The Tests of the Times

The Ramadan festival is a test of faith and, this year, a time of political uncertainty.

By DANIEL RUBINSTEIN
Muslims shop for Ramadan decorations in Jerusalem. (photo credit: Ammar Awad/Reuters)
Muslims shop for Ramadan decorations in Jerusalem.
(photo credit: Ammar Awad/Reuters)
The holy Muslim festival of Ramadan began on August 1. For 30 full days, it is incumbent on all of the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims, including, of course, the close to five million Muslims living in the West Bank and Gaza, to completely fast from dawn until dusk, without taking even a sip of water.
It is generally acknowledged that the majority of the Muslim public observes the fast. And when the fast ends, they celebrate with the iftar, an especially festive meal – it has to be fresh food every day, no leftovers – to which friends and relatives are invited.
After the iftar, it’s party time. Tens of millions of Muslims sit all night with their friends and family, feasting and watching the special holiday-time TV programming. Then they sleep a bit, get up at 4 a.m. to eat and pray, and go back to sleep. Many simply don’t go in to work at all.
In the eyes of non-Muslims, Ramadan seems to come at a different time each year. This is because the Muslim calendar is a lunar calendar based on 355 days in a year, compared to the 365 days in the solar Gregorian calendar. The Hebrew calendar is also a lunar calendar, but adds an extra month (Adar II) every three or four years, bringing it into sync with the rest of the world. Since Muslims don’t have a leap year, Ramadan starts 10 days earlier every year – in other words, over the years, Ramadan is celebrated throughout the seasons.
If Ramadan is in the winter, the fast lasts 12-13 hours a day. If it’s in August, as it is this year, the fast lasts 15-16 hours, and, without even a drop of water to drink, it is truly a difficult test of faith until the nighttime relief.
This year, in this region, the Ramadan test of faith is made even more difficult by social and political developments, as the Palestinian leadership prepares for the “political tsunami” – to use the words of Defense Minister Ehud Barak – expected in September.
Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas remains determined to present his request for recognition of the Palestinian state to the UN General Assembly in September. “It is my goal that negotiations be conducted between two equal partners – that is, between two states,” Abbas has repeatedly declared, emphasizing that he is no longer willing to maintain the asymmetry of negotiations between a sovereign state (Israel) and a national movement (the Palestine Liberation Organization).
Leaks from the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reveal that Israel and the US are close to an agreement, according to which the 1967 borders will provide the basis for the negotiations – with the provision, agreed to by the Americans, that the negotiations will take into consideration the demographic changes in the region, a clear reference to the larger settlements. This is consistent with the famous letter given by president George Bush to then-prime minister Ariel Sharon.
The Palestinians might be able to compromise on this point. But there is no chance that the Palestinians will agree to another condition that Netanyahu has put forward – recognition of the State of Israel as the state of the Jewish people. From the Palestinian point of view, accepting this condition means denying the right of return for the refugees of 1948 and ignoring the rights of those Palestinians who are citizens of Israel and make up some 20 percent of the Israeli population.
Abbas has repeatedly announced that he will not compromise on this. “You Israelis can define your state any way you want to – but don’t demand that we recognize your definition,” is how all of the Palestinian leadership puts it.
So there is little chance that the negotiations will resume before September. In this context, there is definitely a fear of a security flare-up by the end of Ramadan. The Palestinians have already announced that during September, they will organize mass demonstrations and processions. Palestinian leaders have declared that they do want any violence, but Palestinian spokespersons have accused the IDF and the settlers of provocations. Two young Palestinian men were recently killed when the IDF raided the Qalandiya refugee camp to arrest suspects of involvement in terrorist activity. The head of the Knesset’s Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee, MK Shaul Mofaz (Kadima), has announced that the IDF is prepared to call up its reserves in September.
But it’s the economic situation that is really putting a damper on the festivities. In what is widely believed to be an attempt to pressure the Palestinians to give up their appeal to the UN, those Arab states that maintain significant relationships with the US are not transferring the money to the PA.
