Pray For The Oppressed And The Oppressors


A new chapter opened in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict when, on October 7, 2023, Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel. 

While it is very easy to quickly condemn this action, it is perhaps necessary to raise questions on what could have motivated such an action. 

It must not be forgotten that the Israeli state was born out of an unholy marriage between the leaders of Jewry, Britain, and many its allies in the League of Nations who insisted on establishing a Jewish state on Palestinian territories in 1948. 


This marked the beginning of widespread ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, which has subsisted from 1948 till now.

What began as a movement to create a homeland for jews transformed into a full-blown state. This was, in fact, the take-home from the first Zionist conference in France in 1897. The plan was to use the request for a homeland as a pretext while the dream of a Zionist state is kept alive. When the partition was effected, Ben Gurion, the first Zionist President had said that the Israeli government would accept the borders set by the UN but their dream and vision is for "greater Israel" which encompasses all Arab countries. 

The actual journey to this crazy adventure began in 1917, when Arthur James Balfour, the then British foreign secretary, sent a letter to Lionel Walter Rothschild, head of the Jewish community in England stated Britain's support for a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine. 

This letter, known as the Balfour Declaration, was described by Arthur Koestler as a "document in which one nation promised another nation the country of a third nation."

Curiously,  the Balfour Declaration, demanded no protection of rights for the Arab owners of the land except saying "nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities " bit said nothing about their political or economic rights.

Several crises ensued, but with the support of the powerful nations, the State of Israel was formed on November 29, 1947, as a result of United Nations General Assembly's Resolution 181, otherwise known as Partition Resolution. 

Since then, so many things have happened. Israel has continued to annexe Palestinian territories in gross violation of UN resolutions, but nothing has been done by the UN and its member states. The US, in particular, has been very partial to the Israeli government. Billions of taxpayers' money is committed in grant to building the Israeli army. 
In September 2016, the United States signed a 10-year military aid plan for Israel.

With this in mind, the Hamas attack on Israelis pales into oblivion. Though condemnable, every student of international relations knows that in the past three years, violations of human rights have been perpetrated by Israel armed forces in Gaza and all Palestinian towns. The present Israeli onslaught against Palestinians is totally uncalled for. Anyone who argues that Hamas started it does not understand what is going on. Did Hamas attack the Israelis in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Ramallah, and other towns? Then why has the Israeli army consistently attacked them every week till now? 

Different narratives-anti- Hamas trolls, Islamophobic outbursts, pseudo-expert reports, and ignorance-fed religious analysis have continued to inflame social media.

As Israel rains death on innocent Palestinian people, our humanity is challenged. Are we still human? As we see homes and hospitals crumbling, are we still sane? As we see little children and babies being decapitated, are we different from savages? As we look with indifference at women being slaughtered, are we not beasts? And as we dare to support Israelis against Palestinians, are we not monsters?

Today is Jum'ah. Millions of Muslims will assemble to observe Jum'ah prayers. Let our hearts go out to all Palestinians and innocent Israelis. The brotherhood of humanity is being brutally sacrificed on the alter of Zionist hegemonic agenda.

Let's pray to Allah to grant succour to the suffering, hope to the oppressed, and change of mind to the oppressors. May peace reign in all human societies again.


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