"An insurance man was teaching his young boy how to drive. Suddenly the brakes failed.'I can’t stop,' he wailed, 'what should I do?''Don’t panic,' his father told him, 'just hit a wooden pole or bamboo fence or anything cheap.''"Islam strengthens and unites the Muslim community through principles which are encompassed in the Creed of Islam, the Shari'ah, its culture, the integrity of the Ummah, and in the beauty of Islam itself," Jasmine continued while enjoying the charm of the tallest fountain in the world, King Fahd's Fountain in Jeddah. It jets water to a height of approximately 260 meters (853 feet). Constructed between 1980 and 1983, launched in 1985, and listed in Guinness World Records."The whole Muslim world is called the 'Ummah' (أُمَّة). It refers to Ummah al-Islām (أمّةْ الإِسْلَامُ). The word 'ummah' differs from the concept of a country or people. Therefore, it is distinguished from shaʻb (شَعْب, 'people'), which means a nation with common ancestry or geography. As a theological concept, 'Ummah' is meant to cope with racial discrimination and class divisions to unite all Muslims.The solidarity of the Ummah was the umbrella, which united all the nations, tribes, races, and countries. Thus, the entity of the Muslim Ummah became one body. Whenever a part of this body complained of any illness, the rest of it would assist and provide solace. A Muslim sought refuge in his fellow Muslims, and soon he should be supported; whenever the cry of 'Takbir' [the expression 'Allāhu Akbar' can be used in a variety of situations, from celebrations to times of grief] was uttered, all Muslims would arise.In 1492, European colonialism invaded Muslim lands, starting their schemes when they confiscated Ghamatah (Granada). In 1798, Egypt, the heart of the Islamic world, was shot by the arrow of Napoleon Bonaparte’s campaign. The third calamity came in 1924 with the collapse of the Islamic Caliphate. This massive trend of colonialism rendered the Islamic world into pieces. Every nation from among the Muslim Ummah was forced to fight for its own independence.As many formerly colonized regions were rapidly moving toward formal independence in the decades after World War II, one notable exception was Palestine. With the creation of the state of Israel in 1948 and the war that followed, Palestinians found themselves without a state at a time when Muslims throughout North Africa and the Middle East were starting to see some light at the end of the colonial tunnel. Because many Westerners do not view the establishment of modern Israel as a chapter in the history of Western colonialism, it may seem as if this story does not serve the special attention. But for many Palestinians, not to mention other Arabs, the state of Israel represents the continuation of the Western colonial project. This perception can be contested, but, even so, the story of Israel’s formation cannot be adequately narrated without paying attention to the role played by Western nations in Palestine in the early to mid-twentieth century.The modern story of Israel begins in the late nineteenth century with the rise of Zionism: a Jewish nationalist movement to create and maintain a Jewish state in Palestine. The term 'Zionism' is derived from the word Zion, a hill in Jerusalem, widely symbolizing the Land of Israel. Early Zionists were the primary Jewish supporters of the idea that Jews are a race. Zionist nationalism drew from German racial nationalist Völkisch theory, that people of common descent should seek separation and to form their own state. At the time the movement arose, European Jews were starting to look beyond Europe to the real possibility of a permanent home in Palestine. Palestine was the location of the Promised Land, according to Jewish tradition, the land promised to Abraham and his descendants. Since the sixth century BCE, other empires, from the Babylonians to the Romans to the Ottomans, had occupied and ruled this land. For almost two millennia, observant Jews, living in the diaspora, prayed for the possibility of returning to this land.As an organized movement, Zionism did not rely heavily on the religious sentiments historically expressed by Jews. Zionism was primarily a secular nationalist movement, and it came about largely through the work of Theodor Herzl, a journalist and playwright from Austria-Hungary. Herzl’s interests in a Jewish homeland arose from which he laid forth his argument for a Jewish homeland: 'The whole plan is in its essence perfectly simple, as it must necessarily be if it is to come within the comprehension of all. Let the sovereignty be granted us over a portion of the globe large enough to satisfy the rightful requirements of a nation; the rest we shall manage for ourselves.' Herzl was open to two possibilities for which 'portion