01.31.10
Posted in Muslims, World and Politics at 7:51 pm by salafiya
Assalam Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah
Tomorrow, Monday, February 1st, 2010, the prosecution & defense will make their closing arguments/statements. Please remember to keep her in your du3aas tonight…get up 20 minutes before Fajr (if you don’t normally wake up that early) and beg Allaah to release her. Ask for this case to be dropped or for her to be found not guilty.
http://www.app.com.pk/en_/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=95313&Itemid=2 . daughter of Pakistan….daughter of the Muslims.
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12.03.09
Posted in Muslims, Random, World and Politics at 11:16 pm by salafiya
Assalam Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah
The first order of business (heh) is to inform you all of the start of an amazing organization: Global Voice for Justice and Human Rights. Here is a link to the forums: http://voiceforjustice.usersboard.com/login.forum?connexion and here is a link to the FB group: http://www.facebook.com/#/group.php?gid=203803809531&ref=ts . They recently sent 60 letters to 140 prisoners (60 letters to each prisoner), mashaAllaah!
K, now that that’s settled, I’d selfishly like to request that you make du3aa that Allaah guides me to, keeps me on, and allows me to die for the Straight Path and that He makes me successful in this dunya and in the akhira. jazakumAllaahu khairan.
Ok, now I just want to take the opportunity to say that if there is anyone who respects me for whatever reason besides for me being a Muslim, you should reconsider that respect. Alhamdulillah I’m a Muslim and I know I have respect given for being one, but it shouldn’t really go further than that. Wallaahi, I am a horrible Muslim…and when I have told some people that, they tried to comfort me by saying I’m not such a bad Muslim, but you don’t know my heart, do you? You don’t know my sins, do you? I just hope that Allaah forgives me for my sins, mistakes, shortcomings and hides them from the world so we (my Rabb and I) can have a private conversation on Youm al Qiyamah after which He will pardon me (inshaAllaah).
But anyways, one of the salaf (Muhammad ibn Wasee’) said, “If sins had an odor, no one would be able to sit with me.” He was from one of the generations the Prophet sal Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam praised. How horrible could his sins be compared to mine? If sins truly had an odor….I’d be worse than a 1000 acre field of pure garbage =( . And that’s being light on myself. Allaahul Musta’an.
Meh…I just hate that people might think that because of my outward appearance or some words, I’m a good Muslim. Sometimes, just because of this, I feel like changing those two things so that people aren’t being deceived. Obviously that’s from Shaytaan. It’s only going to harm me if I incur more sins upon myself and that’s just the wrong mentality. I SHOULD be thinking that I should change my inner self to complement my outward appearance. Ahhh Allaahul Musta’an. *sigh*
Assalam Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah
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10.28.09
Posted in Muslims, World and Politics at 12:56 am by salafiya
*Update* Court date moved to November 12th. No, government, the supporters won’t go away, even if you delay this for 10 years (if that, indeed, was your intention). =)
Assalam Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah
Abu Sabaya (Tareq Mehanna) is a valuable member of the Muslim community. As his brothers and sisters in Islaam, it is incumbent upon us to offer a hand in his time of need. Here is a short list of things that you must do (or should do, if not possible), inshaAllaah (outline and I’ll expound on some points more later):
- Make du3aa
- Qunoot an-Naazilah
- Write letters
- Join the Facebook Group
- Spread links
- Make du3aa, with a pure intention & a sincere heart. Make them even moreso at the times they’re most accepted: in between the adhaan and the iqaamah, on jum3ah (Fridays), last third of the night, when you’re fasting, when you’re traveling, when you’re sick, in sujood, etc. Do not forget to praise Allaah & send blessings upon Muhammad sal Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam so it is not suspended (both in the beginning and end). Du3aa is the weapon of the believer. THIS is the most important AND easiest part of the list. In fact, why don’t you make du3aa for Tareq right this second, before proceeding. I’ll aid.[Purify your intentions] Alhamdulillah, was salaatu was salaamu 3ala RasoolAllaah..
Ya Rabbi, Ya Rahman, grant Tareq and his family sabr and contentment and make them steadfast upon the Haqq.
Ya Allaah, make them reach the level of ihsaan and remain upon that level.
Ya Allaah, forgive them for their sins and make their account of good deeds weighty.
Ya Allaah, rectify their affairs. Do what is best for them in this dunya and in the akhira.
