Circumstances in recent history that led to the creation of Israel

[Zeynab]

Here is a very informative piece that I would like to share with everyone.  Brother Idris Tawfiq was a British preacher who reverted to Islam some years ago and has since been doing a lot for the benefit of our Faith. 

In the website Reading Islam, a non-Muslim questioner asked him for suggestions for helping the people of Gaza.  Kindly read Br. Tawfiq's informative and wise response below.

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I greet you with the Muslim greeting of peace.

I am indeed ashamed that whilst many important voices in the Arab and Muslim world have been deafeningly silent or unable even to schedule a meeting together to speak about what is going on in Gaza, you as a non-Muslim are asking how you can help the people of Gaza.

Thank you for your question and thank you for the concern you show. May God Almighty reward you.

One of the most important ways to begin to help the suffering people of Gaza at this time is to understand well what is happening to them there and to be able to use this knowledge to let others know the truth.

Unfortunately, at this time the powerful media machine all over the world is not always presenting an accurate image of what is happening, perhaps because much of the world's media is controlled by those who support the aggression itself. The first way you can help is to let others know the truth.

By way of introduction, then, I want to say some words about the background to the conflict. Maybe you already know these facts well, but maybe there are others who will read this who will benefit from a fresh understanding.

Under the Ottoman Empire, Christians, Muslims and Jews lived together in Palestine in peaceful co-existence for centuries. It could not have been otherwise, since Islam teaches that there should be "no compulsion in religion" and it encourages Muslims to respect the other People of the Book (Christians and Jews), since they share belief in a Creator who made the heavens and the earth and everything in between.

After the First World War, with the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the Arabs were actively encouraged by Britain and France to seek nations of their own. Britain and France drew lines in the sand and created nation states where they had not existed before.

At the same time, again actively supported by Britain and France, secular Zionists in Europe began to move to Palestine in great numbers and to buy up land there. Their hope was to create a nation called Israel.

This hope became reality for them after the Second World War when Britain, France and America, under the guise of their newly created United Nations Organization, set up the so-called State of Israel in Palestine, on land taken from the people who lived there.

The Palestinians were pushed from their homes and driven into special areas, either across the Jordan River on the West Bank or into Gaza in the south.

So it is that one and a half million Palestinians now live in the tiny area of land known as the Gaza Strip. Their families were forced there by the Israeli State as refugees in their own land, whilst many, many more were forced to go abroad and leave Palestine altogether.

In 1948, the Arab countries fought a war with this new State of Israel to drive it out of the region and to gain back their territory. In 1956, Britain, France and Israel, in the so-called "Tri-Partite Aggression", fought Egypt for control of the Suez Canal.

In 1967 the Israeli State fought another war with the Arabs, seizing vast areas of land beyond their recognized borders, including the Sinai Peninsula, the Golan Heights and the whole of the city of Jerusalem. Much of this territory was won back by another war in 1973.

Even those countries which recognize the so-called State of Israel in Palestine have to recognize it as an occupying power because it occupies land outside the borders of its State which were created in 1948. Under international law, this State of Israel is required to protect the citizens of the land it occupies.

All of this, then, is the background to the carnage and the slaughter we are witnessing every day on our television screens. Instead of protecting the men, women, and children of Gaza, they are being slaughtered.

Let us be perfectly clear: what is happening in Gaza is not a war. What is happening in Gaza is no less than genocide against the Palestinian people. It is a Holocaust which cries out to heaven.

The first thing you can do, then, is to understand this. This itself is a way of helping, because by your understanding you can tell others and you can refuse to accept the lies and the misinformation which is spread abroad.

The next thing you can do is to let those in positions of authority know that you reject this current aggression against the Palestinian people. You can find the addresses of embassies, foreign ministries, prime ministers by doing a "Contact Us" search for them on the internet.

To be sure, the supporters of the Israeli State are not slow to make their voices heard, so those who want to help the Palestinian people should make their own voices heard as well.

When politicians receive an email or two on the same subject, they take note. If they receive hundreds of emails every day they will start to think about their own re-election chances and will sit up and listen.

At the present time there are demonstrations, petitions, candlelit vigils, and all manner of letting others know about the situation in Gaza. Maybe you can get involved in some of these.

There are also innumerable charitable organizations which provide food and medical supplies, blankets, and water to those who are desperately in need of them.

Another very powerful thing to do is to boycott the goods and services of those who carry out or support this aggression. It is perfectly legal and perfectly democratic for you to choose which brand of fizzy drink you want or which trainers you will wear or which coffee shops you will visit.

In this world, money talks. By refusing to buy the goods of those who support this aggression, you will hit them where it hurts the most — in their pockets and their bank balances. Once again, a quick internet search will show you which products to boycott.

And finally, there is the power of prayer. Muslims pray five times a day.
We are called upon, then, to pray with all our might; to stand in the middle of the night until our ankles swell with pain, begging the Almighty to alleviate the suffering of His people.

Muslims read in the Quran what means:

To those who leave their homes in the cause of Allah, after suffering oppression, We will assuredly give a goodly home in this world; but truly the reward of the hereafter will be greater. If only they realized. (An-Nahl 16:41)

The thoughts and the prayers of Muslims, and all people of good will all over the world, are with the suffering men, women, and children of Gaza at this time. They rejoice in the sure knowledge that Allah Almighty is in control and that He will bring peace and justice to His people.

If the leaders of the so-called Israel think that by their blockades and sieges and invasions the people of Palestine will just pack up their bags and leave, they are mistaken. The people of Palestine will never, ever leave and they will never accept the occupation of their land.

It is for this reason that Muslims and Arabs and people all over the world are raising their voices against this slaughter. May Allah Almighty bless you for your concern.

I hope this answers your question. Please keep in touch.

Salam.

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