Our Beloved Palestine
- The ancient land of Palestine is located on the East Coast of the Mediterranean Sea. It is West of Jordan, South of Lebanon, north Of Egypt, and Syria lies to its East. It forms the link between Asia and Africa and it is near to Europe. Its territory covers not more than 27,000 square kilometers but it contains much of the Fertile Cresent. Its temperate climate makes it a haven of natural richness and abundance of resources. This other small country, holds the key to world peace.
Glittering History
- Nine thousand years BC in the land of Palestine, man turned his hand to agriculture and found peace and stability. One of the most ancient cities in history namely, Ariha (Jericho), was established eight thousand years ago in the land of Palestine. Accordingly, this blessed land set the pattern by being one of the most cultured and civilized countries in the ancient word.
- The Glorious Qur'an considers Palestine as a holy land and a blessed area where in lies al-Aqsa Mosque was the blessed place to which Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was granted al-Isra' (the night Journey) and from which the al-Mi'raj journey began. It was also the first Qiblah in Islam, before al-Ka'bah, to which the Prophet (pbuh) asked his followers to face while performing prayers. Al-Alqa Mosque occupies a great status in Islam, second only to the Sacred Mosque in Makkah and the Mosque of the Prophet (pbuh) in Madinah. Being the land wherein many prophets were born and on which they grew up and spread the call of Islam, Palestine is ascribed as "The Land of the Prophets'. Islam, the religion of truth, teaches us that Palestine is the place wherein all mankind will be resurrected on the Day of Judgement. It is also the homeland of the Victorious Group, who would remain truthful and steadfast in their obedience to Allah until the day of Judgement. Whoever lives in this land, will be rewarded in the same way as tose who fight in the cause of Allah, so long as they undergo these hardships for His sake.
- As the Jews and the Christians share in the Prophets of Islam, they also consider Palestine as an integral part of their culture and identity. The Jews mistakenly consider Palestine as their promised land. They see it as the core of their history, the sepulcher of their prophets, and the center of their remains located in al-Quds (Jerusalem) and al-Khalil (Hebron). On the other hand, the Christians consider Palestine as a holy place, for it was the birthplace of Prophet 'Isa (pbuh) and still contains their central religious sites located in al-Quds, Bethlehem, and an-Nasirah.
- Throughout the course of history, many kings and rulers from among the Prophets of Islam, such as Dawud and Sulayman, were granted power in Palestine by Allah, the Almighty. Their successors, however, departed from the right path, twisted the meanings of the scriptures, killed the prophets, and drew the wrath of Allah on themselves. Allah mentions the Children of Israel in the Qur'an,
(And remember when) your Lord declared that He would certainly keep on sending against them (i.e. the Jews) till the Day of Resurrection, those who would afflict them with a humiliating torment. Verily, your Lord is Quick in Retribution (for the disobedient, wicked) and certainly He is Oft Forgiving, Most Merciful (for the obedient and those who beg Allah's Forgiveness.) (Al-A'raf:167)
Thus, we see that until today, the stones of Muslim children humiliate the Jews who, in their delusion answer rocks with guns and tanks, so they can feel safe.
The Muslims, due to their obedience to Allah, are the worthiest people to govern Palestine since they are the real successors and faithful inheritors of the message of Dawud and Sulayman and the other prophets. Only the Muslims have been enjoined to love and respect all the prophets of Allah. The Qur'an clearly states,
( The Messenger believes in what has been sent down to him from his lord, and (so do) the believers. Each one believes in Allah His Angels, His Books, and His Messenger. They say, We make no distinction between one another of His Messenger' - and they say, We hear, and we obey. We seek Your Forgiveness, our Lard, and to You is the return." (Al-Baqarah:285)
- Unlike the Muslim rulers, who ruled Justly and lived in peace with each other in Palestine, the Jews and the Christians during their rule, adopted a system that rejected the followers of all other religions and subjected them to torture.
Palestine: an Islamic Identity
- The people of Canaan, who moved from the Arabian Peninsula to dwell in Palestine. composed its original residents 4,500 years ago. They named it "The Land of Canaan" and became, along with some others tribes, the ancestors of the Palestinians of today. With the advent of Islam, since the fifth year of Hijrah, (636) the identity of Palestine has been assured and stamped with its Islamic essence until this very moment.