Ya Allaah, grant them sakeena and show them the eases you have promised the Believers after every difficulty.
Ya Allaah, free him from the shackles of the oppressors.
Ya Allaah, grant all of the above-mentioned du3aas to EVERY single person who is oppressed and to all the Muslims in general.
Ya Allaah, make the Muslims gain our 3izzah back and turn back completely to Your perfected deen.
Ya Allaah, show the oppressors that when they go to war with someone beloved to You, You go to war with them and make it apparent to the entire world. Ameen Allaahumma Ameen. Alhamdulillah, was salaatu was salaamu 3ala RasoolAllaah.
Make sure you make more du3aa in your own time inshaAllaah
- Qunoot an-Naazilah (qunoot at times of calamity) - pretty much goes with the above. This can be said consistently (during every salaah). Click on these 2 links for more info: http://www.islam-qa.com/en/ref/20031 & http://www.islam-qa.com/en/ref/126258 . It is said before the rukoo’ or after it (you can do either). Here are suggested du3aas:It was narrated that ‘Umar prayed Qunoot with the following words:
http://s31.photobucket.com/albums/c393/Salafiya88/My%20designs/?action=view¤t=du3aa1.jpg [Click here for Arabic text]
“Allaahumma inna nasta’eenuka wa nu’minu bika, wa natawakkalu ‘alayka wa nuthni ‘alayka al-khayr, wa laa nakfuruka. Allaahumma iyyaaka na’budu wa laka nusalli wa nasjudu, wa ilayka nas’aa wa nahfid. Narju rahmataka wa nakhsha ‘adhaabaka, inna ‘adhaabaka al-jadd bil kuffaari mulhaq. Allaahumma ‘adhdhib il-kafarata ahl al-kitaab alladheena yasuddoona ‘an sabeelika
(O Allaah, verily we seek Your help, we believe in You, we put our trust in You and we praise You and we are not ungrateful to You. O Allaah, You alone we worship and to You we pray and prostrate, for Your sake we strive. We hope for Your mercy and fear Your punishment, for Your punishment will certainly reach the disbelievers. O Allaah, punish the infidels of the People of the Book who are preventing others from following Your way)
When Muhammad sal Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam prayed for the salvation of the weak and oppressed in Makkah, he said:
Allaahumma anji **Waleed ibn al-Waleed, Allaahumma najji Salamah ibn Hishaam, Allaahumma najji ‘Ayyaash ibn Abi Rabee’ah**, Allaahumma najjil mustadh 3afeen minal mu2mineen.
“O Allaah, O Allaah, save **al-Waleed ibn al-Waleed, Salamah ibn Hishaam, ‘Ayyaash ibn Abi Rabee’ah** and the weak and oppressed believers.”
When he prayed against some of the Arab tribes because of the severity of their enmity towards Allaah and His Messenger, he said:
“O Allaah, punish **Mudar** severely and send upon them a famine like that of Yoosuf.”
[**Note:of course, the names for the latter 2 du3aa wil be changed, but gives you a template]
When 70 of the sahaabah were killed due to the deception of some ‘Arab tribes, Muhammad sal Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said the qunoot for EVERY prayer for a MONTH. According to a report narrated by Muslim (679), he said:
Allaahummal 3an **bani Lihyaan, wa Ri’l wa Dhakwaan, wa ‘Usayyah** 3asaw Allaah wa Rasoolahu
“O Allaah, curse **Banu Lihyaan, Ri’l, Dhakwaan and ‘Usayyah**, for they have disobeyed Allaah and His Messenger.”
He [Ibn ‘Umar] heard the Messenger of Allaah sal Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam say, when he lifted his head from bowing in the second rak’ah of Fajr:
“O Allaah, curse So and so, and So and so, and So and so,” after he said Sami’a Allaahu limanhamidah, Rabbana wa laka’l hamd
And finally, Islam-QA at the end gives their du3aa (which is almost the same as the Prophet’s qunoot combined):
http://s31.photobucket.com/albums/c393/Salafiya88/M20designs/action=view¤t=Du3aa6.jpg
[Click here for Arabic Text]
Allaahumma anjil mustadh 3afeen minal mu2mineen fee Ghazzah. Allaahumma ansaarihim, Allaahummashdud wa ta2taka (?) 3alal Yahood wan-nasaara, [??], Allaahumma la3anahim, Allaahummaj 3alhaa 3alayhim sineena kasinee Yoosuf
[I can’t provide the transliteration without the tashkeel marks, as unfortunately I can’t rely on thelittle knowledge I have on Arabic grammar. If anyone else can, please do so inshaAllaah]
“O Allaah, save the weak and oppressed believers in Gaza; O Allaah, help them; O Allaah, punish the Jews and Christians, and those who support and help them, severely; O Allaah, curse them; O Allaah, send upon them years like the years of Yoosuf”
Attend the hearing that is this Friday (10/30) if you are able to. It will start at 11, but Tareq’s brother said to come earlier if you can. It will be at Moakley Federal Courthouse, 1 Courthouse Way, Boston, MA. If you are a brother and in surrounding states, I would say that you have very few reasons to not go, if any at all.