of the globe” Jews could make into a homeland: Palestine or Argentina. It would not take long for the former to become the focus of Zionist aspirations.When Herzl wrote 'Der Judenstaat' in 1896, Palestine was still part of the Ottoman Empire. The defeat of the Ottomans in World War I resulted in the partitioning of the former empire among the Allies, which led Britain to receive the mandate to govern Palestine in 1923. However, already in 1917, Britain expressed support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine. In a letter written by Britain’s foreign secretary, Arthur Balfour, to Walter Rothschild, a leader in Britain’s Jewish community, the British government’s support was made public: 'His Majesty’s Government view with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which shall prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.' This statement, known historically as the Balfour Declaration, laid the foundation for British and Western support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine.For approximately 1400 years after the last recorded Jewish majority in the region, the majority of the global Jewish population resided in various countries without a national state as part of the post-Roman chapter of the Jewish diaspora. Zionism does not have a uniform ideology but has evolved in a dialogue among a plethora of ideologies. When Herzl wrote 'Der Judenstaat' in 1896, Palestine was still part of the Ottoman Empire. The defeat of the Ottomans in World War I resulted in the partitioning of the former empire among the Allies, which led Britain to receive the mandate to govern Palestine in 1923. However, already in 1917, Britain expressed support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine. In a letter written by Britain’s foreign secretary, Arthur Balfour, to Walter Rothschild, a leader in Britain’s Jewish community, the British government’s support was made public: 'His Majesty’s Government view with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which shall prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.' This statement, known historically as the Balfour Declaration, laid the foundation for British and Western support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine.In the following decades, two competing nationalisms, Zionism and Palestinian Arab nationalism—a twentieth-century political movement focused on uniting Arab peoples based on their common linguistic, cultural, historical, and religious heritage; the movement was a response to the legacy of Western colonialism, intensified, with no clear resolution. The immigration of European Jews to Palestine, which increased for clear reasons during the Holocaust, led to even greater tensions between Jews and Palestinians. With the end of World War II, Britain turned the problem of Palestine over to the United Nations (UN). In November 1947, the UN, whose ranks were dominated by Western nations, many of whom were still involved in colonial projects, developed a plan to partition Palestine into three areas: one Jewish state, one Palestinian state, and an international zone under UN supervision that included Jerusalem. The plan was controversial. While the Jewish settlers constituted approximately one-third of the population, the UN plan granted them some 55 percent of the land. The Palestinians rejected the plan, whereas the Provisional State Council of Israel affirmed it and formally declared the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. In this effort, Israel received considerable international support from many countries outside the Arab world, including the two new superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union.Immediately following Israel’s proclamation, armies from Egypt, Transjordan, Syria, and Iraq joined Palestinian militias in attacking Israel. The Arab-Israeli War lasted until 1949, with Israel the major victor. Just over seven hundred thousand Palestinians were displaced from their homes and became refugees (the United Nations estimated 711,000 Palestinian refugees in light of the war). Other wars between Israel and Arab nations followed in the decades to come, most notably the Six-Day War of 1967, as did numerous diplomatic efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.Many in the Arab world view the history of this conflict, beginning with Zionism’s emergence and continuing long past the establishment of Israel, through the lens of Western colonial exploitation, with Israel serving as a client state of the West in general and the United States in particular. This perception fuels anti-Western and anti-American sentiment throughout the Middle East.Palestine is the name of the area located in the southwestern part of Asia; it is bordered by Lebanon from the north, Syria