- The Muslims continuously reaffirm their inalienable rights over the land of Palestine. Now, by virtue of natural, historical and legal Rights, and the sacrifices of successive generation, who resided in this land not less than 1,500 years before the Jews declared it their state. they have thenceforth sacrificed themselves in defense of their freedom and the independence of their homeland-Palestine is an Arab Muslim Land, historically and religiously. Throughout the course of history, Palestine came under the control of many different nations and rulers. The Jews, who ruled only a few parts of Palestine, remained in Power for a period not more than four centuries (1,000-580 BD). Then, they were overpowered and crushed as well as the Syrians, the Pharaohs, and the Romans. The Jews' relation with Palestine practically detached for about 1,800 years (namely from 135 AD. until the twentieth Century). During this long period, the Jews failed to have any impact or presence in any field whether political or cultural. Even Jewish teachings forbade its followers from returning to Palestine. Islamic rule proved to be the longest and the most effective from among all those systems. It began in 636 AD and continued until 1917 AD, except for the period of the Crusades, which lasted for about 90 years when the Christians were ousted.
A Witness from their Folk
It is worth mentioning that according to recent studies of some contemporary Jewish researchers, more than 80% of the present Jews in Palestine have no historical relation to this Holy Land nor any ties with the Children of Israel themselves. Those severed people, in fact, belong to certain tribes, which had settled in the north of the Caucasus and converted to Judaism in the eighth century. Therefore, their 'promised land' would have to be the South of Russia. It would be interesting to see the response should they proclaim the South of Russia as their unalienable right and promised land! How strange is the reasoning of some human beings, who allege that they are closely connected to Palestine, and that it belongs to them, while their ancestors refused to enter it when Prophet Musa (pbuh) ordered them to join him on their return to the Sacred Land. Most of them refused to leave Babylon and return to Palestine. The Jews, who occupied Palestine, represent no more than 40% of the Jews all over the world.
Palestine and Zionism
- Zionism is a movement that aims to unite the Jews of the Diaspora and settle them in Palestine; it arose in the late 19th century and culminated in the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. The movement's name is derived from Zion, the hill on which the Temple of Jerusalem was located. It came in the wake of successive circumstances. In the all 1700s, the Haskalah (Hebrew for 'enlightenment') movement marked the beginning of a trend towards Jewish assimilation into European and Christian society. This assimilation proved to be a failure. In the second half of the 1800s, the Jews experienced many problems in Eastern Europe when anti-Jewish parties emerged in Germany and Austria-Hungary. Also, in Russia, Bpogroms (anti-Jewish riots) spread across the country. A large number of Russian Jews migrated to the West, primarily to the United States. A smaller number went to Palestine, which was then under Turkish rule. They were welcomed, as it is a fundamental part of Islam that Jews and Christians can co-exist in a Muslim land. In the United States and Europe, the Jews gradually, through their conniving, had a hand in gaining the reins of power.
- In August 1897, Theodore Herzl, a Hungarian-Jewish journalist, established the World Zionist Organization (WZO) in Switzerland. Until World War II, it attained none of its main objectives. Now, its success depends on the failure of the Arab people to restore and preserve their rights. In one way or another, all Zionists have the same objectives, and all members, who participated in this dilemma (i.e. WZO), strive to attain these objectives even though they are different in nature and methodology. American Congress formulated a program defining Zionism's goal as the 'Creation of a home for the Jewish people in Palestine secured by public law.' It spared no effort to establish branches in every country having a substantial Jewish population. Herzl made efforts to acquire land and financial backing for the new state.
- Undoubtedly the idea of establishing a Jewish entity posed a danger for Muslim countries. By dividing Asian and African Muslim countries into two separate parts, the Jews, in the guise of Western power, renders each part separate in order to weaken the whole Ummah and slow down the process of any kind of revival. It also blocks the means of Islamic Power, which culminates under the Caliphate. In the balance of power, the weaker the Islamic countries are, the more powerful the Jewish entity will be.
