Why a Muslim Like Me Stands With Israel |
The question comes to me often, sometimes with curiosity and sometimes with suspicion.
“How can you be a Muslim and support Israel?”
For many people the assumption seems automatic: Muslim identity must mean hostility toward the Jewish state. The idea that a Muslim could openly support Israel appears contradictory in their minds.
But the truth is far more complicated and far more human.
My story did not begin in Israel. It began thousands of miles away, in Sindh, Pakistan, where I was born into a political family deeply committed to human rights and justice.
My father, Ghulam Mohammad Laghari, spent a total of 27 years in prison for his beliefs. He fought feudal oppression, defended the rights of minorities, and refused to surrender his principles even under torture and threats of death.
When you grow up watching a man sacrifice his life for justice, you learn very early that standing for truth is not always popular.
Sometimes it is dangerous.
Sometimes it is lonely.
But it is always necessary.
Living Under Extremism
Pakistan taught me another harsh lesson.
Extremism does not appear overnight. It grows slowly, feeding on fear, propaganda, and political manipulation.
Minorities were marginalized. Religious hatred was encouraged. Voices of moderation were often silenced.
As a young man I became involved in pro-democracy and anti-extremist political movements in Sindh. At the age of 18 I was arrested and tortured under Pakistan’s military regime.
Eventually the threats against my life became real enough that I had to flee my........