Millions of Egyptians are celebrating this week, including Coptic
Christians who have suffered persecution and insecurity on Morsi’s watch and
others concerned about what they regards as private freedoms. For quite a few
families it is a time for mourning those who died for the crime of expressing a
political opinion at a rally. I cannot imagine what it is like for the women
who were raped or threatened for the same reason. Then there are the Egyptians who voted for
Morsi in a democratic election, who have just had their democratic victory
snatched out of their hands. A less
significant event is the political demise of Australia’s first female prime
minister due not to demonstrations in the streets but responses to pollsters
gauging her popularity. As this is a Torah based blog, I need to seek some
inspiration in our Torah readings.
Failure to protect grounds for renouncing an election?
The process of the Egyptian intervention based on force by the military
and shutting down media stations is a serious concern. Yet, the essential
question of removing a democratically elected leader bothers me less. I heard a
second hand account from a Coptic woman, who escaped to Australia after her
people were brutally attacked by a mob in Cairo, a kindergarten was torched, an
elderly church caretaker was set alight. Unfortunately, religious intolerance
has a long history. For example, our
Torah reading this week encourages destruction of pagan houses of worship[i].
Still Morsi’s government’s failure to prevent religious-based violence is a
failure in fulfilling the first responsibility of government to protect the
citizens. We are instructed to pray for our government because without them people
would swallow each other alive[ii].
Unfortunately in Egypt the government failed in that responsibility. An election
is a social contract. If events show that a dreadful mistake was made there is
a need for a mechanism to correct it just as the Torah allows for vows to be
annulled if circumstances change[iii].
The question is about the best process for correction and what the longer term
implications will be of the military taking control and the backlash from Morsi
supporters.
A leadership change In Australia
We are fortunate in Australia to have other mechanisms for removing an
elected leader.
On Wednesday afternoon last week, I was busy preparing two proposals
for the Australian Government and the presumed in-coming Government, the
present opposition that all the polls were predicting would win in a landslide.
The proposals related to the need for rigorous policies about diversity that go
beyond platitudes and tokenism and also sought funding for the work we do. Several hours later we found out that the
prime minister had been removed by a party room ballot. The usurper, who had
been deposed himself by the person he replaced, claimed to be answering the
call of the Australian people. Putting aside judgements about the truth of the
claim, it is a noble view of leadership echoed in our Torah reading two days
later in which Moses is instructed to “take” or persuade Joshua to take on the
leadership[iv].
Representative government and resistance to multiculturalism
I arrived in Canberra on the Thursday morning after the switch. There
was an uneasy and subdued vibe in the parliament building. At my first meeting
I made a robust argument for Multiculturalism to a conservative MP who argued
against the word. He explained that to many of his constituents the word
Multiculturalism represents license for minorities to self-segregate and the
word would alienate them rather than bring them along. This approach to leadership
is consistent with Moses’ asking “God of spirits of all flesh (to replace him
with) a leader for the people[v]”
“which is understood to mean that the leader should be the type of person “who
will tolerate every person according to their distinctive spirit[vi]”.
An alternative view in our tradition is that while a leader must be privately
tolerant, the public persona must be forceful and fearless[vii].
I think political leadership can set a tone for the people by being a few steps
ahead of them, but not too far ahead, especially in a democracy.
Cohesive society
In Australia, we generally have a consensus that racism is wrong. Historically
Multiculturalism in Australia is “a construction of the state[viii]”
which, despite wide acceptance by the population, has not been universally
embraced - concerns have been raised about this policy being divisive. These
voices have been louder in Europe where a champion of diversity, the UK chief
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, wrote that “Multiculturalism
has run its course and it is time to move on”; “Multiculturalism has led not to
integration but to segregation. It has allowed groups to live separately with
no incentive to integrate[ix]”.
The situation in Australia is significantly different with a far greater degree
of successful integration, yet segregation is a problem here too, with some
young Muslims I have worked with not feeling Australian or connected to
Australia at all. As the conservative MP correctly pointed out, integration is
made harder due to the discrimination many young Muslims face. This level of
discrimination was on display this week when an Australian MP of Bosnian Muslim
heritage, despite his complete cultural integration, was attacked simply for
taking an oath of office on a Koran.
A way forward
This week we have seen the limits of which leaders need to be aware. Yet
leaders still have great sway in terms of their influence. When a group of
people talk to Moses and mention their sheep before their children he sets them
straight and they correct the order in their next statement[x].
Teachers can challenge unhelpful ideas such as an inspiring Muslim woman
educator I met recently who tells her Lebanese Muslim students that they are
not victims and demands that they take responsibility for their future. A
sheikh who ran a workshop with me explained to young men of Lebanese Muslim
heritage that the Prophet Mohamed felt great loyalty to the Meccan pagan state
because he was a citizen. He also argues that Australia with its rule of law
and welfare policies is very consistent with Islamic principles. This needs to
be combined with a decrease in the level of prejudice in the community as a
whole against Muslims. More people need to have positive first hand experiences
of interacting with the “other”. They also need to develop critical thinking
skills to help process negative experiences with individuals to ensure they can
still see the big picture and humanity beyond the problems.
I was in the Parliament last week at the historic question-time session
with the old-new Prime Minister. It was a fascinating experience and while it
was painful for the former Prime Minister, I take heart from a comment on
Facebook, “in Australia we changed Prime Ministers, without an election but
with no tanks in the streets”. Let us ensure we can all enjoy this blessed land
free from discrimination, with the protection of benign responsible governments
who enable us all to feel that we belong together. My prayers are also with the
people of Egypt that justice and freedom prevail.
[i]
Numbers 33:52
[ii]
Pirkey Avot
[iii]
Numbers 30
[iv]
Numbers 27:18 as interpreted by Rashi
[v]
Numbers 27:16
[vi]
Rashi
[vii]
Ramban
[viii]
Taylor, S., Rizvi, F., Lingard, B., Henry, M., (1997). Education Policy and the
Politics of Change. Oxon, Routledge
[ix]
Sacks, J, (2007) The Home we build together. Continuum. London. p.3
[x]
Numbers 32 compare verses 16 first sheep then children, 24 where Moses reverses
the order and 26 where the people follow his cue.
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