Palestine and the Zionist Project
- In May 1916, Britain and France signed the Sykes-Picot Agreement, which divided the Arab region into zones of influence. Lebanon and Syria were assigned to France, Jordan and Iraq to Britain while Palestine was to be internationalized. In November 1917, Britain adopted the Zionist Project. Lord Balfour, who was then the British Foreign Secretary, sent a letter to the Zionist leader Lord Rothschild, which later became known as "The Balfour Declaration". Lord Balfour stated that Britain would use its best endeavors to facilitate the establishment of a national homeland for the Jews in Palestine. In this way, Britain renounced its previously made promise to the Arab of granting them independence and freedom, which it had declared, to ash-Sharif Hussein, the leader and spokesman of the Arabs at that time.
In April 1920, the San Remo Conference granted Britain a mandate over Palestine and two years later, in July 1922, Palestine became effectively under British administration since the Council of the League of Nations issued a Mandate for Britain over Palestine. The Mandate was in favor of the establishment of a homeland for the Jews in Palestine.
During the British mandate over Palestine (1918-1948), the number of Jews in Palestine grew from 55,000 in 1918 to 646,000 in 1948 (most of whom were refugees of Nazi persecution in Europe). Eventually, they comprised 31% of the country's population after having been only 8%. With the help of Britain, Jewish occupation of Palestinian territories increased from 500 dunam i.e. 2% of the land, to 1,800,000 dunam i.e. 6,7% of the country. Meanwhile, the world simply stood back and watched! Despite the odds, the Palestinian nation pressed on, trying to retain its land and identity regardless.
America itself has many migrant minority groups. What would be the response from America, should one of its migrant groups rise up and proclaim ownership of the country, based on some ineffectual religious guises! This is what happened in Palestine, and the international response was mute. There was no problem for Palestine to bear a situation that any other country would find completely intolerable.
The Jews, on the other hand, managed to set up their economic, political, military, social, and educational foundation and by 1948, they had established 292 settlements formed military forces consisting of 70,000 soldiers and prepared themselves to announce their state. They were not alone; they had all the major sources of Western power to help them.
- All this conjuring was done to deprive the Palestinian people of their political independence. Although the Jews maliciously schemed their plot against the Palestinian nation, for they couldn't do it openly as no right minded person would accept their conniving, the people of Palestine continued to defend their land and retain their own identity. (Whenever public opinion began to swing against the Jews, a new series of propaganda would be launched including films about the holocaust, and antiquated war criminal trials and tirades about anti-Semitism. The public nodded its collective head in naive approval, forgetting the holocaust of innocent Palestinians and modern day Jewish war criminals whose hands bore the blood of innocent people. People whose only crime was to stand in the way of Jewish political ambitions.)
- Palestinians rejected British occupation and the Zionist project and began their unyielding protests and uprisings. The leaders of Islamic and national movements, headed by Amin al-Hussaini mobilized the people against this oppressive occupation. There was the al-Quds revolution 1920, the Yafa revolution 1921, the al-Buraq revolution 1929, the October revolution 1933, the movement emergence of al-Qassam, and the of the Holy Jihad Organization. Recurrent riots in the 1920s culminated in a full-scale rebellion from 1936 to 1939. In 1939, on the eve of World War II, the British government, in its White Book, changed its policy towards Palestine in an effort to appease the Arab world. It promised, under exceeding pressure to establish a Palestinian state within ten years, terminate its commitment to sell Palestinian lands to the Jews, and stop Jewish immigration to Palestine within five years. Yet again, they renounced their commitments in 1945, and the Jewish project was renewed under the supervision of the US, who remains their most staunch ally until today.
Declaring the Zionist Entity
- On 29 November 1947, the United Nations General Assembly issued resolution No. 181, which approved the partition of Palestine into two states. According to this resolution the Palestinians, who accounted for 70% of the population and owned 92% of the land, were allocated 45% of the country while the Jews were allocated 54% of the land, and al-Quds area, which accounted for 1%, was declared to be an international area. Though the resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly is not binding on nations, these resolutions were enforced and at the same time, they did not move in parallel with the principles of the United Nations, which clearly states that all nations have the unalienable right to self-determination. Furthermore, they did not consult the Palestinian people, who are the central point of the debate. They stood back and watched as affliction fell upon the people of Palestine. All of this, in the name of justice and freedom?!
