PALESTINE
DR UMAR AZAM BA
PHD DCL DIP.FJ DIP.IM
MANCHESTER, UK
MARCH 2003
PRELIMINARY
NOTE
This article is not meant
to be an article comprising of detailed political
analysis, but a readable, general overview of the critical, Palestinian
situation. Although the views expressed in this article are my
own, as I personally see the tragic situation in Palestine, I
hope, indeed expect, such views to be consistent with those of the
mainstream group of Muslims in the world - 'mainstream' being
defined as 'fairly moderate' in political alignment and, numerically,
'of the majority'.
I]
INTRODUCTION
Certain groups and factions
of international Muslim paramilitaries are always accused
by numerous periodicals of the non-Muslim world press as
being 'terrorist', but the media must remember that the very
state of Israel has been founded on the principles of terrorism!
After World War II, the Allies felt sorry for the Jews because they
had been almost exterminated in Europe by the Nazis. Zionists had been
emigrating into Palestine in large numbers in the 1930s and 1940s, but
after 1945 there was a general exodus from Europe. Palestine
was flooded with illegal Jewish immigrants who then had
the nerve to begin terrorist activity to try to establish an actual
Jewish state! Palestine was a British Protectorate at the
time, and Britain could not control this Jewish terrorism. Thus
the bandits [the Jews] fought the Protectors [the British! ] and
the legal inhabitants of the nation [the Palestinians]
through terrorism, stole the territory and called it 'Israel'. As
if that weren't enough, the Jews became the powerful masters of
this stolen land through American and British backing and have
always been in the position to inflict sickening atrocities
and gross human rights abuses on the legimate nationals
[the Palestinians] when the latter seek to assert what is, in
fact, their own! From 1948 to the present day, the Palestinan lot
has been a tragic one: a peoples persecuted in their own land, having
few helpers but many enemies.
II]
THE PALESTINIAN SUFFERINGS
Note: This is by no
means a complete list of all Palestinian grievances.
GENOCIDE
Jews won the
sympathy of the world for their sufferings when Hitler attempted to
wipe them off the face of the Earth. The 'Holocaust' is still
talked of with passion as a noteworthy event by Jews even today.
So it is enigmatic that the Jews are similarly attempting to
annihilate the Palestinians. Many examples of Israeli
genocide can be given. Here are just a few instances: child
killings, random shootings, shooting of apolitical civilians falsely
decribed as freedom fighters or suicide bombers, the demolition of
Palestinian homes and the firing of missiles at existing Palestinian
homes !
HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES
Once Palestinian prisoners have
been arrested by Israeli troops, they suffer mistreatment and, in
fact, torture. Some examples are: being deprived of water [and
Palestine is very hot; when the body is deprived of fluids, an
excess of salt builds up in the kidneys and the pain can be
excruciating]; solitary confiement of prisoners; prisoners being
fettered; mistreatment of visiting relatives, including children.
RELIGIOUS ENMITY
Bullet marks can be seen on the
outside structure of the Dome of the Rock Mosque in Jerusalem!
Many mosques have been desecrated by Israeli troops.
BRIBERY
Bribery and corruption are used
by the Jews to turn Palestinian against Palestinian. The PLO has
publicly executed such traitors for informing the Israelis.
ECONOMIC DEPRIVATION
Ariel Sharon has publicly
declared his intention to turn the Palestinians into "a nation of
beggars". Routine labour for which the Palestinians were
previously employed is now done by specially-imported immigrants. Roadblocks,
checkpoint barriers and electric fences are regularly erected to impede
the earning of any livelihood by Palestinian civilians.
Palestinians suffer such economic hardship that a butcher was beaten up
for selling donkey meat as goat! Most Palestinians are lucky
enough to eat meat only once a year. Were it not for the
tremendous work done by Islamic and non-Islamic charities {please
see 'PRACTICAL HELP FOR PALESTINE' at the end of this article} and
the goodwill of some Islamic governments, all Palestinians would
starve! As it is, many thousands have already starved to death and
the majority go partially or completely hungry every day! It
seems that the Jews are imposing on the Palestinians the very
sufferings they experienced themselves in the Nazi concentration
camps during WW2. Here is just one example, out
of many thousands, to illustrate just how extremely
callous the Israeli are:
This e-mail message was passed
on by Muhammed Umar Chand chand786@xtra.co.nz
on 6 March 2003 13.41 +1300 GMT. Original message sent via e-mail
by Iman Badawi ecu@ün.org
badawiiman@hotmail.com
on 6 March 2003 13.10
Israeli Planes
Spray Toxic Chemicals On Negev Palestinians
SOUTHERN NEGEV, March 4, 2003 (IPC)- - Israeli light planes
carrying toxic chemicals raided today wide arable lands owned by
the southern Negev Palestinian inhabitants, and sprayed
these
prohibited chemicals over the area. Many residents, including
children were injured, as well as large numbers of cattle were
killed, in addition to the destruction of the crops that were
cultivated on these lands.