northeast, Jordan east, the Red Sea south, Sinai in Egypt's southwest, and the west by the Mediterranean Sea. This area witnessed the first recorded form of civilization in human history in the city of Jericho which was established ten thousand years ago. Ever since, it had been inhabited by the Canaanites and the sea immigrants named Philistines who integrated with them later on. It was thereafter invaded by the Romans, the Jews, the Moguls, and the Christian Crusaders.Since the seventh century, most of its population embraced Islam and joined successive Muslim rule until 1917, the year of the collapse of the Ottoman State, when Palestine came under the British mandate that undertook to facilitate the realization of the Zionist dream of creating a Jewish home in Palestine.Palestine acquired its name from the Mediterranean immigrants who came from the southern Greek Islands in the 12th century B.C., and were known as the 'people of the sea'. In the old Egyptian scripts, they were referred to as the P.L.S.T, the N was added later possibly to pluralize the noun; they are referred to as the Philistines. The land, previously known as the Land of Canaan, took the name of the new settlers and came to be known as Palestine. Throughout the centuries of Muslim rule, Palestine had been an integral part of a larger geographical unit, Bilad Al-Sham or Greater Syria, as a sub-district or "fund” in the language of that time. The sub-district of Palestine embraced a larger area than the present one. The new boundaries were set during the time of British colonization (1918-1948), and on the bases of the Sykes-Picot agreement between France and Britain that divided the territories of the disintegrated Ottoman State. The final borders with Syria and Lebanon were set following a Franco-British agreement in 1920, while the borders with Trans-Jordan were fixed by the British High Commissioner in 1922, and those with Egypt were set in 1908 by the Ottomans and the Egyptian Khedive. Since then,Palestine included areas west of the Jordan River, south of the Mount Lebanon. The total area of Palestine is 27,009 km , including 704 km' of water surface that is composed of Al-Hula Lake, Tiberias Lake and half of the Dead Sea. Palestine is unique geographically with four different climates and it's really tempting, with the lowest point on earth and mountains of 1200m altitude above sea level, with lakes and seas among which one is known for its highest salt concentration that left it with no marine life. All these features are assembled in a small piece of land that connects Asia and Africa, and comprises no more than 27,009 km. Palestine is generally divided into four geographic zones: the coastal area: a plain land laying along the Mediterranean from north to south; this is one of the most fertile areas of Palestine as it enjoys a Mediterranean climate with full four seasons. It is ideal for growing fruits and flowers by which it is known until today. The mountainous area:located to the east of the coastal areas and stands parallel to it; the highest altitude reaches 1208 meters in Mount Al-Jarmaq (Meron) in northern Palestine, generally colder than the coastal one, but it still enjoys a Mediterranean climate. Despite its rough topography, the area is ideal for growing grains, beans, figs, olives and grapes; and is widely used for herding. Al-Ghour (the Rift Valley): it is also known also as the Jordan Valley, as the Jordan River divides it into eastern and western parts, in Jordan and Palestine consecutively. Al-Ghour is a fertile land ideal for growing vegetables, fruits and dates. The desert area: it occupies Southern Palestine, and is known as Al-Naqab (Negev) Desert with Beer Al-Sabe' (Beersheba) as its main oasis. Al-Naqab occupies almost half the area of Palestine; it covers the area between Al- Khalil (Hebron) east and Gaza west and extends to the northern coast of the Red Sea. Al-Naqab is hot and dry with some wind-driven sands and few oases.More than half of the world’s population, believe that Palestine, or at least some part of it, is holy; no other land on earth is held holy by such a huge number of people. For all the three Abrahamic religions (Islam, Christianity and Judaism), and to some other sects as well, Palestine is a holy land that houses some of the major holy shrines.Whose Land is it? The fame of Palestine comes from the over 80-year dispute between its local Arab population and the immigrant Zionist Jews who strove and later managed to establish their own political entity, the 'State of Israel', expelling and depriving the indigenous population. Zionism in brief is a political ideology that believes in the establishment of a 'national' home for the Jewish people in Palestine. It works to achieve its aim through all possible means, with