(May 31, 2010) |
 The
stopping by the Israeli Army, using extreme force and violence, of
ships carrying humanitarian aid to Palestine is condemned by all people
of good conscience and common sense. We beg Allah’s mercy on those of
our brothers who lost their lives and hope that the injured will soon be
healed.
Allah has commanded all Muslims to be united. So long as the Muslim
world fails to abide by this command revealed in the Qur’an, so long as
they fail to establish the Turkish-Islamic Union, it is clear that these
and similar sufferings will continue. These sufferings, massacres,
troubles and hardships are nothing new. Muslims have been ruthlessly
oppressed for around a century. With its 1.5 billion population, the
Islamic world will be an influential force in the establishment of
peace, love and security. This corruption and bloodshed can be
brought to an end only by the establishment of the Turkish-Islamic
Union. The Turkish-Islamic Union is the clear and certain solution for
the salvation of Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, East Turkestan, the
Crimea, Kirkuk and Moro. The Turkish-Islamic Union will be a guarantee
for all, Jews, Christians, Buddhists and people of all opinions, not
just of Muslims. Once the Turkish-Islamic Union is established, Jews, Christians, Muslims and all mankind will live at ease.The Islamic world must at once heed our Lord’s command,“Hold fast to the rope of Allah all together, and do not separate,” and unite, establishing a Turkish-Islamic Union that will in particular put an end to the sufferings of Muslims and establish the peace and security for which the world longs. |
11 Haziran 2012 Pazartesi
THE TURKİSH ISLAMİC UNİON İS THE ONLY SOLUTİON
AN IMPORTANT STATEMENT
The following chapters
of the book provide information about how the Chetnik gangs who
persecuted Muslims during the Bosnian War were supported by various
atheist Zionists with arms and money, and about the true face of the
alliance established against the Bosnian Muslims. However, there is one
very important fact needing to be borne in mind while reading this
information, which is that it is in no way acceptable to hold the whole
Israeli people or all Jews responsible for the actions and activities of
a few atheist Zionists, and that it is therefore unacceptable to harbor
any anger or rage against them.
Some people, influenced by radical, atheist Zionist ideology, sometimes also infiltrate the Israeli deep state and sometimes even manage to assume guiding roles in Israel’s domestic and foreign policy. However, in order to avoid misunderstandings that might arise because of the information provided in this book it will be useful to clarify certain issues.
The first matter needing to be clarified is that the great majority of Jews are unaware of the activities in question, what takes place behind them and their true objectives, and the great majority frequently state that they are opposed to such measures. Therefore, it is not Jewish society as a whole that is criticized in the following sections of this book.
The subject of criticism is superstitious traditions that seek to supposedly legitimize violence and ruthlessness by misinterpreting the Bible and a radical world view that regards other people as second class and considers it perfectly normal to inflict oppression and injustice on them on the basis of those traditions. In other words, it is radical, atheist Zionism, a social Darwinist and occupying ideology. Zionism emerged in the 19th century as an ideology that espoused a homeland for the Jews who were then without one. As time passed, however, Zionism underwent a process of degeneration, as happens with many ideologies, and that legitimate demand turned into a radical and irreligious conception that resorted to violence and terror in practice and formed alliances with extremist forces.
There are two varieties of Zionism today. The first of these is the Zionist conception of the devout Jewish people, who wish to live in peace and security in Israel alongside Muslims, seeking peace and wishing to worship in the lands of their forefathers and engage in business. Muslims are not opposed to Zionism in that sense. For devout Jews to live in peace and security in the lands holy to them, to remember Allah and worship in their synagogues, to occupy themselves with science and business, in short, to live and settle freely in those lands, is not something to alarm any Muslim. Indeed, it is a good thing that Muslims would rejoice at. Throughout the course of history it has always been Muslims who have enabled the Jews to survive the hardships and sufferings they have experienced, and who have sheltered and protected them.
The Zionist belief held by a devout Jew and, as described above, based on the Torah does not conflict with Islam. It is revealed in the Qur’an that Allah has settled the Children of Israel in that region:
To summarize, it is the “irreligious, Godless Zionism” that we condemn and regard as a threat to all mankind. These atheist Zionists, who do not defend the existence and oneness of Allah, but, on the contrary, encourage a Darwinist, materialist perspective and thus engage in irreligious propaganda, are also a threat to devout Jews and devout Christians. Atheistic Zionism is today engaged in a struggle against peace, security and moral virtue, and constantly produces strife and confusion and the shedding of blood. Muslims and devout Jews and Christians must join forces to oppose this Godless Zionism and encourage belief in Allah.
