about palestin-copy from raudah's blog
History and Background
Palestine was a holy and sacred land for the three religions; Islam, Christianity and Judaism. There, Al-Aqsa mosque stood, which was the 1st direction to which muslims prayed, the place where prophet Muhammad s.a.w was ascended to heaven during Isra’ Mi’raj and it was the 3rd holiest mosque after Masjidil Haram in Mecca and Masjid Nabawi in Medina.
There were many verses in the quran mentioning the land of Al-Quds whether directly or indirectly. It is referred to, in the chapter of Al-Isra’ as the blessed land (note that Allah said that He blessed all the pieces of lands around it- that includes Jordan, Syria and Lebanon,as some said. So if lands around it were blessed, how then, were the blessings endowed upon the land itself!!)
Palestine is the land of determination between truth and falsehood. It is the land of battle field between the forces of good and the forces of evil. It is also the land where thousands of martyrs had shed their blood and sacrificed their precious souls for the sake of fighting the enemy of Allah. When Allah s.w.t mentioned Mecca in the quran (one of the 3 holy places for the muslims), He referred to is as ‘haraaman aamina’, which meant protected and peaceful. But whenever He mentioned the land of Quds , no such guarantee of peace was given, and it was always correlated with jews. The conclusion that we can get here is that Allah has made 2 places sacred for the muslims, one protected and peaceful, where muslims visit to humble themselves and prostrate to Allah, and the other where muslims fight and shed blood to ensure that it is the religion of Allah that will be superior to others.
This reflects our duties as muslims and slaves Of Allah. As muslims we have 2 main obligations in life. First, ibadah, as the verse goes, wa ma khalaqtul jinna wal insa illa liya’budun. And second, khilafah, as the verse goes, inni jaa’ilun fil ardhi khaleefah. And the obligation of khilafah is probably a lot bigger and tougher than merely ibadah. In the context of Palestine, to fulfil our role as khaleefah means to join our hands together with those fighting for Palestine and do everything we can to ensure the divine victory.
The main conflict of Palestine is the Israeli invasion and brutal massacre. Before 1948, Israel started to occupy Palestine slowly after its colonization by British (it was the British occupation that helped the Israelis establish settlements in Palestine before they left), and since then the Israeli expanded their settlements until more than 50% of the whole Palestine became under their control and Palestine is now almost invisible in the world map!
The fight to liberate Palestine started a long time ago, from the time of Umar Al-Khattab r.a, continued by Salahuddin Al-Ayyubi and till now, the fight still goes on. One would wonder, why Palestine in particular? Isn’t there any other place on earth? After the fall of the great khilafah of Ottoman Turks, the muslim nation faced the biggest and most humiliating defeat ever witnessed by history. The biggest consequent of this defeat, besides the muslims not having a sole protector and point of reference, was of course, the division of muslim lands. The winning forces of the world war, backed by jews, found a way to divide and disunite the muslim lands- by creating and establishing a great new force/ power in the middle of arab countries, they were sure muslims around it would be weakened.
So in 1948, Israel was officially established, by means of brutal massacres and force. In that year alone, 34 massacres were carried out and 2/3 out of 10 million Palestinians were driven out. Millions were killed, enslaved, houses were demolished, families were tragically separated, and most painfully, their rights to return to Palestine were denied. Thousands of reasons were given to justify their acts; biblical rights, historical rights ,etc. But the truth was that, none of these reasons was logical, or to be accepted. If one debates and speaks from the biblical point of view, then there would be no standard clash, since the muslims would speak from the quranic point of view, and the debate would go on forever. From the historical point of view, the jews claimed that their descendants had been there for thousands of years, even if that was true, it still could not deny the fact that Palestinians were there first. History had marked that even before the 1st jew came, there was already Jerico, the oldest city and civilization in the world, built 11 000 years ago. Who were these people?
In the quran, when Allah ordered the jews to enter the land of Al-Quds with prophet Musa and promised them victory, they refused to fight and said ‘go, you and your Lord, we shall stay and sit here,’ and so the land was forbidden for them. But that is not the point. When we look back closely, one of the reasons why the jews refused to enter the land was because they knew there were already people living in it. The jews referred to them as ‘qauman jabbariyyun’, in the holy quran, which meant a strong nation. Who were these strong people and nation, if not the Palestinians, the original inhabitants of the land?