In a distributed press statement, of which IPC got a copy from,
the Al Andalus society in the Negev area, said that several
Israeli planes sprayed toxic chemicals over a wide area of
arable land owned by the inhabitants of the southern Negev, who
are mainly Bedouins and live on agriculture and raising cattle.
Eyewitnesses said that many children were
taken to nearby
hospitals for treatment, and medical sources described
their
condition between moderate and critical. The toxic materials
also caused the death of many cattle
heads, and caused gross
damages to a number of houses and cultivated lands.
The toxic substance is
known for its hazardous effects on human
life and destruction of environment for tens of years to come.
This raid is not the first of its kind in targeting native
Palestinians and their way of life. The 120,000 inhabitants,
most of which live in unrecognized and abandoned villages in the
desert, lack the most basic of services. Part of them are still
living in tents, as a way to express their objection to the
Israeli occupation's policies that aim to strip them off their
lands for a financial compensation, and then moving them to
villages with a totally different and unacceptable way of life.
These people still pay a large price for being on their land.
The society appealed to all the living consciences in the world
to urgently intervene and stop these Israeli barbaric acts of
racial extermination against the Palestinians in the Negev area.
They also called the media to shed some light over their
situations, as a part of the forgotten and marginalized Arab
population inside Israel, in order to expose the racist actions
committed against them.
=============================================
Fathi Tobail
Director
International Press Center
Gaza, Palestine
ZIONISM
How the Jews swamped Palestine
after the Second World War has already been mentioned above. The
Jewish settlements being built on the West Bank are illegal in the same
way that the very occupation of Palestine itself was. Israel has
attempted to annex parts of Lebanon. When Israeli troops win fresh
territory in war [victory is always guaranteed because America fights
too] - Golan Heights, Sinai Peninsula, south Lebanon - it is always
hard to induce the Jews to give the land back.
III]
THE CAUSES OF PALESTINIAN SUFFERING
American and British Support
for Israel
Of course, indiscriminate and
unjust Israeli military force and damaging socio-economic policies
are the direct cause of Palestinian suffering. But these could not
be implemented without the tacit and ostentatious support of the American
and British governments. But why would these two nations,
with their proud claims of being the defenders of peace and justice, be
parties to such blatant injustice? The answer lies in the
affecting of US and British foreign policy by political
manipulation by influential, indigenous Jewry. There is
no doubt that Jews are very powerful in these two countries, being
overrepresented [in relation to their indigenous populations] in
business & finance and the media, politics and the law. They
fill key positions in the U.S. Congress and the British Parliament.
American and British politicians must listen to their
Jewish colleagues because if they did not, their countries stand to lose
trillions of dollars' worth of investments if such investments
were withdrawn simultaneously. The world would definitely be
plunged into recession and depression. Moreover, the Jews of
Isreael are seen by the West as capable and Westernised
[indeed Jews have flocked to Palestine from Europe and America, in fact
from all over the world] in contrast to the backward and
unimportant Palestinians. So the Israelis can hold the West
to ransom: they can use modern, sophisticated weapons, designed for
strategic, military targets, on Palestinian households but
America and Britain won't criticise them for fear of a backlash from
their own important Jews. The Jewish-dominated press will report
the death of one Israeli soldier but will never publish the
picture of a Palestinian boy permanently disfigured by major and
extensive surgery after being partially burned alive by Israeli
rockets.
The Apathy of Muslim
Countries
By 'country' is meant here the
apathy of the government or regime, not of the Muslim
people of such a country.
Muslim countries, such as
Turkey [which is desperate to join the European Union and is already a
member of Nato] and Pakistan [which did not resist American pressure to
be a party to the bombing of innocent Afghan civilians e.g. those killed
at a wedding] do not have the true interests of the religion of
Islam at heart. They are only interested in national matters
and the need to keep their countries respectable in the eyes of the
West. So the mass murder of Palestinians does not concern
them enough to intervene because the Palestinians aren't their own
people. But one Muslim, if he is truly a Muslim, must feel
the grief and pain of another Muslim! It is incredible that
Palestinians should go hungry when there are so many opulent
Islamic nations! But these nations do not help the Palestinians
with much economic aid, perhaps because they do not care or perhaps
because to do so would be to set a precadent.