- On the evening of 14 May 1948, the state of Israel was declared. They defeated the Arab forces, which were lacking in leadership and experience. The Zionists occupied about 77% of Palestinian land, exiled more than 800,000 out of 925,000 of the Palestinian people, annihilated 478 Palestinian villages out of 585, and committed 34 massacres against the Palestinians. Jordan on the West Bank supervised what remained of Palestinian territories, while the Gaza Strip was under Egyptian management. On its part, the United Nations accepted the membership of Israel despite its own professed principles, provided that the latter confers the right of return to Palestinian refugees. Something that has never been accomplished and something that Israel has never had to answer for!
The Arab Response
- The period between 1948 and 1967 was a transitional stage during which two main slogans prevailed, "Battle Nationalization" and "Unity Is the Way to Liberation". The Arab regimes headed by the Egyptian leader Nasser, for various reasons, devoted themselves to the defense of the Palestinian issue. Palestinian leaders paved the way before the Arab solution. However, Arab leadership failed to produce a sound methodology and the intention to fight and sacrifice for the truth. At the same time, the Zionist entity increased its power and forces with the help and support of Western powers.
- The Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) headed by Ahmad ash-Shaqanqiri was established in 1964. This newborn organization was supported by Nasser, who feared that he might be unable to master the issue as before, especially with the advent of the secret and open organizations in Palestine such as "Fath Organization" established in 1957. The PLO aspired to liberate Palestine through armed revolt. The People of Palestine welcomed this newborn organization as it symbolized the Palestinian identity and revived its spirit. In 1968, Palestinian organizations consolidated under the name and flag of the PLO. This new union was headed by Yasser Arafat, who was also the chairman of Fat'h Organization.
In 1974, the Arab Summit in Rabat recognized the PLO as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. At the United Nations General Assembly, the UN gave the PLO 'observer status' at the United Nations. Therefore, they officially became a people with no voice.
The War of the 1967 and its Impact
- The result of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war was severe since Israel seized the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, the Syrian Golan Heights and the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula. Also, approximately 330,000 Palestinians were forced to leave the West Bank and the Gaza Strip for Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Egypt. More camps were constructed to absorb this large number of refugees.
- The military victory scored by Israel against the Arab armies encouraged it to annex more Palestinian territories. Air raids forced thousands of Palestinians to flee their villages and towns to seek shelter out of the range of vicious arbitrary Israeli artillery bombardment, to more secure areas like Ramallah and Ariha cities. More than 70% of the West Bank was overcome to build new Jewish settlements. The Zionists also confiscated 30% of the Gaza Strip in order to establish 14 settlements. The Zionists entity not only deprived the Palestinians from the right of return to their own land, but they also allowed a massive wave of Jewish immigration, to the extent that more than 2,800,000 Jewish settlers entered Palestine in the era between 1949 and 2000. The Jewish population, as a result, reached 5,000,000.
- The Zionists concentrated on transforming al-Quds into a Jewish city. They overpowered 86% of the whole area and allowed new settlers to inhabit it. They isolated East Jerusalem from the Islamic and Arab world. The area of East Jerusalem contains approximately 200,000 Jews. They declared al-Quds their everlasting Capital for their allied state. Furthermore, they confiscated the Western wall of al-Aqsa Mosque (the wall of al-Buraq) and destroyed all the districts near it. They continued and expanded their reign of destruction until they started digging under al-Aqsa Mosque. Four of the trenches they have dug present the most danger, as they might lead to the destruction of the mosque at any time. Underground Jewish terrorist groups initiated more than 112 attacks against al-Aqsa Mosque (of which 72 occurred after the 1993 Oslo Agreement).
The most famous attack was when the Jews burned al-Aqsa Mosque on 21 August 1969.
Palestinian Refugees
- As mentioned above, the turbulent political conditions that prevailed in Palestine during the period from 1920 up to 1948, significantly contributed to the displacement of approximately 750,000 Palestinians from their home to become refugees, living in camps in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, and Jordan.