The Armageddon War
The Armageddon war is a big war predicted to occur on this blessed land, in the future, as believed by Christian Evangelists. The term ‘Armageddon’ originated from a city in north Palestine, called mejdu, or Mageddo.
The evangelists believed that this will be the battle of determination between truth and falsehood, and after the divine force wins, there will be a period of 1000 years of happiness. It has to occur on this blessed land, and joined by the Christians. But this war cannot happen unless all the jews in Palestine are converted to Christianity by Jesus Christ. And the corversion cannot happen unless jesus came to Palestine. And Jesus, on the other hand, will not come to Palestine to convert the jews until all the jews are gathered there.
So that is why Evangelists Christians are supporting so much the establishment of the Israel state and gathering of jews there. Statistics show that 70% of American Christians are evangelists. USA former President, Ronald Reagan used to mention the Armageddon war 4 times while campaigning in 1984.
Statistics
The land which was once supposed to be Palestine is now only a small portion of the original land; West Bank and Gaza Strip (with approximately 190 Israeli settlements inside West Bank)
From 1918 to 1948, under the British occupation, the number of Palestinians living in the country dropped from 92% to 68.3% while the number of Jews increased from 8.4% to 31.7%. In 1948, 34 massacres drove out about 2/3 of the remaining Palestinians. Now, more than ½ of the original 10 million Palestinians live outside Palestine, whether as official citizens or refugees. Only 3.8 million are in West Bank and Gaza Strip, some are still refugees, in their own land! There are about 21 camps in West Bank and 8 camps in Gaza Strip.
The majority of current Palestinian refugees live in Jordan (3 million), 400 000 in Lebanon, 400 000 in Syria and 50 000 in Egypt. Refugees in Iraq face the worst condition, followed by Lebanon.
Case Study In Lebanon
All over, there are 12 Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. The biggest is in Ein el- Hilweh. From 1975-1990 Lebanon was inflicted with a civil war which left 150 000 dead and made the condition even worse for the Palestinian refugees. Conflicts and disputes went on further when people came to know that in 1950’s the Palestinian Christians were given citizenships, but not the muslims.
The Palestinians face a really tough situation in Lebanon, because of discrimination and denial of their very basic rights. The Lebanese government itself is responsible for most of the discriminations. To understand the basis of these discriminations, one has to know the political conditions in Lebanon.
The biggest concerns in Lebanon are always demographic changes and balance of power. Since power there is shared between many religious groups and sects, any slight change in the country’s demography may lead to significant changes in political power domination.
The muslims to Christians ratio is now 65:35, based on rough estimations. The real number and ratio between religions in Lebanon are never really exactly known, in spite of many requests by the Lebanese, for fear of emotional protests and radical reactions. Most muslims are sunnis, with all the 4 sects (syafi’i, maliki, hanafi, hambali) almost in equal proportions, followed by Shiites (with almost all the 12 official sects), and dhruz, another so-called orthodox Islamic group (but deviated, according to some other).The Christians too, on the other hand, consists of almost all the sects you can find in the world, making Lebanon the most politically complicated country on earth, for the whole world is represented here.
Since the slightest change in Lebanon’s demography may lead to political instability, the issue of giving Palestinian refugees official citizenships is very sensitive, especially considering the fact that 98% of them are sunnis. The Palestinians, till now, are prevented from getting involved in 72 types of occupations. These include professional jobs like doctors, engineers, accountants, involvement in any types of management and even governmental institutions.
Access to education, too, is very limited, rendering 10% of Palestinians above 18 illiterate. 7.3% has no educational certificate, 20.5% completed primary education, 23.5% completed intermediate education and 14.4% completed secondary education.
Analyzing this situation from a broader perspective, you will find these statistics really distressing. Palestine is not like any other ordinary muslim country .It is incomparable even to other Arab nations. Education is perceived as sacred by Palestinians, and in 1980’s the level of education of Palestinians was found to be one of the best among muslim countries, close behind Europe. The discrimination, poverty and lack of access to work and education they have to face, however, forced 39.5% of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon to leave schools.
Poverty is now another problem spreading among them. 80% Palestinians in Lebanon can be considered as fuqara’ (extremely poor), but bear in mind that their poverty is never due to lack of qualification or laziness, rather it is due to lack of access to work. Another interesting fact I learned was that Palestinians have always been known for their strong principles, dignity and high self-respect. In spite of being poor and in need, they are taught not to ask and beg for anything. Indeed, they are a nation full of pride and honor.
