Israel and its Policy of Collective Punishment

The past few weeks have witnessed another eruption of Israel Zionist aggression against the hapless Palestinians, with the Jewish regime once more employing its military might against women and children.
Analysts rate the recent Gaza terrorist attack by the Israeli government as the worst crisis in the region since 1967. While that may be debatable, there is no doubt that this recent act of State terrorism ranks among the worst oppression ever to be perpetrated against an unprotected people.

In the recent Gaza bombardment mainly children were injured and killed, the youngest being a two-month (some reports say two-day) old baby. Even big men who saw video footages of the pillage and destruction wrought by Jewish jets and missiles, were driven to tears. And all this in the name of collective punishment! For the crime of a few Palestinians who fired some harmless rockets into Israeli territory, innocent Palestinian children have to pay with their lives. There could never be a greater travesty of justice.
The Israeli fascist regime has evolved into such an arrogant and despotic rulership that it is almost a law unto itself. It sees fit to punish a whole community for the act of a few, and above all, get away with brutality with impunity.
Flagrant and deliberate perversion of justice has now become a norm for Western so-called Democratic States when dealing with Islam and its followers. Can any country in the world produce one example of such obscene and monstrous violation of human rights as perpetrated by Israel? It appears as if only Muslims deserve such inhumane treatment.

AGGRESSION WITH IMPUNITY
A look at the responses of Western governments to the Gaza attacks will underline the immunity Israel enjoys in its campaign of naked aggression against Palestine.
Al Jazeera reports that the international community, led by the US and the UK has voiced concern and urged both sides to step back from the brink….. (2 March, 2008)
This is totally absurd and outrageous. All these insensitive bureaucrats could do was to “voice concern”, as if this carnage was nought but a figment of one’s imagination. In a one-sided onslaught, only men devoid of intellect will urge both sides to step back. Any idiot can see that the major role player in this conflict is Israel. The British Foreign Secretary condemned the rocket attacks against Israel, which caused hardly any damage, but remains fiendishly silent on the brutal killing of Palestinian children. He calls the former terrorism, but devilishly side-steps the State terrorism of the Zionists. All this clearly emphasizes in no uncertain terms that Israel has got a subtle cater blanche from these Governments to launch one barrage after another against the helpless Palestinian nation.

INSTIGATORS OF THE CONFLICT
The instigators of this 60 year-old conflict were none other but the Zionists themselves, aided and abetted by the conceited British, who on the precept of racial egotism and ascendancy, did everything in its power to suppress the Palestinian nation since its very onset. First the Palestinians were robbed of their lands when Britain implemented the Balfour declaration in 1947. Then insult was added to injury when, after establishing the ill-conceived state of Israel, the Jews began building settlements on land already occupied by Palestinians. These Jewish rogues make Mugabe look like an angel! Hordes of Jewish settlers from different parts of the world began converging onto Israel for this big land grab without an iota of shame. Systematically and over a gradual period of time Palestinians lost their properties, homes, and lands to marauding Jews. It is indeed the height of religious heresy, that people who supposedly follow a Divine Scripture could perpetrate such plunder of land in the name of that Holy Scripture. No wonder that Jews are cursed in the Holy Quran, as the following verse describes:
“The Disbelievers among the Children of Israel were cursed on the tongues of Dawood (David) and Eesa the Son of Maryam (Mary); That was because of their sin and continued transgression. (Al-Quran 5:78)
These States of tyranny and oppression fail to realise, not surprisingly given the lack of spirituality among them, that sovereignty is a gift from Almighty Allah granted to man for a specific purpose. Almighty Alah grants dominion and rulership to whomever He wishes, (Quran 3:26) for the purpose of implementing justice and good among mankind, not so that the strong may oppress the weak. Government in Islam entails establishing justice on earth, safeguarding the rights of the down-trodden, and providing protection and relief to the needy. When the Jews of the past prayed for salvation from the tyranny of Fir’oun (Pharoah), Almighty Allah made this declaration on the tongue of The Holy Messenger Moosa (AS)
“Perhaps Your Lord will destroy your enemies and them make you the rulers of the land (that they owned). Then He shall see how you behave (therein.)” (Al-Quran 7:129)
They were thus warned that control of land and power is a gift from Almighty Allah to test the behaviour and conduct of rulers. Should the rulers abuse this gift, as surely the current day Israelis are doing, then the grip of Allah is sure and powerful. Almighty Allah states:
“Then when they forgot the warnings given to them, We opened up the doors of all (Our bountiful) things; When they start rejoicing over what they were given, We suddenly seize them (in Punishment); they are then utterly bewildered (Al Quran 6:44)
Readers might wonder when this punishment will descend, and after the atrocious butchering of people, why the delay. Well, the Holy Quran has answered this in several verses, one of which reads:
“Do you not see that We send the Devils upon the disbelievers to incite them to (greater) sin; so do not be hasty (in wishing for their destruction); We are counting their (remaining) moments (of survival); (Al-Quran 19:83,84)
Almighty Allah gives sinners respite to repent and desist from their evil ways. But when they persist with wrong-doing, then their days are literally numbered. Their punishment is only a matter of time. Israel’s days of zhulm and transgression are certainly numbered. The old adage of the Arabs says that a nation can exist with disbelief but not with oppression. Fir’oun‘s reign of terror and tyranny lasted for 300 years before the Punishment of Allah overtook him. Three hundred years may seem a long time to our minds, but in relation to Allah The Almighty length of time has no bearing.
In the last verse of Surah Muhammad, Almighty Allah addresses his beloved Messenger saying:
“So be patient like the mighty Messengers were patent, and do not seek a hastening of their punishment; but the day they see it, (coming) they will think they had not stayed (in this world) but for a portion of the day;
Three hundred years or three thousands years will pale into insignificance in the face of approaching Doom.

