Opinion Editorials, October 2007
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Celebrating The Spirit Of Resistance On Quds Day
By Zafarul Islam Khan
Milli Gazette, New Delhi, 7 October, 2007
Quds Day is Imam Khomeini’s contribution to the Palestinian Cause. Almost 28 years ago, the late scholar and leader of the Islamic revolution of Iran, declared the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan to be observed as a day of solidarity with the oppressed Palestinians. Since then, every year on Jum’atul Wada’ (the last Friday of Ramadan), Muslims across the world organise protest rallies against Israeli occupation and oppression and express their solidarity with the ongoing resistance movement of the Palestinian people.
In keeping with this tradition which is essentially an expression of the universal Islamic brotherhood, the Milli Gazette this year joined hands with a host of Indian Muslim organisations to organize a conference on “Quds And Palestine” on the occasion. The organizers included All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat, Jamiat Ulama-e Hind, Jamaat-e Islami Hind, Jamiat Ahl-e-Hadeeth, Kul Hind Anjuman Himayatul Islam, Shah Waliullah Institute, Old Boys Association of Darul Uloom Deoband, Markazi Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind, Muslim Political Council, Movement For Empowerment of Muslim Indians, Students’ Islamic Organization of India and Friends of Palestine India in addition to the Milli Gazette.
The conference was scheduled to start on October 5, at 3 O’clock in the afternoon at the Engineering Faculty Auditorium of Jamia Millia Islamia here but the University authorities played spoilsport by withdrawing permission at the eleventh hour for the conference to be held at the venue already booked and paid for in advance. The Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Mushirul Hasan remained inaccessible after denying the permission and the immediate authorities kept giving the organisers the runaround for an hour before finally succumbing to allow the conference to begin at 4 O’clock at the same place.
Participants and speakers took strong exception to the unbecoming behaviour of the university authorities. MG editor Zafarul Islam Khan described the act as a betrayal to the very founders of Jamia who remained steadfast supporters of the Palestinian cause till the end including its first vice chancellor Muhammad Ali who is buried in the very precinct of the Aqsa Mosque.
Conducting the proceedings, Zafarul Islam Khan gave an overview of the state of siege the Palestinians are kept in, denied access to even a modicum of help from the outside world. Recounting the background of the issue, the Oslo agreements and their failure to solve the Palestinian issue, he said “Palestine has turned into an open prison and entry into or exit from it depends solely on the Israeli permission”. Referring to the problem of refugees, he said that Palestinians formed the largest number of refugees in the world and even in Delhi there are now around 400-500 Palestinian refugees.
The MG editor pointed to the shift in the Indian policy on Palestine saying that India’s commitment to the struggle of the Palestinians had now remained confined to paying just lip service. Commenting on the increasing business and military ties between India and Israel, he said that nobody was averse to the procurement of military supplies for country’s defence but having Israel as a supplier was a morally incorrect choice.
Prof. Shafiq Ahmad Khan, head of the department of Arabic at Jamia Millia Islamia, in his brief inaugural address, focused on the religious importance of the occupied land in the light of Surah Isra’ of the holy Quran.
Shahi Imam of Delhi’s historic Fatehpuri Mosque, Maulana Mufti Mukarram Ahmad said that on the one hand Israel was engaged in a defamation campaign against the Palestinians by trying to brand them as “terrorists” while on the other hand there was a general ignorance especially among the Indian Muslims about the Palestinian issue. He expressed his dismay over what he called the lack of a united effort on the part of Muslims to reclaim the occupied territory. Citing a Hadith, the scholar said that a Muslim cannot remain aloof of the affairs of other Muslims and it was therefore a collective duty of all Muslims to do everything possible through peaceful means to help the oppressed Palestinians.