The refugees, on their part, strongly insisted on having their right of return. They rejected all the (approx. 243) projects that planned to force them to live outside their homeland. The United Nations issued many resolutions but none of them was put into action as the Jewish entity refused to apply any, and the powerful Western countries pandered to Israeli whims and did not oblige Israel to fulfill these resolutions. There are over 5,000,000 refugees, who were forced to leave Palestine along with their children, seeking refuge in neighboring Arab countries, which is ironically about the same as the Jewish population in Palestine! In fact, the plight of Palestinian refugees is one of the permanent status issues that have yet to be dealt with.
- The UN has dealt with the Palestinian issue as a refugee' issue since 1949 up to 1970s. Since 1974, the United Nations General Assembly, in many of its resolutions, regarded the refugees, affirmed their right to self-determination and the legitimacy of their struggle and armed revolt. The UN considered Zionism as a form of apartheid. The fate of the refugees, however was, and still is, widely ignored through the empty rhetoric and twisted techniques and unjust laws of the US and Israel.
Palestinian Resistance
- The period from 1967 up to 1970 was the golden period for armed Palestinian Resistance. Since 1971, Palestinian Resistance was not allowed to make use of Jordanian land, so it concentrated its activities in Lebanon.
This opportunity, however, did not last for long as Palestinian Resistance faced many schemes aimed at uprooting it during the period of the Lebanese Civil War 1975-1990. The Palestinians, until now, are expected to be oppressed, and accept their lot thankfully and quietly, without resistance. The Zionist enemy caused the destruction of the infrastructure of the PLO. and in the wake of its occupation of southern Lebanon in 1978 and 1982, the Palestinian Resistance lost the Arab territories through which it was able to attack the Zionist army.
- After the Arabs achieved victory in the War of October 1973 and recognized the PLO as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people in 1974, they felt less responsibility in regard to the Palestinian issue. In 1978, Egypt and Israel signed the Camp David Agreement under the auspices of the United States. Thus, the Arabs lost the most effective power in the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. In addition to these previous events, there were some others that negatively influenced the PLO's strategy with the Zionists such as the Iraq-Iran war 1980-1988, lack of financial support from Gulf countries, the Iraqi invasion that befell Kuwait in 1990 along with its serious impact on the Muslim and Arab world, and the collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). All these previous events influenced the PLO to turn to a peaceful settlement and strive for political negotiation. Thus, the PLO's leaders gave up some of their principles in order to remain the sole representative of the Palestinian people.
PLO and Allied Peace
- In the course of time, the PLO yielded more and more to Zionist demands, and the number of supporters for a peaceful settlement increased among PLO members. In November 1988, the PLO acknowledged the UN resolution No. 188, which approved of the partition of Palestine between Arabs and Jews. It also recognized and accepted the resolution of the Security Council issued in November 1967, which considered the Palestinian issue merely as an issue of refugees and called to deal with it peacefully without resorting to military resistance. In October 1991, the PLO and the Arab countries participated in the Middle East Peace Conference convened in Madrid and started peaceful negotiations with the Zionist enemy. Over two years, the PLO various secret I could not attain any positive result. In December 1992, the channels of communication paved the way to the Oslo Agreement known as "Gaza- Ariha (Jericho) at First)". The PLO signed in officially on this agreement with the Zionist entity on 13 September 1993 in Washington.
- According to this agreement, the PLO confessed the presence of the Zionist entity and the legitimate occupation of 77% out of the Palestinian territories. Furthermore, the PLO committed to give up armed resistance and suppress the Intifada (Uprising). This meant that the PLO would use the force that should have been used against the Jews, against their own people! The PLO committed to remove from its National Covenant, all the clauses which call to liberate all Palestinian land and the clauses that urge the eradication of the Zionist entity. At this point, the Jews defeated them, yet they looked and felt successful. On the other hand, Israel committed to confess the PLO as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, and offered the PLO an Interim Self Government Authority (ISGA) in the Gaza Strip and certain parts of the West Bank. They acted like they were doing the Palestinians a great favor whereas in reality, it sounded the death knoll for justice. Other main issues would be discussed within five years, which suited the Jewish aims perfectly by allowing them more time to fulfill their evil schemes.