To give a brief outlook on the Palestinians’ condition in the camps, 1/3 of the houses have no access to sunlight. The camps themselves were built unsystematically, with poor ventilation and overcrowding. 40% have insufficient water supply and 67.1% have poor electricity. Not surprisingly, almost half of them (48.5%) suffer from chronic diseases.
Possibility of Returning
Surveys have been carried out among Palestinians, especially those living in refugee camps in Lebanon with the number one favourite question ; do you think you will return to Palestine one day?
39.1% said ‘yes, sure’, while 40.1% said ‘yes, but maybe not this generation’.
The spirit of returning is so strong in every Palestinian soul that almost each and every family ,till now, keeps the key to his house, even though their ancestors were driven out from the land in 1948. The keys were passed down from generation to generation as a symbol of love for Palestine, and confidence that one day they would eventually return. Paradoxically, when asked, most of the current generation had never even seen their houses, or even their homelands. Some were even not sure if their houses had been bulldozed by the Israelis!
The most impressive fact is that 79.6% of Palestinians said they wanted not only to return to Palestine, but specifically to the hometown to which their ancestors originally belonged to, and where their families were expelled from. Even more amazingly, 20% rejected civil rights offered to them for fear of permanent settlements in Lebanon.
The Crisis of Hamas and Fatah
It is always painful to talk about disputes and disunity in a country when the country itself is under occupation. I myself would rather leave this topic, but the fact that I had listened to a long talk and explanation by a figure in whom I believe and trust, I feel responsible to share what I learnt. I believe in a bright future, positive unity and cooperation, and of course, more importantly, I believe that the truth will always prevail, as promised by Allah. The true muslims shall gain victory over the hypocrites, and the hypocrites, sadly, will definitely be brought to face utter humiliation and defeat when the time determined by Allah comes.
To make the crisis easier to be understood, it is best to summarize the whole idea in the following equation;
Hamas vs. Fatah = resistance vs. political compromises
Fatah is a secular political party, founded with an original pure objective of fighting the Israelis and liberating the whole Palestine. But over the years, its ideology and aim became weakened by internal problems and external pressures. Now, its agenda is well-known; political compromises, that is to recognize the existence of Israel and its rights.
Fatah is now facing 2 problems; structural problem and directional problem. There are great disputes and division among Fatah members themselves. A decision made by its leaders is not necessarily put into practice by its followers, making any discussions with Fatah almost impossible, and any resolutions always unsuccessful. Although Fatah still has many loyal supporters from the time of Yasser Arafat, most of its members are corrupt and have many records of money mismanagement, resulting in continuous tense and lack of mutual trust between them.
The biggest police force and ratio in the world (60 000) is also under Fatah, about 1:70 (highest in the world), whereas the police to people ratio in UK is only about 1:1750. This is another prove of how Fatah misuses its police force for political interests. For the past few months, after Hamas had gained victory in the election, some security forces of Fatah started to assassinate Hamas leaders. Some even helped America and Israel prevent transfer of money to the Hamas-led government.
Hamas, on the other hand is a branch of Muslim Brotherhood, founded officially in Palestine in 1931. Its ideology is crystal clear; never to recognize Israel or give Israel any rights, liberate the whole Palestine from the Israeli colonization with no political compromises. The fundamental ideology of Hamas is based purely on the teachings of Islam, thus Hamas had declared that victory over Israel will lead to the establishment of an Islamic Palestine country.
The problem of Hamas, on the other hand is how to implement its policies on the ground, with all the external pressures and sanctions by America and the outside world, together with internal instabilities and chaos created by opposing Fatah. Its resistance operations have attracted international attention and brought about terrible misunderstandings, therefore giving rise to labels of terrorist, extremists, religion fanatics, etc.
Hamas leaders are so far proudly 100% free of any charges of corruption, misconducts, receiving bribes and money misuse. Promises made to the Palestinians are fulfilled, except when conditions get too bad and discouraging. Hamas , in fact, was the first to offer a ‘clean war’ with Israel, putting ‘avoiding the civillians’ as one of the preconditions, but Israel refused. The unfair charges against Hamas, especially regarding its support for the so-called suicide bombing operations (that is, if you know well enough how to define that term and understand its nature) were used by Israel as an excuse to continue killing innocent civilians, destroying houses, arresting and torturing anyone based solely on suspicion.
Many scholars, after thorough surveys and researches came to learn an interesting conclusion: there is no other reason why so many are against Hamas except for its Islamic ideology and association with the Muslim Brotherhood.
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