Write letters to Brother Tareq. He has been so dedicated to helping the prisoners out. One such way was through sending the prisoners letters from people all over the world to let them know we haven’t forgotten them. Let’s pay back the favor and write to HIM now in HIS time of need inshaAllaah. A brother said on IslamicAwakening forums that Tareq said that when he had been imprisoned last, he read the letters he received over and over. He said that the letters were to him what spinach was to Pop-Eye and he would read the letters when he felt weak. So lets provide him with his spinach, inshaAllaah.
The brother who posted this included this: “If anyone is feeling ill motivated to write to him, then please listen to this lecture by Anwar Awalaki of only half an hour. It is really touching and makes one realise our duties and obligations. http://www.kalamullah.com/Anwar%20Al-Awlaki/Beyond%20Guantanamo.mp3“
You can send the letters via his brother who will print them out. His e-mail address is tamer.mehanna@hotmail.com . Please don’t delay…we should be honored that we can give this support to him. Your reward is with Allaah, do NOT delay!
Join the Facebook group created by Tamer (the brother mentioned above) and his family: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=159128188381&ref=ts — Invite ALL of your friends to join. Tell them to invite their friends, and so on. Scream back to the world that we’re staunch supporters of Tareq and firmly believe in his innocence.Btw, if you do not know who Tareq is, go to that group and view the discussion board.
Sign the petition: http://www.petitiononline.com/Tarekm/petition.html and do the same with this link as with the facebook group (spread it). Nag people to sign it if they are being lazy.
Check this link and spread this as well: http://www.freetarek.com/
For now, I think this list should be sufficient. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to add more as we are all looking to how to best serve our brother. And please remember that he is not the only prisoner in need of our du3aas and all of the above. So let this just be the beginning of your work (for the sake of Allaah) for those being unjustly treated.
May Allaah help us all, rectify our affairs, and never leave us alone in our affairs even for a blink of an eye, Ameen. Oh…and. May the eyes of the cowards never sleep. Ameen
Assalam Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah
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10.22.09
Posted in Muslims, World and Politics at 8:19 pm by salafiya
Assalam Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah
So I posted a comment on MM (or MDM - Muslims Don’t Matter - as my friend and a couple of her friends put it) about 3 hours ago and for some odd reason it was moderated (though i was expecting that). I find it truly amazing that people are allowed on there slandering/accusing this brother from whom so many people have benefitted, yet I am not allowed to post simple direct (yes, harsh) comments to the author of the article.
Anyways, here’s what I wrote, as per the request of someone (I don’t know if they really wanted me to or not, but I still am riled up so why not):
“WOW. What the HELL was this crap that I just read here? la ilaaha il Allaah.
It’s amazing, did I detect you (whoever wrote this) trying to wash your hands of someone you think can get you in trouble? This was so cowardly….I’m becoming more and more disappointed with the “Western” Muslims (even though I, myself, am one). and this article was like a slap in the face in terms of how bad we’ve gotten.
“We at MuslimMatters have always refused to let our emotions cloud our objectivity.”
ROFL. Was this satire? Cos if it was, hahaha, good one!
And just for the record, he tried having a discussion with you, yet you disabled comments and did not want to continue the discussion. If you really thought he was wrong, then why not want for your brother what you want for yourself and try to correct him and disprove his evidence (though you’d be hard-pressed to do so). But no, you chose to stop communication with him until he was in trouble and your reputation was in jeapordy for being ‘affiliated’ with him. Well, congratulations. You’ve successfully made it known to the world that you despise certain people.
This was pathetically disgusting. Yes, I’ve lost my civil tone because this article commands no respect from anyone.