Member of Parliament and editor of the Urdu weekly “Nayi Duniya”, Shahid Sddiqi said Israel’s dominance over Palestine was getting stronger with the divisions among Palestinians weakening their resistance. The parliamentarian further said that with the world media and American policies under its influence, Zionism was not only a danger to the Palestinians alone, it was posing a serious threat to all of us as well because of the increasingly upward drift in our foreign policy in favour of Israel. “To keep this danger at bay, we will have to think of the ways of influencing the foreign policy of the nation” he said, asking “if outsiders can dictate our foreign policy, can’t we, as citizens of the country, even influence it?” He appealed to the Palestinians to maintain unity and thereby strengthen their movement.
The General Secretary of Jamat-e-Islami Hind, Maulana Nusrat Ali said that the UN resolutions have failed to deter Israel from acting upon its designs of realizing the Zionist dream of Greater Israel. “On the one hand we see Israel oppressing Palestinians while on the other hand its allies are present at every world forum to speak for it and defend its actions” he said, adding that the Muslim countries did not practically display a unity on the Palestinian issue and the activities of the Organisation of Islamic Conference remained confined to merely passing resolutions. Talking about the boost in the ties between India and Israel, he said “All this is being done on the pretext of “national interest” but national interest is not a valid excuse for establishing alliance with the oppressor and we need to tell this clearly to our Government”.
Former Vice Chancellor of Agra University, Manzoor Ahmad discussed the discriminatory and biased coverage of the Western media of the affairs of Muslims in general and Palestine in particular. He explained citing examples as to how events involving non-Muslim countries made headlines for weeks on end while similar events concerning Muslim countries were reduced to mere references in the passing and any discussion or debate over the issue was discouraged, especially in the American media. He said, Palestine was basically a Muslim issue but Muslims lacked the level of commitment this issue demanded.
Khalid Mubashshir of the Students Islamic Movement of India while paying homage to the Palestinian martyrs, appealed to the students going for higher education to be aware and take interest in the issues of the oppressed, understand them and work for them. He said that there was a conspiracy to de-politicize the students which needed to be resisted with full strength.
Maulana Ameeduzzaman Keranvi, president of the Old Boys Association of Darul Uloom Deoband, said that Israel was on the forefront of all the attacks on Muslims. He said that Palestine was a question of justice and it was the duty of all justice-loving people to come forward in support of the Palestinians.
Dr Arshi Khan, reader of Political Science in Aligarh Muslim University, said “the fact that Israel was a confirmed, illegal and illegitimate terrorist state is proved by reasonable argument”. He said Israel was engaged in a psychological war with the Palestinians and it sought to weaken their resistance by hurting their honour, killing their leaders and humiliating them. Arguing that Palestinians had no guaranteed democratic and constitutional rights, he asked what happened after Hamas won fair elections supervised by none other than the European Union and Jimmy Carter? Referring to the Palestinian refugees, he said that seven million and not the frequently quoted 4.5 million was the actual number of Palestinian refugees.
Former MP and president of the All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat, Syed Shahabuddin, in his presidential address recalled his meeting with a Palestinian diplomat some 50 years ago and quoted him saying, “The Israelis say they were driven out of their homes in Palestine over 2500 years ago and they cannot forget that. How can we then forget that Palestine is our homeland after watching our houses and fields across the barbed wires being occupied by them?” The former ambassador could not control his emotions and broke down while reciting a poem of Mahmoud Darwish about the miseries of the Palestinian refugees and their hope to return to their home one day. He said that there was no room for pessimism as thanks to the Palestinian resistance, the Arabs were now waking up. He said that the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan are actually the price Muslims were made to pay for supporting the Palestinian struggle. He said that the world at large was gradually waking up to the danger of Israel, which was an encouraging development.
All speakers strongly condemned the so-called “Muslim” delegation which had visited Israel last month at the invitation of the Zionists.
An exhibition of photos capturing various shades of the resistance and sacrifices of the Palestinians was also put on display by the Students Islamic Movement of India outside the venue which served as the perfect ambiance for the conference.
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