Notes On the 'Gaza-Ariha Agreement':
* Most of the Palestinian movements such as Hamas, al-Jihad al-Islami, al-Jabhah ash-Sha`biyyah, and al-Jabhah ad-Demoqratiyyah, and seven other movements rejected this agreement and the following accords. It was only approved by Fat'h Movement and two other fronts, namely 'Fida' and 'Gabhat an-Nidal ash-Sha`bi'.
* The essential aim of this agreement was to serve Israeli objectives. By this agreement, Israel intended to finally rid the Gaza Strip, of its security dilemma and economic problems.
*The PLO made its decision to approve of this agreement without even consulting with the Palestinian people of whom it was supposed to represent.
The actual outcome of this agreement was a limited self-governing authority over certain areas with restricted power. The PLO is not authorized to make new legislation without the permission of Israel. This is the Jewish version of 'right to self-determination"!
* This was fruitless in regard to many essential issues such as liberation, the Zionist withdrawal from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, or the issue of refugees and their right of return.
* The PLO had to suppress armed operations and repress and arrest members of the Islamic movements to maintain Israeli contentment. The PLO spares no effort in controlling its own people vehemently, while it bows down to tyrants and faces economic and political failure.
* This agreement opened the door to many Muslim and Arab countries to establish relations and sign agreements with Israel; ironically the very thing that enabled Israel to further infiltrate into the Islamic and Arab region and to achieve economic control. Their own foolish hands signed in the very thing that is strangling the Muslim countries today, economy.
* As mentioned before, this agreement has made the PLO cancel its aims, change its covenant, and abandon armed strife.
Is It Permissible?!
- Considering the Islamic Shari'ah ruling regarding peaceful settlement with the Zionist entity, Muslim scholars have stated that it is legally prohibited to set reconciliation agreements with those who fight Muslims, seize their land, kill their children, and degrade their sacred places because it implies supporting the usurper to continue in his action. Moreover, it recognizes their false plea that they have a right to our land.
The Palestinian Intifada (Uprising)
- Between 1987 and 1990, Palestinians initiated a new chapter of their resistance under the banners of the Intifada. This meant to change the status quo (ending Israeli occupation) and to build a new society based on freedom and independence without awaiting a solution from outside. The blessed Intifada succeeded in reminding the world of the Palestinian cause and gaining renewed recognition and sympathy from the Arab and Muslim world, in addition to the international society. Islamic movements, particularly the Islamic movement Hamas, which boldly participated in the Intifada, reappeared more effectively as an integral part in this blessed Intifada. However, the Arab and Palestinian headquarters misused the Intifada and made use of it politically in terms of peaceful settlement.
- With al-Aqsa Intifada (September 2000) the Palestinian people assured the world of their right for their land and that they will never forsake even a millimeter of it. It disclosed the shameful, hypocritical side of the so-called peace settlements, which sacrificed the rights of the Islamic Ummah in exchange for false promises of authority and illusory wishes of stability.
Allah's Help Will Come Soon
- In fact, the Palestine issue is a human cause that discloses the shameful reality of the so-called "Human Rights Supporters". It openly portrays the unbalanced tyranny of the New World Order. It is a wonder that they allow the defense of animal rights and oblige people not to hurt them while they overlook displaced people, who live under inhuman conditions and in constant fear of military attack. It is not logically or historically justified to believe the plea of Zionist guerrillas, which occupied a land and exiled and murdered its original people(1) Eventually, Zionist occupation is an example of Western colonialism, which continues until today but under various guises.
- One day, there will be another world war. This is an obvious conclusion to the tyranny of Zionist occupation if it remains in the hearts of the Islamic world. The Zionist entity bears weapons of mass destruction and can mobilize an army of 1,000,000 soldiers within 72 hours. Sooner or later, the Muslim countries will have the same means, if not more, and then they will defend their Sacred Land with main and might. They will never permit this thorn to reside in their side forever. The unjust assailants will soon know what turn their affairs will take!
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Islamic History