I’m all over the place, but this really got my blood boiling. And Tuwaylib, go check yourself please instead of ‘watching’ other people so you can condemn them when they cant reply to you.
*Awaits the censoring of yet another comment just because it doesn’t please you* ”
-The End-
I really respect some of the writers on that site…I hope they leave the site inshaAllaah because it truly is being exposed bit by bit.
Oh, and here’s the link for any of you who want to read the garbage article (hm, hope this isn’t backbiting as I am doing this with the intention of the author seeing this): http://muslimmatters.org/2009/10/22/sympathy-for-terrorism-the-negative-positive-feedback-cycle-the-case-against-tarek-mehanna/#comment-52183
[P.S., I love how I always update when I have an important thing due the next day. Why, oh, why do I do this. Make du3aa please for Allaah to help me.]
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01.01.09
Posted in World and Politics at 9:17 am by salafiya
Assalam Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah
I’ve been very engaged in the whole situation in Ghazzah, as I hope the entire Muslim world is. The entire world should be, for that matter, as this is enough to make any person with a concept of justice shake to his/her core when they hear about these atrocities.
When I listen to people talk about trivial issues, I have a desire to shake them - to tell them that there are much bigger things to talk about. I wonder how they can go on about their lives as if everything is just peachy throughout the world. Then I realize that I do the same thing, as I watch my toddler-aged niece dart from place to place in the house. My thoughts are consumed by her and the joy she brings to us (Alhumdulillah). But the next second, my mood dampens as I remember that the Palestinian people are suffering as I relax comfortably in my home, without worry of a missile hitting my house or a potential invasion. I wonder why the Palestinian mother must be in constant fear of a glass shard from the shattered window piercing the soft flesh of her baby while most mothers are more concerned about their babies tumbling down the stairs.
I laugh with my friend, but abruptly stop as I wonder how I can laugh while there are families huddled together as their masaajid, houses, universities are bombarded. Of course, these people have been given this test by Allaah because they are able to handle it. But this does not excuse the rest of us from doing something about it. I should be making du3aa as desperately as the oppressed, for we are one nation, we are one ummah. What affects them should affect all of us. What hurts them should hurt us.
I am scared, though, that soon I will forget the plight of our brothers and sisters in Ghazzah (and all the others throughout the world). I am afraid that this will soon become a distant memory and the rage that this has incurred will disappear. The Western media (that of the U.S., at least) has been downplaying the situation since the beginning - worse, they’re making the Israelis seem like the righteous ones once more. How many people will, once again, buy into their scheme? Alhumdulillah, I noticed people (Muslim AND non-Muslim) are very fired up about this instance of inhumanity, but how long will it last? How long will we Muslims care so passionately about the condition of the ummah?
More importantly, when will we ACT upon our passion? Have we cried while sincerely making du3aa to Allaah? Have we done everything that is in our power (whether it’s having fundraising events to provide money for those who are in dire need of it, writing letters of condemnation to the leaders of the countries not helping, having protests to give da3wah and show solidarity, raising awareness of the situation to those who have been brainwashed by the media, etc.)? Of course, the best thing would be to defend the ummah in person but most of us have to help them indirectly.
And remember that the people in Ghazzah are not the only ones oppressed, rather they are just the most recent reminders. So please make sure you remember to make du3aa for the Muslims everywhere inshaAllaah.
I think I’ve been posting too many articles (though I’ve only posted 2 here), so I’ll just link you to the articles themselves (most of which I first read through forums):
Israel’s onslaught on Gaza is a crime that cannot succed - http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/dec/30/israel-and-the-palestinians-middle-east
What have the Palestinians got to complain about? - http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/mark-steel/mark-steel-so-what-have-the-palestinians-got-to-complain-about-1218135.html
Israel’s warped self-justification for murder - http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21575.htm
Gaza: the logic of colonial power - http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/dec/29/gaza-hamas-israel
Why bombing Ashkelon is the most tragic irony - http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-why-bombing-ashkelon-is-the-most-tragic-irony-1216228.html
Maybe it’s just that I’m more aware of what is going on in the world, but it seems like even the non-Muslims are more riled up about this than usual. I hope Israel has dug its own grave because now people are starting to see it for what it is (a self-imposed tyrant/invader/occupier of the indigenous people), though the world is very late in noticing and condemning. Khair, better late than never. For once, perhaps this will not be brushed under the carpet as all oppression regarding the Muslims has been in the past.
