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 [email protected] on 6 March 2003 13.41 +1300 GMT.  Original message sent via e-mail by Iman Badawi ecu@�n.org           [email protected]      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 '�ntifada' 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 '�nding 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

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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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