Breaking The Silence – Painting Scenes For A Free Palestine

In the Name of Allāh, the Most Beneficent, Most Merciful

The catastrophic, brutal and deplorable scenes unfolding in the blessed land of Palestine which send shivers down the spine and shatters the heart of any humane individual, testify that the Zionist Israeli military forces and their allies responsible for the staging of these tragic scenes are nothing but barbaric and malign in their ruthless pursuit to execute their sinister scheme of transforming Gaza into a ‘deserted land’ and ‘taking vengeance on human animals’.

Israel’s relentless carpet bombing over the besieged Gaza strip for the past ten days has resulted in the killing of over 2800 Palestinians, leaving another mammoth 10,859 wounded and over one million internally displaced. Every five minutes, a Palestinian is being killed and every fifteen minutes, a child is being killed. Over 64,000 residential properties have been damaged and over 5000 completely demolished. Eighteen places of worship have been damaged; among them eleven mosques have been completely destroyed.

The lethal attack does not stop there. The UN shelters, schools, health facilities and other infrastructure vital to human life, such as water sanitation facilities and desalination plants have also been targeted. As of October 13, nineteen health facilities were not fully operational, eleven water sanitation facilities have been destroyed and as of October 16, all three water desalination plants are no longer operational.

Coupled with this, the complete siege of the 365 km2 Gaza strip, depriving its 2.3 million population of food, water, electricity, fuel and humanitarian aid is strangling the surviving population and collapsing whatever remains of the health care system, leaving 50,000 pregnant women unable to access health care services. Beyond the 2800 massacre and beneath the rubble of over 64,000 structures, the sorrows and mental trauma remain buried, unrecorded and unexplainable.

Israel’s beastly onslaught has long transgressed all moral and humane standards as is evident from their bombing of those forced to flee after ridiculously demanding that 1.1 million people relocate in 24 hours, their unlawful unleash of white phosphorus to burn Palestinians excruciatingly along with the 6000 bombs which pummeled the 365 km2 besieged enclave over the span of a mere six days; equivalent to what the US releases over (the 1800 times larger) Afghanistan in an entire year.

These staggering statistics over the past ten days are a mere reflection of the ongoing genocide in Palestine. They simply serve as a glimpse into the climax of the atrocious oppression the occupier is meting out to those caged in their own lands since the Nakba in 1948 for over seven decades, and specifically more intense over the past 16 years under a rigorous blockade over the Gaza Strip imposed by Israel in 2007 which dictates and restricts the Palestinian’s freedom of movement. During this 16-year period, apart from the ongoing one, Israel has launched four military assaults on the Gaza strip killing and injuring many with the highest in the 2014 ‘Operation Protection Edge’ which lasted fifty days and killed more than 2100 Palestinians in comparison to the 73 Israelis and destroyed over 20,000 homes.  

For decades before October 7, Gaza’s Palestinians have been stripped of basic human rights, persecuted and terrorized daily under the Israeli’s settler colonial rule, military occupation and the most oppressive apartheid regime the world has witnessed in modern times. They lack access to clean, safe water, live on as low as seven hours electricity and majority are food insecure. Their lands are seized and occupied. Despite the common reference to Gaza as the world’s largest open-air prison due to the oppressive restrictions and restrictive movement of the blockade, the comparison does no justice in portraying the decades of persecution against the Palestinians. They are ‘imprisoned’ without perpetrating any crime and are subjugated and terrorized in a manner alien to prisons.

We vehemently condemn this perpetual colonization and oppression as we stand in solidarity with the oppressed Palestinians to paint a new scene of freedom and justice. The silence must be broken and the Israeli forces must be openly condemned for obliterating and indiscriminately killing Palestinian men, women and children especially over the past ten days.

They must be openly condemned for dehumanizing Palestinians and treating them worse than animals. We openly denounce Israel’s attack to be unjustly and erroneously dubbed as ‘vengeance’ and ‘self defence’. We refuse to accept the hypocrisy and double standards of leaders who claim to be proponents of human rights, yet conveniently disregard the Palestinian’s right to fight for their human rights and freedom and remain silent on Israel’s blatant violation of the international laws and sanctity of life. Rather, they are assisting and endorsing Israel’s atrocious dehumanization of Palestinians.

As Israel’s cruel and unwavering intent to strip Gaza bare is evidently apparent, it is incumbent on the international community under international law to intervene to protect Gaza from the heinous crimes of genocide and ethnic cleansing. We appeal to the Barbadian government to recognize the Palestinian struggle and urgently negotiate and engage in dialogue with the more authoritative international governments and organisations to immediately call on Israel to cease its military aggression on the Gaza Strip, lift the siege and restore its water, food, fuel and humanitarian aid, ultimately release Palestinians from being caged in an oppressive apartheid regime and  grant them their freedom and right to their lands and lives. The intervention of the international community is way overdue and the current catastrophe demands international leaders to step up and stop the genocide.

To our fellow Muslims, we cannot overstate how important it is for us all to be perturbed by the current situation and it is imperative to unite and express our solidarity for the Palestinians in every way possible. We must understand and educate ourselves regarding the significance and countless virtues of this blessed land, which is home to Masjid Aqṣā, the first qiblah and the third most venerated mosque in Islām. We must also remain acquainted with the historical and current plight of the Palestinians. Along with this, we can show our support and solidarity by:

  • Creating awareness and educating others.
  • Actively refuting and exposing the injustice and oppression of the Israeli’s brutal apartheid regime and those supporting it.
  • Participating in protests and rallies.
  • Supporting relief initiatives and charities.
  • Boycotting Israeli products and those companies which aid Israel.
  • Turning to Allāh Taʿālā, obeying Him, repenting and seeking forgiveness for our sins.
  • Supplicating earnestly to Him, the One in control to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinians, assist them, grant them steadfastness, victory and freedom from oppression eternally.

Stop the Genocide! End the Apartheid! Free Palestine!

Sirajul Ulum Institute

2nd Rabīʿ-uth-Thānī 1445

17th October 2023

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