The Impotence of the United
Nations
There should have been the
major and prominent presence of UN troops in Palestine long before 1967. If
this had been the case, Israeli massacres of Palestinian women and
children at refugee camps such as Sabra and Chatila in the 1982
would have been prevented, as well as perhaps all the other
atrocities in the twenty odd years since then. If the nations
of the world really are united and if the UN is not merely a
puppet of America, then the UN troops should be in Palestine today
to ensure, for example, that Israeli soldiers do not shoot Palestinian children
and youths for sport and that missiles and tanks are not used on
Palestinian homes. The UN must also inspect Israel's
arsenal regularly to ensure that its weapons comply with
international conventions [for example, Israel has not often been accused
of stockpiling nucleur weapons, or even of having them in the first
place, yet it has hundreds of atom bombs - no doubt provided by
the ever-constant generosity of America].
The Hostility of NATO
If NATO -ie America, mainly- is
not hostile to the Palestinians, then why does it not impose no-fly
zones on Israeli aircraft to prevent regular and numerous innocent,
Palestinian casualties dying in their own homes?
The Fear of European
Countries
Though the Jewish military
inflicts premeditated and severe massacres on Palestinians,
powerful European countries, which could keep America and Israel in
check, are restrained by the terms of bindinding political agenda:
Russia is now economically dependent on America, Germany dare not
criticise Israel for fear that its Nazi past be raked up, Britain
is of course closely allied to America, and France, presumably,
does not want to upset Britain and America. Minor countries
within the EU -eg Belgium- probably don't feel powerful enough and,
in any case, would not want to be stigmatised as pro-Palestinian and
then politically ostracised.
American Military and
Personnel Support for Israel
Arab countries such as Syria
and Jordan cannot invade Palestine and forcibly give the land
back to the Palestinians - they did try in 1967 and again in 1973 but
failed miserably. They will always fail miserably in any
military conflict. Why? Because America fights with, and
for, Israel. Look at the populations of the countries concerned:
Syria - 16.3 million, Jordan - 5.4 million, Lebanon - 3.5 million, USA -
275.5 million! The Arab countries' military capacity is easily
outweighed by that of America with its huge population, massive land
area and surplus of natural resources. Moreover, the arms the
Arabs are likely to use have been bought from the West! Even if
the Arab countries had the technology to produce weapons, they could not
hope to compete with the production rates of America.
iv THE
EFFECTS
'Suicide' Bombings in
Palestine
The severe Jewish injustices highlighted
above have led to the Palestinian 'Íntifada' and encouraged
international Islamic guerilla factions to step up assistance to their
Palestinian counterparts. Whereas the West considers martyrs to be
'suicide bombers', the Islamic world considers them to be, indeed,
martyrs. 'Suicide' can be defined as the act of 'énding one's
life in an evil way' ie without the Permission or
Authority of God. But to die in an act of holy war is 'to forsake
one's life for the greater good of one's faith and community'.
Suicide leads to Hell but sacrifice leads to Paradise. To
make a decision to forsake one's life is not easy: after all, all of us
would ultimately prefer life to death. But the Palestinian
guerillas die in an act of war, not kill themselves because of some
melancholy! Why? Islam does not teach Muslims to be servile
to non-Muslims. According to Islamic teachings, death with honour
is preferable to a life of servitude. What Sharon is trying to do
is to humiliate the Palestinians and break their spirit.
But he will not be successful. America and Israel combined,
indeed all the non-Muslim countries of the world united, will
not humble the Palestinians into believing that they are second-class
because of their religion. Unless the US and Israel keep this in
mind when negotiating with Arafat, violence will continue to escalate.
International Islamic
Support for the Palestinans
The plight of the Palestinians
will continue to attract support from other Islamic nations because, in
Islam, the suffering of one Muslim is the suffering of the entire ummah
(community). Islamic countries as diverse as Indonesia
and Iran are angry that Israel -backed by Britain and America-
treats the Palestinians so harshly. Continued global polarisation
of Islamic sympathies and political unity amongst Muslim countries are
likely to spell big trouble for the current world order in the future
unless the West changes its foreign policy.
v THE
SOLUTION
Britain and America need to be
fair. That means helping to set up a Palestinian state alongside
Israel and then arming that state, giving it economic priveleges, and
political precedence, in exactly the same way as Israel.
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ACKNOWLEDGENTS
I praise Allah Most High
for Inspiring me to write this article by means of a message
in a holy dream!
Many thanks to Ms Reedah
Najabat, Founder and CEO of ArRum www.arrum.co.uk
, for suggesting that I write a section relating to Palestine for
THE DR AZAM WEBSITE www.dr-umar-azam.com
Thanks, too, for the
many other visitors who have similarly expressed the need for an article
on the Palestinian issue. I hope you all find this
article interesting and useful.
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PRACTICAL
HELP FOR PALESTINE
Let us pray that a
favourable solution to the problems of our brother and sister Muslims in
Palestine is reached soon, Insha'Allah! Allahumma Ameen!
Let us all, as Muslims, say a big "thank you" to non-Muslim
aid agencies for their help in providing food, medical aid, medicines,
tents and refugee assistance skills to the Palestinians over the years.
Your help is much appreciated.
