Why Do Muslims Support the Palestinians?

it is because islam more profoundly than any other religion has taught its followers to be the upholders of justice, that they cannot tolerate the kind of brutal injustice inflicted by the israelis.

and here is allah's command about justice:

*{o you who believe! stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to allah, even as against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, and whether it be (against) rich or poor: for allah can best protect both. follow not the lusts (of your hearts), lest you swerve, and if you distort (justice) or decline to do justice, verily allah is well- acquainted with all that ye do.}* (an-nisaa' 4:135)

this verse, among others, emphatically teaches muslims to establish justice as witnesses for allah (god). and allah almighty warns us against the tendency to follow our own lusts which may prompt us to avoid doing justice.

any sensible person can see that justice is the key to world harmony and peace. indeed human equality and justice are the bases on which all human rights are founded. this is a fact acknowledged by all those who value human dignity.

whereas we can see that zionism denies human equality, as it is founded on the racist idea that by birth the children of israel as "god's chosen people" are a cut above the rest of the world. they claim that the land of canaan (palestine) is promised to them exclusively by none other than god himself.

in fact, their own torah says that the land of canaan is given to abraham's "seed" (genesis 17:8-9), who should reasonably include all the children of abraham. but from the angle of zionist interpretation, abraham's firstborn ishmael and his children have no right to the promised land.

what is funny is that the "secularist", postmodern "civilized" world led by the self-styled upholders of "democracy, freedom and human rights" supports, for all practical purposes, the racist claim that yhwh (god) about four thousand years ago had granted to the israelis exclusive right to palestine now occupied by the zionists.

and the state of israel illegally founded on arab land in 1948 is allowed to hold hundreds of thousands of palestinian arabs ransom. their atrocities began with the massacre of over 250 palestinian men, women and children of deir yassin committed by terrorist gangs led by menachem begin.

and then on they brutally murdered thousands of palestinian men, women and children and destroyed their homes, farms, shops, and other workplaces ignoring world criticism.

in the west bank and gaza, the israeli government inflicted collective punishments on the palestinians such as curfews, house demolitions, and closure of roads, schools and community institutions. hundreds of palestinian activists were deported and tens of thousands of acres of palestinian land were confiscated.

torture of palestinian prisoners has been a common practice, and scores of people have died in detention from abuse or neglect. and israel has built hundreds of settlements on palestinian land and permitted hundreds of thousands of its own jewish citizens to move there, defying international law. (karen armstrong: the battle for god (harper collins, london, 2001).)

the systematic occupation of more and more of arab land by israel has been going on all the while. it was made easy for israel to do this by the united states. it is interesting to note that israel goes on changing its border as it needs more and more land for its planned expansion at the expense of the palestinians.

the "intifada " (the uprising) and the recent "martyr-operations" of the palestinians is the last ditch battle of a people for their basic human rights. but the world media distort the facts to tell the world a different story.

the americans who support the racist claims of israel have no qualms at all in bankrolling and arming the israelis to deny the palestinians their birthright to their homeland. speaking of the present siege of gaza by israel, ramzi kysia, a member of the free gaza movement writes:

" because of the siege, eighty percent of families in gaza are now dependent on international food aid just to be able to eat…. running water is now available to most households for only four to six hours a day. sewage treatment centers no longer function properly….the humanitarian condition of the one and a half million men, women, and children illegally incarcerated in gaza is now at its worst point in the last forty years of israeli occupation." ( ramzi kysia , gaza: breaking into a prison )

patrick o'connor, an activist with international solidarity movement states about gaza: " the conflict here is driven by the imprisonment of a people -- the theft of their land and the denial of their basic rights. israeli policies, and us complicity, are feeding desperation, and dimming hopes for achieving peace any time soon."

and now the israelis have started bombing heavily populated residential neighborhoods in gaza, massacring hundreds. and the "civilized" world looks the other way.

the foregoing clearly highlights the plight of the palestinians; and all dignified humans have a duty to uphold their cause. and the muslims of the world – arab or non-arab – are proud to do this duty of supporting their hapless brothers and sisters in palestine in their struggle for freedom.

you can not just look for the external statements of creeds in assessing the worldview of a people. in order to understand what it is about islam that makes muslims such staunch supporters of the palestinian cause, you have to first understand the essence of the teachings of islam.

the first pillar of islam states that "there is no god other than allah".

this essentially means that all humans created by the same one god, are one – that all humans are equal. and so there is no question of any muslim worth his or her name acknowledging the claim of one set of people asserting that god has given them the right to trample on the rights of others.

for this reason if any muslim is complacent and quiet about the israeli atrocities against the palestinians — and indeed, any racism of any kind — he or she effectively denies that god is one! and thus that person rejects the first and foremost creed of islam.

and also note that after the unity of humanity in general, comes the unity of those who acknowledge the essential unity of divine message as well as our accountability before allah as the final judge of our life in this world. 

this in fact, is the religion of islam taught by the prophets of god and perfected by the final prophet muhammad (peace be upon him).

the world community of the followers of the final messenger of god, muhammad, is known as the muslim ummah. and the palestinians belong to the muslim ummah, and so their pain is our own pain.