Lessons From the Intifáda
Omar Tarhuni
9 April 2000
A-úthú billáhi minash shaytánir rajím. Bismilláhir Rahmánir Rahím!
[Arabic du'á]
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Islam,
How do you feel about the ongoing Intifada in Palestine?
Did you cry for the murder of Muhammad Al Durra? Were you in pain and sadness for the massacres inflicted on your brothers and sisters in Gaza, the West Bank and the occupied land? Did you wish that you could join them and participate in their struggle? Did you feel angry and furious? Did you feel sick and disgusted by the bias and hypocrisy exhibited by many groups in Europe and America? Most importantly, did we learn anything positive from this experience?
There are several lessons that we can learn from the Intifada. One is that the Palestinian People are still alive, despite nearly half a century of dispossession and oppression. Their spirit of Jihad did not vanish. The Zionist war machine has not been able to silence the Palestinians, nor has it been able to crush their will and determination for freedom and independence. Our brothers and sisters in Palestine are aware of the huge price and the magnitude of the sacrifice they have to make. They have already made enormous sacrifices.
Their struggle and sacrifices started more than 80 years ago, with the British Mandate on Palestine. The mandate, which planted the Jews in Palestine, helped them and allowed them to have their state.
Since that day, the Palestinian People have been making sacrifices and providing martyrs one after another. This was repeated during the First Uprising that started in Gaza and was truly the Uprising of Mosques because it started in the Mosques. The Mus-hafs were its banners, “Allahu Akbar” was its call. Its anthem was “Khaiber Khaiber O you Jews, Mohammad’s Army well come back.
The so-called Peace Process that started in Oslo aborted that uprising. The new uprising that has started again in Al Aqsa Mosque erupted as a result of severe frustration over the peace process. This process has turned out to be a humiliating exercise of submission and surrender, and it denies the Palestinians’ legitimate rights and aspirations.
The Intifada erupted as a spontaneous response against the intrusion of Sharon, the butcher of Sabra and Shatila, into the Muslim sacred site of Haram Al-Sherif in East Jerusalem.
So far, more than 100 Palestinians have died and thousands have been injured. Unarmed civilian Palestinians fight with their bare hands or throw stones. They protest against the Israeli invasion and desecration of their sacred site. Their stones are met with a storm of Israeli troops who fire anti-tank rockets, hand grenades and deploy combat helicopters.
This uprising is the result of years of injustice, humiliation and now the desecration of our sacred places. It is the expression of fury and rage for the sake of Al Aqsa Mosque and its surrounding area, which Allah blessed. Al Aqsa was the first Qibla of the Muslims for three years before the migration to Madinah, and it continued to be the Qibla for sixteen months after that.
We honour the sons and daughters of Palestine who are raising the banner of this Intifada, we salute the children of Palestine, those young people who became great through their sacrifices. Those little cubs who turned out to be fearsome lions, and those students who turned out to be masters. May Allah shower his mercy on the martyrs. May Allah provide a speedy recovery for the injured, and May Allah unite the ranks of the Palestinian people and keep them strong, supporting each other against all the plots and conspiracies.
We also learn from the Intifada that the Zionist Jews cannot be trusted. They have no covenant and never keep their word.
It shows us the betrayal of the Jews and their brutality, treachery, and aggression. This is something, which we learn from the Holy Quran itself, and from the events of history and the realities that we see in front of us today. Allah says:
“They are those with whom you make a covenant, but they break their covenant every time and they have not the fear of Allah.” 8/56.
And also;
“Is it not the case that every time they make a covenant, some party among them throw it aside?. Nay, most of them are faithless.” 2/100
Those savages do not hesitate to shoot innocent infants, children and helpless old men and women. They have no mercy.
Their hearts are harder then stones. The Quran says about them:
“Thenceforth were your hearts hardened: They became like rocks and even worse in hardness.” 2/74
If that concrete wall, behind which martyr Muhammad Al Durra was murdered could speak, it would probably weep and shed a lot of tears before it uttered any words and curse the merciless butchers.
The coward Israeli snipers can kill many people including infants, and children. The Israeli tanks and gunships can destroy homes, and buildings.
But they cannot and they will not be able break the Palestinians spirit of Jihad and resistance. They and their supporters and allies will not be able to extinguish the flame of Islam, nor will they be able to kill the basic human desire to seek freedom with dignity and Justice.
The terrorist and the head of the Stern Zionist gang Menachem Begin said: “We fight, therefore we are’. This declaration illustrates the true nature and essence of the Zionist character.
The response to this declaration came from Sheikh Ahmed Yaseen who said: ” We resist, therefore we are.”