The economic crisis in the PA is deepening. Some 150,000 civil servants have received only half of their July salaries. The average salary is only about $1,000 a month, so that half of that is truly a pittance. In mid- July, Abbas demanded that the Arab League convene an emergency session because the member states have reneged on their pledges. Saudi Arabia agreed to give the Palestinians a one-time gift of $30 million, but that’s not enough to fill the budget shortfall. Prime Minister Salam Fayyad told a late-July meeting of the Arab League in Cairo that he needs at least $300 million.
It is worth noting that at the Arab League meeting, it was never mentioned which states have held back the funding. This was in order not to embarrass the emirates, in particular, Kuwait and Qatar, which are the major funders of the PA.
Geopolitics are even having an impact on the favorite holiday evening pastime. Most of the television programming viewed throughout the world, and especially in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, comes from Egypt and Syria. But the upheavals in these countries have taken their toll – including their television productions. On one of the first days of Ramadan, the Jerusalem-based “al-Quds” daily newspaper ran a cartoon in which a child asks his father, “Where are all the shows from Egypt? Where is all the entertainment from Syria?” And the father answers him, “The streets are the new programming.”
Yet, despite the economic difficulties and political tensions, there are no protests in the PA. While Israel is roiling with demonstrations against the government’s social and economic policies, all is quiet on the West Bank and in Gaza. Due to the economic shortages, the Palestinians have been hit with tremendous price increases, too, like the Israelis.
The head of the workers’ committees in the PA has published a condemnation of the government, but other than a few op-eds and articles in the media – most of which criticize the Arab league – there’s been little criticism and no public demonstrations. An editorial in “al- Quds” called on merchants not to “take advantage of Ramadan and raise their prices.”
In East Jerusalem, the beginning and the end of the fast is marked by the firing of a single thunderous, ancient Turkish cannon, which is located in the old graveyard on bustling Salah a-Din Street. And while you can’t hear the cannon in the outlying neighborhoods, the Arabic newspapers publish the times for the beginning and end of the fast, just as the Hebrew newspapers do for the beginning and ending of the Shabbat.
The souks in East Jerusalem, especially around Damascus Gate, in the Old City wall, are particularly busy during Ramadan. The Jerusalem Municipality has decorated the gate and the central streets in East Jerusalem with colored chains and with signs calling out, “Ramadan kareem” (Bountiful Ramadan) – which is the popular greeting during the holiday.
For many, Ramadan is a festival of eating and shopping. All of my acquaintances in East Jerusalem complain that despite the fast, they actually gain weight from the nighttime feasting. Ramadan is also the height of the movie season and peak season for the advertising companies. Fully 25 percent of the advertising budget of the Muslim world is devoted to Ramadan.
Not surprisingly, religious officials are not pleased that Ramadan has become, instead of a month of prayer and religious reflection, a month of food and pleasure. Throughout East Jerusalem, stickers and broadsheets call on true believers to observe the rules of modesty and humility, telling women to cover their heads and encouraging men to pray and learn verses from the Koran. The Somalian government has gone so far as to forbid watching TV during the nights of the fast. This made a tremendous impression on East Jerusalemites – but does not seem to motivate them to follow suit.
When Ramadan falls during the heavy heat of August, as it does this year, it completely disrupts public and economic life throughout the Arab world. Government offices and services are only open half a day, and many of the people who should work at least half a day don’t work at all. In the Gulf, where temperatures in August can regularly top 110 F (44 C), some religious rulers have exempted those who must work outside from fasting. But more commonly, many places of work, such as banks and factories, simply close down completely. At least, when the holiday falls in the summer, children are on vacation, so the school system isn’t disrupted.
The Muslim world has long debated the economic damage caused by an entire month in which people celebrate all night and hardly work during the day. I asked an official of the Muslim religious court in East Jerusalem if there is any estimate regarding the losses during Ramadan. Angrily, he responded, “Does anyone in Israel estimate how much the economy loses because of the laws of kashrut?” In other words, religious law cannot be questioned.
But then he apologized profusely for being angry. During Ramadan, it is forbidden to be angry at others. And he is trying his best.