violence on top of the agenda. It validates its belief and actions with certain religious arguments derived mainly from Judaism and historical arguments that are based mainly on the Old Testament. However, this neither implies that all Jews are Zionists nor that all Zionists are Jews. There are some non Zionist and even anti-Zionist Jews and there are many non-Jewish Zionists, most of whom are Protestant Christians. On the path to achieve their goals, the Zionists fought six wars, killing and displacing Palestinians inside or even outside Palestine, who escaped to safety in Lebanon. However, the Zionist view does not consider those killed and displaced as victims; on the contrary, it maintains that its actions are legal and ethical, defending the 'undisputable' right of the Jews in their homeland.Zionists claimed that as the chosen people, the Jews were blessed with the land of milk and honey, in which they established their great righteous kingdoms from which the Assyrians expelled them. It is time now for the Jews to return to the land given to them by a divine decree; it is time for them to end their miserable, two millenniums Diaspora. This rhetoric validates itself mentioned in the Old Testament. However, it should be clear to anyone of intellect that this pledge is valid only to its believers; hence, Jews do not have the right to force the local Muslim and Christian population, who do not share this belief, to surrender to it; had they believed in such claims there would have been no dispute from the beginning. Religious claims then are not able to validate anything as long as they are acceptable to one side only, which is the foreign and immigrant side. Additionally, the Prophets of the Children of Israel (such as Moses, Joshua, David, and Solomon (عليهم السلام) endeavored to house their followers (i.e. the Jews) in the sacred land. Thereupon, under the pretext of having their Prophetic heritage, the Jews alleged that Palestine was their own.On the other hand, the great indigenous Muslim majority believes that Muslims are the legitimate heirs of all Prophets who led the struggle of monotheism on this land, the belief in the prophethood of those Prophets is an indispensable part of the Muslim faith, thus, by this logic, the land is theirs. According to the Qur'an, all Prophets were Muslims in faith, hence, Muslims are their most legitimate heirs because their relationship with the Prophets is one of faith, not of language or race; Prophets belong to those who share them the faith, i.e. the Muslims. The Qur'anic verse proving these points,مَاكَانَ اِبْرٰهِيْمُ يَهُوْدِيًّا وَّلَا نَصْرَانِيًّا وَّلٰكِنْ كَانَ حَنِيْفًا مُّسْلِمًاۗ وَمَا كَانَ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِيْنَ اِنَّ اَوْلَى النَّاسِ بِاِبْرٰهِيْمَ لَلَّذِيْنَ اتَّبَعُوْهُ وَهٰذَا النَّبِيُّ وَالَّذِيْنَ اٰمَنُوْا ۗ وَاللّٰهُ وَلِيُّ الْمُؤْمِنِيْنَ'Abraham was neither a Jew nor a Christian, but he was one inclining toward truth, a Muslim [submitting to Allāh]. And he was not of the polytheists [those who associate others with Allah]. Indeed, the most worthy of Abraham among the people are those who followed him [in submission to Allah] and this prophet [i.e., Muḥammad (ﷺ)] and those who believe [in his message]. And Allah is the Ally [including the meanings of patron, supporter, benefactor, guardian, protector, defender, and caretaker] of the believers.' [QS. Ali 'Imran (3):67-68]They believe that the existing Torah of the Jews of today, is a distorted one that was rewritten by the Jewish rabbis to suit their goals and needs, therefore it is viewed very skeptically.This land was once given to the followers of Moses. The Qur'an told,يٰقَوْمِ ادْخُلُوا الْاَرْضَ الْمُقَدَّسَةَ الَّتِيْ كَتَبَ اللّٰهُ لَكُمْ وَلَا تَرْتَدُّوْا عَلٰٓى اَدْبَارِكُمْ فَتَنْقَلِبُوْا خٰسِرِيْنَ قَالُوْا يٰمُوْسٰٓى اِنَّ فِيْهَا قَوْمًا جَبَّارِيْنَۖ وَاِنَّا لَنْ نَّدْخُلَهَا حَتّٰى يَخْرُجُوْا مِنْهَاۚ فَاِنْ يَّخْرُجُوْا مِنْهَا فَاِنَّا دٰخِلُوْنَ قَالَ رَجُلَانِ مِنَ الَّذِيْنَ يَخَافُوْنَ اَنْعَمَ اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِمَا ادْخُلُوْا عَلَيْهِمُ الْبَابَۚ فَاِذَا دَخَلْتُمُوْهُ فَاِنَّكُمْ غٰلِبُوْنَ ەۙ وَعَلَى اللّٰهِ فَتَوَكَّلُوْٓا اِنْ كُنْتُمْ مُّؤْمِنِيْنَ قَالُوْا يٰمُوْسٰٓى اِنَّا لَنْ نَّدْخُلَهَآ اَبَدًا مَّا دَامُوْا فِيْهَا ۖفَاذْهَبْ اَنْتَ وَرَبُّكَ فَقَاتِلَآ اِنَّا هٰهُنَا قٰعِدُوْنَ قَالَ رَبِّ اِنِّيْ لَآ اَمْلِكُ اِلَّا نَفْسِيْ وَاَخِيْ فَافْرُقْ بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَ الْقَوْمِ الْفٰسِقِيْنَ قَالَ فَاِنَّهَا مُحَرَّمَةٌ عَلَيْهِمْ اَرْبَعِيْنَ سَنَةً ۚيَتِيْهُوْنَ فِى الْاَرْضِۗ فَلَا تَأْسَ عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْفٰسِقِيْنَ ࣖ' (Moses said,] 'O my people, enter the blessed land [i.e., Palestine] which Allah has assigned to you and do