Many thanks to the Relief Agency of the UN.
To all the Muslim countries who have provided a haven for Palestinian
refugees, JAZAKALLAH KHAIR - May Allah similarly remove your distress on
the Day of Judgement!
JAZAKALLAH KHAIR to all the Muslim aid agencies who work
tirelessly all year round and especially at the auspicious occasions of
THE HOLY MONTH OF RAMADHAM, EID UL-FITR and EID AL-ADHA [or EID EL-KABIR]
to collect charity contributions and donate these to the needy
Palestinian families.
It is, of course, wonderful that we -the public- help the Palestinians
in Ramadhan and at Eid. This is commendable, but the sufferings,
hardship and persecution of Palestinians persist all year round, so we
should help at any time of the year, whenever we are able to, with
whatever amount of money we can afford to. How do we help?
In 2002, INTERPAL
arranged for 15,000 Qurbanis on behalf of donors and 15 charitable
organisations worldwide. Almost £150,000 ($225,00) was spent on
Qurbanis inside Palestine, Jordan and Lebanon, and £300,000 ($450,000)
was expended on Qurbanis performed abroad, the food being frozen or
canned, and then shipped for distribution to Palestinians in need.
According to figures
supplied by the INTERPAL PALESTINIAN RELIEF AND DEVELOPMENT FUND:
A) £45 ($67.5) PAID FOR ONE QURBANI
B)
£25 ($37.5) PROVIDED THE GIFT OF FOOD FOR
A POOR FAMILY OR 2 ORPHANS/NEEDY CHILDREN
C) £10 ($15) PAID FOR 2KG OF MEAT
D)
£175 ($262.5) PAID FOR A QURBANI IN SUPPORT OF LOCAL FARMERS
E) £100 ($150) PAID FOR ONE SHARE OF A COW
F) £10 ($15) ALSO PAID FOR ADMINISTRATION/SHIPMENT CHARGES FOR EACH
QURBANI [MEAT IS CANNED/PACKED/SHIPPED AS FROZEN CUTS].
Making
a formal declaration [just fill in the simple form INTERPAL
will provide] will let INTERPAL reclaim tax on all donations made, applicable
to the financial laws of the country concerned.
CHARITIES' DETAILS
NOTE: These
addresses are in the UK. Please check your country's
direcories or the Internet itself for the addresses in your
particular country. If you are visiting this site from the
UK, please see the MUSLIM DIRECTORY for more addresses [a link has
been provided in the 'LINKS' section of this Website.
INTERPAL, PO BOX 3333, LONDON NW6 IRW
TEL. 020
8450 8002
FAX 020 8450 8004
WEBSITE www.interpal.org
ISLAMIC
RELIEF HEADQUARTERS: 19 REA ST SOUTH,
BIRMINGHAM B5 6LB Address for donations:
ISLAMIC RELIEF, PO BOX 8237 BIRMINGHAM B5 6LA
TEL. 0121 605 5555
WEBSITE: www.islamic-relief.com
FAMILIES' RELIEF 93, THE
BROADWAY, WEST EALING, LONDON W13 9BP TEL/FAX 020 8567
3081 WEBSITE: www.familiesrelief.org
MUSLIM
AID PO BOX 3 LONDON NW1 7UB TEL. 020
7387 7171 WEBSITE: www.muslimaid.org.uk
PALESTINIAN RETURN CENTRE CROWN HOUSE,
NORTH CIRCULAR ROAD, LONDON NW10 7PN TEL. 020 8453 0919
WEBSITE: www.palestinianrefugees.com
THE
GREEN CRESCENT PO BOX 6155, NOTTINGHAM NG2 4NE
TEL. 0115 911 3275
ISLAMIC
RELIEF AGENCY ORPHAN FUND PO BOX 1301, CAMP HILL,
BIRMINGHAM B11 1PQ
WEBSITE: www.isra-uk.org
MUSLIM
HANDS 148-164, GREGORY BOULEVARD, NOTTINGHAM NG7 5JE
TEL. 0115 911 7222
MUSLIM
CARE 206-208, BRICK LANE, LONDON E1 6SA TEL.
020 7613 0772 WEBSITE: www.Care.mcmail.com
MERCY UNIVERSAL PO BOX 81, GREENFORD UB6 9YW
TEL. 020 8575 5999 WEBSITE: www.mercyuniversal.com
ISLAMIC
AID FREEPOST [LON 18223] LONDON E17 8EN
TEL. 0709 227 6230 / 0870 746 1380 WEBSITE: www.islamicaid.org.uk
***************************************************
PLEASE DO USE
THESE WEBSITES:
www.relief-web.int/hic-opt
www.aqsa.org.uk
www.palnet.com
www.pcrf.net
www.islamic-charity.com
www.refugeetrust.org
www.mideastweb.org
www.pcrf.net
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Readers' Comments
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