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12.31.08
Posted in World and Politics at 11:54 pm by salafiya
By Linda Heard, Arab News
http://arabnews.com/?page=7§ion=0&article=117661&d=30&m=12&y=2008
——
ONCE again Israel seeks to defend the indefensible in an attempt to cloak its crimes against humanity with the mantle of self-defense. As its American-manufactured bombs and missiles pound a virtually unarmed starving population, Israeli officials appear on just about every satellite news network singing from the same propagandist song sheet.
It’s all the fault of the terror organization Hamas which refused to renew the cease-fire, ” ‘We have a duty to protect our citizens in the south from rockets and mortars”. I’ve heard several saying “When we pulled out of Gaza we hoped Palestinians would forge a functioning territory but instead they chose terror”. In answer to questions concerning so many civilian deaths, they all insist that Israel is carrying out surgical strikes against “terror infrastructure” or they will excuse Israel’s bombardment of homes with “civilians are hiding launchers in their houses”.
Israel’s former ambassador to the United Nations Dan Gillerman seemed nonplussed when one interviewer asked him whether the seven dead UNWRA student employees were launching missiles too.
Predictably, these merchants of untruths are given free rein to spin on most Western networks and disproportionate airtime as opposed to pro-Palestinian commentators.
Let’s dissect these fabricated Israeli arguments.
First, whatever one thinks of Hamas and it ideology, it was elected to office in free and internationally-monitored elections that were forced upon the Palestinian people by Washington as part of the Bush administration’s quest to democratize the Middle East.
Then, after congratulating the Palestinians on their new democracy, the US-led international community promptly condemned the new leadership as terrorist and threw its support behind Fatah, which was “ordered” to turn against Hamas. This divisive strategy worked to the extent Hamas was driven to Gaza where it has since struggled against all odds to provide its citizens with the barest minimum required to sustain life.
Those representatives of Israel who say since their country’s pullout there was no obstacle to Gaza becoming a flourishing enclave are disingenuous when Gaza’s borders are sealed and the people have no control over their coastline or airspace.
Even when the Fatah-controlled Palestinian National Authority managed Gaza, Israel did everything it could to destroy infrastructure including a $75 million airport built with donations from the EU, Japan and Morocco. And during this recent round of attacks, ministries, government buildings, police stations and a police academy were bombed which does not support Israel’s supposed wish to see a functioning Gaza.
While it is true that Hamas refused to extend the cease-fire, what incentive does it have to do so while Israel is waging a war of attrition on the people in its care? It seems residents of Gaza must choose to die slowly from starvation and lack of medicines or at the hands of the Israeli war machine. Secondly, Israel is, indeed, duty-bound to protect its citizens but just look at the numbers. Very few crude home-made rockets have resulted in casualties. I believe only one Israeli has died during this current onslaught that has robbed the lives of over 320 Palestinians and wounded up to 1,000; not including those still buried beneath rubble. Once more, Israel’s response has been disproportionate just as it was in 2006 when it slaughtered 1,200 Lebanese civilians in answer to Hezbollah’s kidnapping of IDF soldiers.
Third, when it comes to Gaza, said to be one of the most densely-populated areas of the world, there is no such thing as a surgical strike. Moreover, over half of Gaza’s population are children under 18. Even the smartest smart bombs could not cherry-pick between resistance fighters and innocents in such a packed environment. The Israeli government knows this and doesn’t care a jot, which translates to willful collective punishment, illegal under the Fourth Geneva Convention.
But like its Washington master (or is it the other way around?) Israel is not constrained by international law or the Geneva Conventions that also require an occupying nation to provide for the well being of people under its occupation and to respect their dignity. As the willful killing continues, Israel merrily ignores pleas from France, Russia, the UN, the EU and Britain to end the violence. Why should it do otherwise when it has proved time and time again that it is a law unto itself and immune from international punishment?
Unsurprisingly, the only message from the US to Israel is “try to avoid civilian casualties”, which is nothing more than lip service to international humanitarian sensitivities. In effect, the Bush administration has blessed this, by many accounts, long planned operation, cynically timed to begin during a political vacuum in Washington and close to upcoming elections when candidates need to prove they’re tough to win votes. Tragically, there may be much worse to come. Israeli government officials including Defense Minister Ehud Barak has warned the offensive could be widened as tanks line up on the border with Gaza and 6,500 IDF reservists are on standby.
