By Fatimah Beig

“I feel so frustrated and angry...No one’s fine. In my city, we have Israeli tanks on the borders. They’re 15 minutes from my house. We’ve been hearing shooting and helicopters 24 hours a day since the demonstrations started.”

These are the words of a young girl, our sister in Islam, Dina Jaber. Her words are a first hand account of what has transpired in the past three months in Palestine. Living in America, we probably cannot truly imagine or visualize what our brothers and sisters are facing in the world today. We cannot imagine or claim to understand the pain they have endured. While the "Arab League" is bickering about whether cutting relations with Israel will affect their economy in a negative way, our courageous brothers and sisters in Indonesia, Italy, Eqypt, Syria, Iraq, Germany, Jordan, Tunisia, Morocco, Sweden, Pakistan, etc., are taking the streets to voice their anger towards Israel and the United States. In Morocco, one million people passionately demonstrated against the Israeli government’s inhumane treatment of the Palestinians, in a country that is considered America’s ally. The so-called Muslim leaders of the world are feeling the unrelenting pressure of the people to do something now. (Broder)

This grave situation may leave one to wonder how a people who themselves were so severely persecuted during the holocaust can take part in a genocide of innocent Muslim civilians. So quickly they forgot that it was the Muslims who took the Jews into refuge in Muslim Spain, and how they were able to live in peace. The Jews were free of persecution, oppression and discrimination in Muslim Spain. According to Jewish historians, it was the golden age of Jewish history. The world will never be made to forget the Holocaust in which Jews were killed and driven out of their homes. In September 1998, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency reported 3,521,140 registered Palestinian refugees (AMJ report). Most of these people have been refugees for decades! The truth of the matter now is that the oppressed are now the oppressors.

The Palestinian economy has been crashing. The unemployment has tripled to at least 40 percent and almost half the population lives on less than $2 a day (Jenson). The Palestinians are at the brink of living in severe poverty.

The United States refuses to acknowledge that war criminal Ariel Sharon, who is responsible for the massacre of 20,000 Muslims in Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon, provoked the violence that preceded his visit to Masjid Al Aqsa with 1,000 armed soldiers. Prime Minister Barak is just as much responsible for this provocation for allowing Ariel Sharon to enter Masjid Aqsa. Surely both men must have known that this arrogant act would incite massive chaos and violence. Such a thing is inevitable to happen.

Most Americans do not know about the real situation in Israel. They are not aware that the Palestinians are being deprived of their basic human rights. "Americans, of course, don't know what it's like to live under military occupation" (Reese).

Americans think that the Palestinians are the aggressors and the Israelis, the victims. This is because the biased American media has made it seem as though this is true. I guess it takes a really smart person to wonder, "Hey, why are the Israelis using missiles and tanks on people who are defending themselves with rocks? Is it really necessary?" I have heard first hand accounts by non-Muslim Americans and Muslims alike about the situation in Palestine because they have seen it with their own eyes. I have seen the so-called "rubber bullets" which are nothing like rubber at all.

The Palestinians are being treated like the Native Americans who were put in reservations by the U.S. government. They cannot move about in their own land. They are being shot down in their own balconies! Little courageous children are running away from their parents to fight (with rocks) against the Israeli army! The American media has the audacity to claim that Palestinian parents are sending their children in the streets to throw rocks. What mother would want her child to die by ruthless Israeli soldiers?

Despite U.N. resolutions, Israel continues to refuse to allow refugees to return to their homes. Israel continues to ignore U.N. resolutions to leave their illegally occupied territories and Israel continues to refuse U.N. authorities to enter to investigate the crimes that the Israelis are committing against the Palestinians.

“I believe in peace, but there is a difference when we’re talking about the Israeli soldiers and when we are talking about the citizens…the Israeli soldiers are using guns, tanks and helicopters. They’ve been using bullets (made in the USA) that are forbidden in other countries. And they’ve been pointing their guns at people’s heads, eyes and necks. That means they’re killing. If you want to shoot at protestors to get them to stop throwing stones, you should shoot at their hands and arms.” (Dina)

Israel's Ha'aretz newspaper reported last week that a growing number of Israeli soldiers are beginning to wonder if they really are guilty of overkill against the Palestinians (Jensen).

“Israeli soldiers, who have disobeyed every human rights commitment by firing on rioters with live rounds are respectfully called the "Israeli security forces", disregarding the fact that "security" is the one thing Israeli soldiers are clearly unable to provide” (Fisk).

The U.S. media coverage of the current conflict in Palestine has, for the most part, been outrageously biased against the Palestinians and in favor of Israel. The United States has given a pass to Israel even though the U.S. is a great a devastator to other countries that behave badly. “The American government's deliberately blind eye to the abuse of Palestinian human rights is certainly an injustice” (Reese). Ally or no ally, if U.S. really wants to be an honest broker and the super power of the world, the U.S. must condemn Israel for its killings of over 315 Palestinian civilians in a period of three months. Why is the U.S. ignoring U.N. resolutions? What is the point of the U.N. if the U.S. can override or ignore any resolution they come up with? If Iraq was wrong on Kuwait, then Israel is wrong on Jerusalem! The actions of the American government make me ashamed to call myself an American citizen. Americans should raise their voices against our government’s unjust policy in the Middle East.

Palestinian people have God-given rights like all other human beings. They have the right to be free of fear, free from occupation, free from discrimination, free from persecution, free to live in peace, they have a right to BE free! They have the right to their ancestral lands, and their homes. They have the right to protest against injustice and oppression. If the Israeli government continues to act inhumane, cruel, and unjust, the conflict will never die. The Palestinians must get back what is rightfully theirs. Then and only then there will be peace in that region, Insha Allah.

Dear brothers and sisters, Masjid Al Aqsa is of great significance to Muslims. Allah says in the Holy Qur’an, “Glorified be He (God) who took his servant (Muhammad) for a journey by night from Masjid Al-Haram to Masjid Al- Aqsa, whose precincts we have blessed…” (Qur’an 17:1) Our prayers should be with the Palestinians every single day, in every single Salah that we perform. Let us remember that our brothers and sisters are the chief defenders of Masjid Al Aqsa. To a man who recently visited Jerusalem, a Palestinian said to him, "We are alright, we have a will of iron." Subhan Allah! May Allah (swt) continue to give them the will to fight on until justice is achieved! Let us pray that may Allah (swt) grant those that have already lost their lives during this time, Jannah tul Firdos. May Allah (swt) heal the sufferings that the Muslims are facing throughout the world. May Allah (swt) save Masjid Al Aqsa and grant victory to the Muslims because He alone is able to make the Muslims victorious. Ameen.

Sources: American Muslims for Jerusalem- United to Save Jerusalem (AMJ report)
Charley Reese Column- orlandosentinel.com
Robert Fisk articles- commondreams.org
Holger Jenson Column- http://www.rockymountainnews.com/jensen
Jonathan Broder- http://www.foxnews.com/world/israel/1017_broder.sml
Dina’s Quotes- Long Island Newsday, October 2000
Jumuah Magazine- 2000