بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Palestine is an important place. Not only due to Al Masjid Al Aqsa (Allah mentions this sacred mosque in the Qur'aan, Surah Al-Isra) but also because of the enduring injustice of its occupation. A 2022 Amnesty International Report confirmed that Israel is committing the crime of apartheid against the Palestinian people. B'Tselem (the Israeli Information Centre for Human Rights) states: "Israel’s regime of apartheid and occupation is inextricably bound up in human rights violations". While the current conflict has brought this matter back into the headlines, it is essential to recognize that Palestinians have endured 75 years of apartheid as the state of Israel was created by occupying the land of the Palestinians.
Israel - the idea and the state- is founded on Zionism. Supporters of Israel present Zionism as an ideology of liberation of the Jewish people (a claim many Jews themselves disagree with). However, for Palestinians, Zionism as it has been practiced and as they have experienced it, has been precisely apartheid. How was the state of Israel created? The reality of its creation is far from the fairy tale of a small, brave nation that fights for its survival. Israel was created and continues to exist via land grabs, ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their land, discriminatory legislation and military occupation. Palestinians are oppressed and have been subjected to destruction of properties and livelihoods, aggression from settlers, illegal settlements on their land, and the ongoing humiliation and degradation of a people - including living in the open-air prison of Gaza - a densely populated area of 2.2 million people that Israel has locked in with a 50-foot cement wall. 70% of Gaza's population are refugees (and their descendants) who were expelled from their land of Palestine by Zionist militia when the state of Israel was created in 1948 (this exodus is famously referred to as the 'nakba'). People in Gaza do not have equal rights to Israeli citizens. They are not allowed to build homes, their movement and travel is severely restricted, they have minimal opportunities for growth with their economy being stunted and their access to education and self determination is limited. There is a 45% unemployment rate in Gaza and poverty is rampant. Thousands of Palestinians are unjustly kept in Israeli jails - held without charge, without even a trial.
Nelson Mandela's grandson described the apartheid of Palestinians as worse than the apartheid of South Africa. Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary-General stated the current events "did not happen in a vacuum, the Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation. They have seen their land steadily devoured by settlements and plagued by violence; their economy stifled; their people displaced and their homes demolished.”
To give an example of the appalling way Palestinians are treated, read the following description provided by Jean-Pierre Filiu, a French historian and former advisor to the French Prime Minister:
“Meanwhile, according to a document leaked to Haaretz in October 2012, Israeli decision-makers had fixed the average daily intake for the population of Gaza at 2,279 calories per person and were allowing supply trucks into the Strip on that basis. The fact that Israel could feel empowered to decide how much a Palestinian could eat daily shows how perverse and degrading the post-2005 occupation of the Gaza Strip had become. The description of Gaza as an “open-air prison” was far from the mark since, in any jailhouse, detainees are not supposed to be shot at or bombed except in the case of a full-fledged riot. In Gaza, Israeli raids, whether “targeted” or not, remained a regular occurrence.”¹
¹ Filiu, J-P. (2014). The Twelve Wars on Gaza. Journal of Palestinian Studies, 44(1), pp. 52-60. Jean-Pierre Filiu is a famous French historian and Arabist. He teaches at Science Po, one of France’s most prestigious universities.
Islam always condemns the killing of innocent people. All people have the right to defend themselves, this right doesn't just belong to the occupying force.
More resources to help you understand what is happening today:
If Americans Knew - An American Evangelical Christian has spent her life documenting the injustices committed by Israel against Palestinians. These statistics are shocking.
The Israeli-Palestine conflict: A Simple Guide by AlJazeera
Shaping of the modern Muslim world Part 1, by Dr Yasir Qadhi
Feeling paralysed by the news on Gaza? Read this excellent article: Ten Tips To Fight back against Helplessness Occupying Our Minds and hearts, written by Mohannad Hakeem,
This video is essential for individuals who have yet to recognize the immense moral disparity between the actions of occupiers and those they occupy.