not turn back [from fighting in Allah's cause] and [thus] become losers. They said, 'O Moses, indeed within it is a people of tyrannical strength, and indeed, we will never enter it until they leave it; but if they leave it, then we will enter.'Said two men from those who feared [to disobey] upon whom Allah had bestowed favor, 'Enter upon them through the gate, for when you have entered it, you will be predominant [i.e., if you obey the command of Allah trusting in Him, He will fulfill His promise to you]. And upon Allah rely, if you should be believers.' They said, 'O Moses, indeed we will not enter it, ever, as long as they are within it; so go, you and your Lord, and fight. Indeed, we are remaining right here.' [Moses] said, 'My Rabb, indeed I do not possess [i.e., control] except myself and my brother, so part us1 from the defiantly disobedient people.' [Allah] said, 'Then indeed, it is forbidden to them for forty years [in which] they will wander throughout the land. So do not grieve over the defiantly disobedient people.' [QS. Al-Ma'idah (5):21-26]Allah assigned the land to Jews on condition that they constitute a leading monotheistic paradigm based on the revealed teachings, but they did exactly the contrary, and the agreement therefore is null and void. Since this condition was not fulfilled, Allah sent His Messengers to other people so that they promoted the faith to humanity in a better way than the children of Israel did. And from that time, the right to the holy land went to those who led this mission of creating the leading example based on the divine revealed teachings, i.e. the Muslims. Indeed, Jews themselves had admitted that they no longer deserved the land because of their deviation and sins, this was said by their Prophet Jeremiah ibn Halqiyah to Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldeans. He said,'Alas, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a brood of evildoers, children who are corruptors! They have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked to anger, The Holy One of Israel, They have turned away backward'. [The Book of Isaiah, 24: 1.4]'The earth is also defded under its inhabitants, because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. [The Book of Isaiah, 24:4-5].Even if we endorse the belief of the Jews that the land was given to Ibrahim and his children, then the Arabs have a right to the land as well because 'Ishmael', who also the son of Abraham, is one of their great grandfathers. Thus, according to the same logic, they have equal right to that of the Jews.For Muslims, the Qur'an has explained clearly the meaning of choosing the progeny of Ibrahim for leadership,وَاِذِ ابْتَلٰٓى اِبْرٰهٖمَ رَبُّهٗ بِكَلِمٰتٍ فَاَتَمَّهُنَّ ۗ قَالَ اِنِّيْ جَاعِلُكَ لِلنَّاسِ اِمَامًا ۗ قَالَ وَمِنْ ذُرِّيَّتِيْ ۗ قَالَ لَا يَنَالُ عَهْدِى الظّٰلِمِيْنَ'And [mention, O Muḥammad], when Abraham was tried by his Rabb with words [i.e., commands] and he fulfilled them. [Allah] said, 'Indeed, I will make you an Imam for the people." [Abraham] said, 'And of my descendants?' [Allah] said, 'My covenant does not include the wrongdoers.' [QS. Al-Baqarah (2):124]The condition for this leadership is not to do evil things, but, on the contrary, the Zionist Jews are using it as an excuse to kill, displace, torture and oppress, as if they was chosen to freely commit evil.Based on the stories narrated in the Torah, the Zionist Jews claim that they are the indigenous people of Palestine and that this land belongs only to them; everybody who entered this land came after them and is considered a colonizer of the land of Israel; he deserves then to be expelled for taking a land that is not his. Many historical studies were directed to support this contention; but they are far from being academic and are value driven as they disregard a huge amount of historical evidence.We'll discuss some historical evidence in the next episode, bi 'idhnillah."Before moving to the next fragment, Jasmine then sang,Berpaling muka bila saling bertatap mata[Look away when staring at each other's eyes]Seolah kita tiada pernah saling mencinta[As if we never loved each other]Mencari sebab serta mencari alasan[Looking for the cause as well as looking for excuses]Supaya tercapai hasratmu *)[So that you can achieve your desires]
Citations & References:
- Dr. Mohsen Mohammed Saleh, History of Palestine: A Methodological Study of a Critical Issue, 2003, Al-Falah Foundation
- Theodor Herzl, The Jewish State, translated from the German 'Der Judenstaat', 1896, by Sylvie D'Avigdor, adapted from the edition published in 1946 by the American Zionist Emergency Council, Dover Publications.
- Gideon Shimoni, The Zionist Ideology, 1995, the Trustees of Brandeis University
*) "Mencari Alasan" written by Lukhman S and Rahim Othman
