the United Nations. As a result, the enterprising Palestinians have been robbed of their self-respect and forced to depend on international aid.

The gross misrepresentation of the Palestinian community to the American community has led to a situation where Israel is tightening its control over Palestine according to Lassner and Troen (303). The Muslim community in general has also been affected by its misrepresentation in America since in America Muslims have little room to see the actualization of their vision. As a result, the Islamic community is trying to emancipate itself from Western stereotypical ideals about. The Muslim society is also facing discrimination which is a form of