Tomorrow, the Arab League is holding an emergency summit of foreign ministers to discuss the crisis. If only they will decide to do more than issue a joint statement of condemnation this time. Together they have so much clout. Now is the time for all Arab countries to gather together as one nation to say “enough is enough” before the streets of Gaza run with the blood of their desperate brothers and sisters. As the West closes its eyes and ears to Palestinian cries for help Arab leaders should heed the outraged voices on their own streets and act. Finally, the governments of Egypt and Jordan should do some soul-searching. Should they continue with peace agreements made in all good faith with a selfish, cruel state bent on destroying a people for its own ends?
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12.29.08
Posted in World and Politics at 12:03 pm by salafiya
December 29, 2008
Johann Hari: The true story behind this war is not the one Israel is telling
The world isn’t just watching the Israeli government commit a crime in Gaza; we are watching it self-harm. This morning, and tomorrow morning, and every morning until this punishment beating ends, the young people of the Gaza Strip are going to be more filled with hate, and more determined to fight back, with stones or suicide vests or rockets. Israeli leaders have convinced themselves that the harder you beat the Palestinians, the softer they will become. But when this is over, the rage against Israelis will have hardened, and the same old compromises will still be waiting by the roadside of history, untended and unmade.
To understand how frightening it is to be a Gazan this morning, you need to have stood in that small slab of concrete by the Mediterranean and smelled the claustrophobia. The Gaza Strip is smaller than the Isle of Wight but it is crammed with 1.5 million people who can never leave. They live out their lives on top of each other, jobless and hungry, in vast, sagging tower blocks. From the top floor, you can often see the borders of their world: the Mediterranean, and Israeli barbed wire. When bombs begin to fall – as they are doing now with more deadly force than at any time since 1967 – there is nowhere to hide.
There will now be a war over the story of this war. The Israeli government says, “We withdrew from Gaza in 2005 and in return we got Hamas and Qassam rockets being rained on our cities. Sixteen civilians have been murdered. How many more are we supposed to sacrifice?” It is a plausible narrative, and there are shards of truth in it, but it is also filled with holes. If we want to understand the reality and really stop the rockets, we need to rewind a few years and view the run-up to this war dispassionately.
The Israeli government did indeed withdraw from the Gaza Strip in 2005 – in order to be able to intensify control of the West Bank. Ariel Sharon’s senior adviser, Dov Weisglass, was unequivocal about this, explaining: “The disengagement [from Gaza] is actually formaldehyde. It supplies the amount of formaldehyde that is necessary so that there will not be a political process with the Palestinians… this whole package that is called the Palestinian state has been removed from our agenda indefinitely.”
Ordinary Palestinians were horrified by this, and by the fetid corruption of their own Fatah leaders, so they voted for Hamas. It certainly wouldn’t have been my choice – an Islamist party is antithetical to all my convictions - but we have to be honest. It was a free and democratic election, and it was not a rejection of a two-state solution. The most detailed polling of Palestinians, by the University of Maryland, found that 72 per cent want a two-state solution on the 1967 borders, while fewer than 20 per cent want to reclaim the whole of historic Palestine. So, partly in response to this pressure, Hamas offered Israel a long, long ceasefire and a de facto acceptance of two states, if only Israel would return to its legal borders.
Rather than seize this opportunity and test Hamas’s sincerity, the Israeli government reacted by punishing the entire civilian population. It announced that it was blockading the Gaza Strip in order to “pressure” its people to reverse the democratic process. The Israelis surrounded the Strip and refused to let anyone or anything out. They let in a small trickle of food, fuel and medicine – but not enough for survival. Weisglass quipped that the Gazans were being “put on a diet”. According to Oxfam, only 137 trucks of food were allowed into Gaza last month to feed 1.5 million people. The United Nations says poverty has reached an “unprecedented level.” When I was last in besieged Gaza, I saw hospitals turning away the sick because their machinery and medicine was running out. I met hungry children stumbling around the streets, scavenging for food.
It was in this context – under a collective punishment designed to topple a democracy – that some forces within Gaza did something immoral: they fired Qassam rockets indiscriminately at Israeli cities. These rockets have killed 16 Israeli citizens. This is abhorrent: targeting civilians is always murder. But it is hypocritical for the Israeli government to claim now to speak out for the safety of civilians when it has been terrorising civilians as a matter of state policy.