BRAZEN HYPOCRISY
When a Palestinian attacked a Jewish seminar in retaliation for the Gaza bombardment, the United States were quick to condemn the attack in the most vehement terms. But its silence on the Israeli killings was deafening. When Iraq violated so-called Nuclear protocol the US wasted no time in launching a full scale war on the country. But when Israel repeatedly violated international law by stealing Palestinian land, building illegal settlements, and carrying out raids against neighbouring Lebanon, the US not only failed to censor the Jewish state but actually covertly condoned their acts of terror. Such are the double-standards of today’s first world leaders. They are seeped in hypocrisy and will unashamedly display this to the world.

OUR PLAN OF ACTION
1) DUA
Our first recourse is Allah Azza Wa Jall. We all need to turn to Him in earnest and continuous dua, asking Almighty Allah to liberate Musjidul Aqsaa from the hands of the enemy and deliver it into the hands of better people; people who will respect its sanctity and show kindness to the downtrodden. Dua is a our greatest weapon at this point in time. When a crisis as the one in Gaza erupts, we cannot help but becoming despondent and morose. Dua is a great means of dispelling this despondency and despair. It has been proven time and again that one in desperation gets up after making sincere dua with a renewed feeling of hope and vigour. Just the act of communicating with Allah is alone a great means of solace and comfort. Let us be persistent and consistent in dua. We pray to Allah, our Saviour and Sustainer, to thwart the plans of the Zionists, to protect Musjidul Aqsaa, to restore Palestinian lands and properties to its rightful owners, and free Musjidul Aqsaa from Zionist shackles. We also make dua that Allah soothes the frayed nerves and emotions of those who suffered in the recent crisis. We will continue this dua indefinitely, regardless of how long it takes for the materialization of our supplications. We will leave behind a legacy of dua among our offspring and descendants. The Messenger of Allah Moosa (AS) made dua for the destruction of Fir’oun and his Kingdom, whilst his brother Nabi Haroun (AS) said “aameen” to his duas. The supplication of these two mighty Messengers was only answered after 40 years! (Tafseer of Qurtubi) Nowadays if our duas are not accepted within 40 minutes, we throw in the towel. Such is the level of our impatience and lack of conviction.

2) GLOBAL AWARENESS
Secondly, we need to continue to highlight to the world the conspiracies of the Zionists, such as their plans to demolish the Musjid and replace it with a Temple, proof of which is the secret underground excavations currently in progress. The need is to intelligently and accurately proclaim these Jewish plots to the global community in an objective but forceful way. In doing so let us not resort to exaggeration, use of spurious material, or violence, for then the message is lost on the audience.

3) CULTURAL BOYCOTT
Thirdly, there is a great need to boycott the culture and ideology of all these kuffar, for they are all one breed. This boycott is far more important than the boycott of goods and products. The West, be it the Americans, the British, or the Jews, (all bed-fellows) has mastered the technique of subtly imposing their culture and thought upon the people of the world, in a variety of ways. We may avoid their products, but the world today has become so saturated with Western culture and ideology that almost every nook and cranny of this universe is polluted, barring a few areas. As Muslims our biggest disappointment is that the two most holiest cities in the world have also come under the scalpel of Western influence. Be that as it may, we shall strive with all our spiritual might to combat the menace of Western/American/Imperialistic culture. The benefit of this is indeed tremendous. By achieving to alienate ourselves from kuffar culture and ideology, we are improving our spiritual state which in turn enables us to do more good deeds thereby earning closeness to Allah and increasing the chances of our duas being accepted. It also paves the way to propagate our Deen to the world. When we are better Muslims , we develop sublime character that draws people toward Islam and enhances the reputation of Islam. I think there is no greater service any Muslim can render to Islam than becoming a practical ambassador for his Deen.

4) UNIFICATION
Fourthly, the whole Ummat has to work towards unity at all levels. We need unity among our families, communities, at national level, as well as globally. Our enemy is only as strong as the weakness in our unity. One major factor that has hampered Palestinian success is lack of unity among the Muslim nations. Had there been unity based on Islamic values and principles, the shape of Middle East politics would have been vastly different from what we observe today.