Relations between sincere and devout Jews and Muslims must exist within a framework of affection, respect and compassion. That is because this is the moral values and behavior that Allah reveals to Muslims in the Noble Qur’an and that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) shows us through his own life.
We All Love and Respect the Same Prophets
Muslims have faith in all of the prophets which have been sent. They believe in the books sent to prophets in the past. This is explained in one verse of the Qur’an as follows:
The respect of Jews for the Prophet Moses (pbuh), who is also a Prophet of ours, and their close bonds with him over thousands of years are very important to sincere Muslims. The great love of Christians for the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) and their heartfelt attachment to him is of similar importance to Muslims. Of course those who feel love and respect for the Prophets Jacob, Isaac, Ishmael, Abraham, Lot, Ayyub, Moses, Jesus and John (peace be upon them all) are people for whom naturally Muslims will feel love and affection, and approach with understanding and compassion. Anything opposing this is not possible.
Allah reveals the moral values of those of the People of the Book who genuinely believe as follows in the Qur’an:
Not All Masons Should Be Held Responsible for Atheistic Masonic Activities
In the same way that is a violation of good conscience to hold the entire society responsible for the actions of those in the society with poor moral values, so the blame for the actions of atheist freemasons cannot be laid at the door of all masons. There are people within freemasonry who believe in the One Allah, who oppose the oppression implemented by and known to stem from senior masons in certain lodges, and who seek peace and good among all people. These people are trying to turn freemasonry from being an organization that stirs up disorder and acts against religious moral values to being one that strives to spread moral virtue. This work is exceedingly important and essential. And this situation should not be ignored as the negative activities of freemasonry are identified and criticized.
As one reads the following pages of the book, it must not be forgotten that it is atheist freemasonry that is being criticized. All these criticisms are aimed at the atheist aspect of freemasonry, ideas opposed to religious moral values and the oppression that this aspect causes. And the aim behind this criticism, as well as to enable people to see where the danger really comes from, is to spur freemasons, who are unaware of this aspect or who wish to change it, into intellectual action. A readjustment from within freemasonry and a movement for change along the lines of religious moral values will be highly effective and beneficial. Atheist freemasonry has been carrying out sinister activities all over the world for hundreds of years and has striven to bring about the global dominion of irreligion. However, the century we are living in is one when the corruption in question from atheist freemasonry over the centuries will finally come to an end and be vanquished. In this century, when Allah illuminates the world with His light, and by His leave, and with help from devout masons who believe in Him, freemasonry will turn into an organization that seeks to serve the spread of religious moral values.
A CALL TO THE ISRAELIS
During the time while this book was being written, the Middle East was once again the scene of conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians. The Israeli army have been ruthlessly bombing civilian settlements, shooting children, and trying to make the already tormented Occupied Territories more uninhabitable. Some Palestinian radicals, on the other hand, are attacking Israeli civilian targets and spreading violence with their terrible suicide bombings aimed at innocent women and children.
As Muslims, our heartfelt wish is for the anger and hatred on both sides to die down, for the bloodshed to stop, and for peace to come to both lands. We oppose both the Israeli killing of innocent Palestinians and the radical Palestinians bombing of innocent Israelis.
In our view, the most important condition for this ongoing conflict to end and for real peace to be established is for both sides to acquire and then implement a genuine and honest understanding of their respective beliefs. The conflict between these two peoples has assumed the form of a “religious war” between Jews and Muslims, though, in fact there is absolutely no reason for there to be such a war. Both Jews and Muslims believe in God, love and respect many of the same prophets, and possess the same moral principles. They are not enemies; rather, they are allies in a world in which atheism and the hatred of religion are widespread.
Based on this fundamental principle, we call on the Israelis (and all Jews) to realize the following facts:
1) Muslims and Jews believe in one God, the Creator of the universe and all things therein. We are all God’s servants, and to Him shall we all return. So why hate each other? The holy books we believe in are superficially different but in essence the same, for they come from the same God. Therefore we all abide by them. So why should we fight one another?
2) Instead of living along with Muslims, would the observant Jews prefer to live along with atheists or pagans? The Torah is full of passages describing the terrible cruelties inflicted upon the Jews by pagans. The terrible genocide and cruelty inflicted upon them by atheists and unbelievers (e.g., the Nazis, anti-Semitic racists, or such communist regimes as Stalin’s Russia) are clear for all to see. These atheist or pagan forces hated the Jews, and thus oppressed them, because they believed in God. Are not Jews and Muslims on the same side against these atheist, communist, or racist forces that hate them both?
