3000 years ago, the Jews say,
It was home to the Temple Mount,
Built by King Solomon;
A narrative, they often recount.
They say it’s justification
For excavating and encroaching,
The illegal settlers have been
Recklessly colonizing.
No! How could they?
They are only settlers there.
It was Palestinians who welcomed[1]
Ibrahim, their forefather.
They are too busy harassing
The aboriginal nation,
While history is a testimony,
To their own brutal persecution.
They were enslaved by
an arrogant Pharaoh.
Moosa led the Exodus[2],
An escape that was narrow.
They broke free from Egypt,
But refused the Holy Land[3].
Hence, were left to wander 40 years,
For forsaking divine command.
Without a ruler of their own,
ruled by many empires,
The Jews at times co-existed
and at times clashed with their neighbors.
It was the late 19th century,
when their oppression began to escalate,
This gave birth to Zionism,
The call for a Jewish State.
Seeking to establish it,
Massacres were committed;
The Palestinians dehumanized,
And their rights violated.
Just a peaceful show of resistance,
Like ‘The Great March of Return.’[4]
Yet somehow, the Palestinians are the terrorists
And Israel in “self-defense”.
This is only flawed rhetoric,
To justify their offenses,
It is only wars of aggression,
Packaged as self-defense.[5]
They’d say they had nowhere to go.
There was only Palestine.
How, then, did they exist,
Before this idea took hold?
The persecuted Jews found
Humanity and solace
In the Muslim empires,
They began to make progress.
They rejoiced in a golden age,
With Jewish culture flourishing.
For over a thousand years,
Muslims and Jews were co-existing.
With communal autonomy
And freedom of religion,
Their rights were protected;
Yet, Islam is anti-semitic?!
Failing to realize,
This past of being subdued,
They are those who sought refuge,
Yet now they subjugate.
Civilians are bombarded,
The atrocities aren’t new,
With a murky blend of justifications,
The war crimes continue.
[1] Ibrahim (a.s.) migrated from a place in modern-day Iraq to Palestine
[2] The escape of Bani Israel from Egypt under Moosa (a.s.)
[3] Allah سبحانه و تعالی commanded the Bani Israel to enter Palestine at that time.
[4] Took place from 2018- 2019.
[5]https://jacobin.com/2021/05/israel-palestine-right-to-self-defense-justification-for-war-article-51-un-charter
References
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/al-aqsa-explainer-1.6804023
https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2017/12/6/al-aqsa-mosque-five-things-you-need-to-know
Written by: Hafsa Shaikh
Edited by: The Editorial Team
© The Islamic Reflections Blog