The view from the hill

When the eyes are opened to new facts and truths, the smart ones among us realign their thinking to reflect this new set of facts. Kasim Hafeez is just that, a smart one. A Muslim who, after spending his entire life being inculcated with all the lies and demonization of Israel, decides for himself that the time for hate is over, the time to support Israel is now.

A true reformed Muslim, he is an example of how the truth will set you free. To those anti-semites out there, and you know who you are, try to ingest this article as did Hafeez did. You may learn something.

From The Jewish Chronicle Online October 6 by Kasim Hafeez

From antisemite to Zionist

In 2003, Pakistan's then President Pervez Musharaff sought to re-examine his country's relationship, or lack thereof, with Israel. He asked: "Do we have to be more Palestinian than the Palestinians themselves?"

With their new "Liberation" campaign, it seems that the Union Of Jewish Students has decided to answer that question with a resounding "yes".

Rather than being a brave move forwards for UJS, it is a hollow and cynical campaign that smacks of extreme cowardice.

The reality is that there is real anti-Israel and antisemitic feeling on British university campuses. How do I know this? Because until recently I was antisemitic and anti-Israel. Until recently, I was the one doing the hating.

Growing up in a Muslim community in the UK I was exposed to materials condemning Israel, painting Jews as usurpers and murderers. My views were reinforced when I attended Nakba Day rallies where speakers predicted Israel's demise.

My hate for Israel and for the Jews was fuelled by images of death and destruction, set to the backdrop of Arabic melodies about Jihad and speeches of Hizbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah or Osama Bin Laden.

There was also constant, casual antisemitism around me. My father would boast of how Adolf Hitler was a hero, his only failing being that he didn't kill enough Jews. Even the most moderate clerics I came across refused to condemn terrorism against Israel as unjustified.

What changed? In Waterstones one day I found myself in the Israel and Palestine section. To this day I don't know why I actually pulled it off the shelf, but I picked up a copy of Alan Dershowitz's The Case for Israel.

In my world view the Jews and the Americans controlled the media, so after a brief look at the back, I scoffed thinking "vile Zionist propaganda".

But I decided to buy it, eagerly awaiting the chance to deconstruct it so I could show why Israel had no case and claim my findings as a personal victory for the Palestinian cause.

As I read Dershowitz's systematic deconstruction of the lies I had been told, I felt a real crisis of conscience. I couldn't disprove his arguments or find facts to respond to them with. I didn't know what to believe. I'd blindly followed for so long, yet here I was questioning whether I had been wrong?

I decided to visit Israel to find the truth...

Read it all, then visit his blog at the Israel Campaign