These epithets were based on the words of 17thC. French philosopher Rene Descartes famous words, “I think, therefore I am.” Sheikh Yaseen’s reply to Begin was both poetic and defiant. If the sole purpose of Zionism is to fight and oppress, with no regard for morality or justice, then Palestinians are equally resolved to resist that aggression and oppression.
If the fall of Apartheid in South Africa has a lesson for anyone, it is that ultimately, no amount of military might or economic muscle can defeat a people’s will to be free. It is only a matter of time, faith and and sacrifice.
We learn also that the west, and in particular, the American Administration and its Zionist-controlled Congress, are biased in favour of Israel. They support Israel no matter what. They protect and support Israel Militarily, politically and financially.
Without absolute American support, without the American arsenal, without the American veto, Israel would not have been so tyrannical and arrogant. Without its support, Israel would not have been able to have its nuclear weapons. Israel is the spoilt child of America.
The Americans always misrepresent the news and always make Palestinian casualties seem less than they are and the circumstances of any conflict ambiguous, they never fail to make the Israelis seem less guilty than they continue to be.
What happened to human rights. What happened to People’s right for self-determination? What about Truth, Justice and fairness.?
In the pro Zionist Western media, the Palestinians are depicted as terrorist while the Israelis are depicted as innocent and peace-loving people trying to stop the aggression of invading hoards of Palestinians.
When a Jewish person gets killed or injured or even arrested they make sure that the whole universe is aware of it.
But all the thousands of innocent people get shot with international illegal bullets it’s perfectly all right. Arab lives and Muslim’s blood is cheap.
SECOND KHUTBAH
We learn also that the Ummah is still alive and okay, because the Islamic nations from Jakarta to Sudan have reacted to the Intifada. Muslims all over the world were provoked by the extent of the Israeli savagery and brutality. They were moved by the heroism of the Palestinian people and their youth.
The official American hypocrisy, double standards and total indifference sickened them.
In recent days there were protest marches everywhere led by young people who were fed up with Israeli arrogance and brutality. They are fed up with American injustice and bias. They are fed up with the inability of own their rulers to defend their brothers in Palestine, who are facing Israeli tanks, helicopters and snipers bare-chested.
Finally we learn that the peace process is crippled and a fake.
It is unjust. it is a process that is not based on rights or equality.
It is a process that gave everything to the Jews and nothing to the Palestinians, the owners of the land and the victims of the oppression.
The Israelis and their allies and supporters want to dictate their will and conditions under the flimsy cover of Peace.
Therefore one must say no to this process. One must say no to any normalisation with the Zionist enemies.
Any peace process that does not address the wrongs of the past is doomed to ultimate failure, especially when one party is still suffering miserably from such past evils. If international legality and moral standards are not solicited and used as basic criteria for such a peace process, then the entire negotiations would turn into a farce.
In the end we have to realise that this issue is not a simple one. It will not be fixed in a short time, but will probably take many years.
The Muslims had similar experiences when the Crusaders came to the area. At that time, the Arabs and the Muslims were much weaker than today, they were divided. Some of their rulers were traitors who collaborated with the enemies of Islam. But in the end, when the Ummah found its way and decided to change its situation and returned to Allah, Allah led them to victory.
The Crusaders captured masjid Al-Aqsa for ninety years and the Crusaders themselves remained in the area for two hundred years.
At the end when the Ummah returned to Allah, He provided them with men like Ammad Al-Deen Zinki and his son Nour Ideen Mahmoud and his student Salahuddin Al-Ayoubi, who defeated the Crusaders in the battle of Hitteen and liberated Al-Aqsa.
So we should not despair, we should not give up. We should not lose hope. We should be certain that in the end, justice and truth would prevail.
We live in an age where black is called white and evil is portrayed as good. We live in an age where the oppressor is called the victim and the victim is called the oppressor. We live in an age where falsehood is dressed up as the truth, and truth is distorted to appear as falsehood.
From its nature falsehood must perish: for it is the opposite of truth, and truth must ever prevail. This is what the Quran says:
“And say: Truth has now arrived, and Falsehood perished. For Falsehood is (by its nature) bound to perish.” ch17/v81
We should do everything we can for the noble purpose of Al-Aqsa Mosque. There are many orphans, widows and wounded people who need our help, so let us do whatever we can to help our brothers and sisters by donating what we can, by making Dua’, and by boycotting Israeli and American products. This is the least that we can do.
[du'á in Arabic]
Ameen! Aqeemus Salaah!
* Edited from a Khutbah by Shaikh Y. Qardawi
موضوع: Lessons From the Intifáda 
الأحد أغسطس 14, 2011 2:27 pm