The American and European governments are responding with a lop-sidedness that ignores these realities. They say that Israel cannot be expected to negotiate while under rocket fire, but they demand that the Palestinians do so under siege in Gaza and violent military occupation in the West Bank.
Before it falls down the memory hole, we should remember that last week, Hamas offered a ceasefire in return for basic and achievable compromises. Don’t take my word for it. According to the Israeli press, Yuval Diskin, the current head of the Israeli security service Shin Bet, “told the Israeli cabinet [on 23 December] that Hamas is interested in continuing the truce, but wants to improve its terms.” Diskin explained that Hamas was requesting two things: an end to the blockade, and an Israeli ceasefire on the West Bank. The cabinet – high with election fever and eager to appear tough – rejected these terms.
The core of the situation has been starkly laid out by Ephraim Halevy, the former head of Mossad. He says that while Hamas militants – like much of the Israeli right-wing – dream of driving their opponents away, “they have recognised this ideological goal is not attainable and will not be in the foreseeable future.” Instead, “they are ready and willing to see the establishment of a Palestinian state in the temporary borders of 1967.” They are aware that this means they “will have to adopt a path that could lead them far from their original goals” – and towards a long-term peace based on compromise.
The rejectionists on both sides – from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran to Bibi Netanyahu of Israel – would then be marginalised. It is the only path that could yet end in peace but it is the Israeli government that refuses to choose it. Halevy explains: “Israel, for reasons of its own, did not want to turn the ceasefire into the start of a diplomatic process with Hamas.”
Why would Israel act this way? The Israeli government wants peace, but only one imposed on its own terms, based on the acceptance of defeat by the Palestinians. It means the Israelis can keep the slabs of the West Bank on “their” side of the wall. It means they keep the largest settlements and control the water supply. And it means a divided Palestine, with responsibility for Gaza hived off to Egypt, and the broken-up West Bank standing alone. Negotiations threaten this vision: they would require Israel to give up more than it wants to. But an imposed peace will be no peace at all: it will not stop the rockets or the rage. For real safety, Israel will have to talk to the people it is blockading and bombing today, and compromise with them.
The sound of Gaza burning should be drowned out by the words of the Israeli writer Larry Derfner. He says: “Israel’s war with Gaza has to be the most one-sided on earth… If the point is to end it, or at least begin to end it, the ball is not in Hamas’s court – it is in ours.”
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12.27.08
Posted in Muslims, World and Politics at 12:21 pm by salafiya
Assalam Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah
I JUST heard about our beloved brothers and sisters in Ghazza being attacked - and it was through a forum that I first read about it. I turned CNN on and they had this bogus program going on about legal reports. WHERE IS THE BREAKING NEWS? I remember when the Mumbai bombings happened, it was breaking news for DAYS. CNN headline news just talks about Caylee Anthony (for weeks on end). WTH IS THIS CRAP?
America, you need to get over your obsessive love of Israel and condemn terrorism, not only when Muslims do something you don’t like.
And Muslims (myself first), we need to wake up. We’ve been in a deeep slumber, but how can we be as we read the following things:
“Hospital officials said at least 205 people had been killed in one of the bloodiest days for the Palestinians in 60 years of conflict. Nearly half were members of the Islamist Hamas group’s security forces. Over 700 people were wounded.”
“Hospital officials said many of the dead were passers by, including 15 women.”
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE4BQ1IJ20081227
Ya Allaah, grant the Muslims victory over all and allow the Muslims to overcome the oppressors and tyrants. Ya Allaah, guide us to the Straight Path and give us true gheerah for the deen and the ummah.
Ya Allaah, grant the Muslims sabr. Accept the shahadah of those who have died. Ease the living’s pain. Ameen ya Rabb.
I’ve gotta go for now but PLEASE read take action (protest, etc).
Assalam Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah
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12.28.07
Posted in World and Politics at 2:58 pm by salafiya
Assalam Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah
As you all must have heard by now, Benazir Bhutto was killed a little bit more than 1 day ago. My personal opinions aside, I want to ask you all to make du’aa for my family that is there. My mom called her sister to see if she was ok, but she told my mom to not talk about it much on the phone (I guess the phones are tapped there as well). During the phone call, someone knocked on their door and said not to drink water anymore because it’s been poisoned (probably by supporters of Bhutto). I don’t know if it’s true or not….but regardless, please du’aa for all of my relatives there & every other innocent Muslim. jazakumAllaahu khairan.
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