Massacre in the land of the prophets

Believers are being massacred in the Land of Prophets by the "progeny" of those who challenged the Prophets.  How pained are people of conscience by this orchestrated tragedy, by the orphaning of thousands of children, by the killing of innocent civilians, by the humiliation suffered by chaste mothers and daughters, by the destruction of towns and villagers and the bulldozing of homes.

WHAT A SHAME

How angered are people of conscience by the arrogance of the Zionist occupiers, how disgusted by the unashamed bias of much of the Western world towards Israel, how disappointed at the impotence of the Arab rulers, how dejected at the inability of the Ummah to rise beyond petty differences and work for the common welfare of the Global Community of Faith.  While so many of the self-righteous amongst us are concerned about the aqidah (beliefs) of one another, the Zionist are equally brutalizing the Sunni, the Sufi, the Shia, the Salafi, the Hanafi, the Shafi...  in the occupied territories.  They make no distinction, only we do; in the process, nobody gains but our common enemies.  We are weakened by our divisions; they are strengthened by our disunity.

DISTRACTIVE TERMS, DESTRUCTIVE RESULTS

The most common term used by mainstream Western media in reference to the Middle East is "terrorism."  Vilifying the Palestinians as terrorists distracts from the fact that the Israelis are occupiers, and are a blatant manifestation of flagrant state terrorism.  "Peaceful occupation" of Palestinian land by foreign Zionist settlers is a contradiction in terms.  Such occupation cannot be tolerable and should not be tolerated.  Expecting people to live restricted and under oppression in their own land, deprived of their political rights, denied their human dignity is both unacceptable and immoral.

Over 140 buildings, most multifamily dwellings, were completely destroyed (green) in Jenin and more than 200 others (red) were seriously damaged . Hawashin district, where more than 100 buildings were razed, is at the center of the map. (Human Rights Watch)

WORDS OF OTHERS THAT ECHO THROUGH MY HEART

Words of Sarah Shields (Professor of Middle East History at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill).

Dear Dad,

It was an enormously heavy responsibility you raised me with.  You taught me that the Jews have been oppressed for centuries.  You taught me that the holocaust could only happen because the Germans were silent.  You taught me that Jews must never, never, never be silent when injustice occurs, because our silence makes us complicit.

It is a heavy responsibility I carry now.  Because now I am complicit.  I have not stood in front of the tanks that our killing other mothers' children in refugee camps.  I have not ridden in ambulances to help them get past checkpoints so that the injured could be cured.  I have not laid in front of the bulldozers to prevent their destroying a family's shelter.

What can I do about this injustice?

Beatings.  Tauntings.  Killings.  Arrests without charge.  Torture.  Threatening parents in front of children.  Stepping on prisoners trying to move between checkpoints.  Strip searches.  The use of power to humiliate.

When people are humiliated, and have no homes to return to because the homes have been destroyed by the occupying army, When people are humiliated, and have no family to hold them in their arms because they have been shot and unable to get medical care, When people are humiliated, and have no hope for the future, They see no alternative to violence.

Dad, we have become the oppressors.

WORDS OF A SOLDIER OF CONSCIENCE

Words of Sergio Yahni (Soldier, Imprisoned on March 19, 2002 for refusing to fight in Israeli army)

I will not serve in your army.  You army that calls itself the "Israeli Defense Force," is nothing more than the armed wing of the settlement movement.  This army does not exist to bring security to the citizens of Israel, it exists to guarantee the continuation of the theft of Palestinian land.  As a Jew, I am repelled by the crimes this militia commits against the Palestinian people.

It is both my Jewish and human duty to resolutely refuse to take any part in this army.  As the son of a people victim to pogroms and destruction, I cannot be a part of your insane policies.  As a human being, it is my duty to refuse to participate in any institution, which commits crimes against humanity.

TEARS, IS THAT ALL?

O Palestinians, we weep at your tragic predicament.  We have become so accustomed to weeping recently; weeping for Kashmir, Bosnia, Chechnya, Kosovo... But of what use is the weeping?

Imam Saadullah Khan is a Prof. Islamic Studies, Cal State University in Dominguez Hills, California.