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.
*******************************************************************
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 http://www.arrum.co.uk/ ,
for suggesting that I write a section relating to
Palestine for THE DR AZAM WEBSITE http://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.
**********************************************************************
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 http://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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