3) Muslims and Jews love and respect many of the same prophets. The Prophets Ibrahim (Abraham), Ishaq (Isaac), Yusuf (Joseph), Musa (Moses), or Dawud (David), peace be upon them all, are at least as important for Muslims as they are for Jews. The lands where these holy figures lived and served God are at least as holy for Muslims as they are for Jews. So why drown these lands in blood and tears?
4) The fundamental values of Jews are also sacred to us Muslims. The word “Israel” is the name of Prophet Ya’qub (Jacob), peace be upon him, who is praised in the Qur’an and remembered with great respect by Muslims. The Magen David (Star of David), a symbol associated with King David is a holy symbol for us too. According to Qur’an 22:40, Muslims must protect synagogues because they are places of worship. So why should members of the two religions not live together in peace?
5) The Torah commands Jews to establish peace and security, not to
occupy the lands of others and spill blood. The people of Israel are
described as “a light unto the nations” in the Torah. As the “Rabbis for
Human Rights” declare:
We are told: “Justice, justice, you shall pursue” (Deuteronomy 16:20). Why is the word justice said twice? Because, according to our tradition, one is to pursue a just cause by just means. In defending ourselves, we must always hold on to the prophetic vision of decency and humanity. The survival of the Jewish people will be determined not only by its physical acumen, but also, by its moral steadfastness.1
If the Israelis continue to treat the Palestinians as they do now, they may be unable to account for that to God. Similarly, those Palestinians who kill innocent Israelis may also be unable to account for those murders. Is it not a duty in the eyes of God to put an end to the fighting, which is dragging both sides deeper into unending violence?
We invite all Jews to consider these facts. God commands us Muslims to invite Jews and Christians to a “common formula”:
Say: “O People of the Book! Let us rally to a common formula to be binding upon both us and you: That we worship none but God; that we associate no partners with Him; and that we erect not, from among ourselves, Lords and patrons other than God.” (Qu’ran, 3:64)
This is our call to the Jews, a People of the Book: As people who believe in God and obey His commands, let us come together in a common formula of “faith.” Let us love God, the Lord and Creator of all of us. Let us abide by His commands. Let us pray to God to lead us further on the path of righteousness. Let us bring love, compassion, and peace to each other and the world, not hostility, bloodshed, and anguish.
That is where the solution to the Palestinian tragedy and other conflicts in the world lies. The deaths and suffering of so many innocent people remind us every day what an urgent task this is.
How Can the Palestinian Issue Be Resolved?
By using the principles of tolerance and moderation outlined above,
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which has caused so much bloodshed
over the last 50 years, can be solved. In our view, establishing peace
depends upon two conditions:
1) Israel must immediately withdraw from all the territories it occupied during the 1967 war and end the resulting occupation. That is an obligation under international law, various U.N. Security Council resolutions, and mere justice itself. All of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip must be recognized as belonging to an independent State of Palestine.
2) East Jerusalem, the site of significant places of worship belonging to three divinely revealed religions, must be administered by the Palestine authority. However, it must have a special status and be turned into a city of peace that all Jews, Christians, and Muslims can visit comfortably, in peace and well-being, and where they can worship in their own sanctuaries.
When these conditions are fulfilled, both Israelis and Palestines will have recognized each other’s right to live, shared the land of Palestine, and solved the contentious question of Jerusalem’s status in a way that satisfies the adherents of these three religions.
In the upcoming pages of the book, we will deal with and analyze the history of the Palestinian issue based upon our view outlined above. Our hope is that the constant hostility of the last 50 years or so, as well as the resulting prejudice, killing, and slaughter, will come to an end; that the Palestinian people can secure a homeland that can provide them with the peace, security, and well-being they deserve; and that Israel will abandon its policy of aggression and occupation, which wrongs its own people as well as the Palestinians, so that it will be able to live in peace with its neighbours within its legal pre-1967 borders.
1-Rabbis for Human Rights www.rhr.israel.net/statement.shtml
Some people, influenced by radical, atheist Zionist ideology, sometimes also infiltrate the Israeli deep state and sometimes even manage to assume guiding roles in Israel’s domestic and foreign policy. However, in order to avoid misunderstandings that might arise because of the information provided in this book it will be useful to clarify certain issues.
The first matter needing to be clarified is that the great majority of Jews are unaware of the activities in question, what takes place behind them and their true objectives, and the great majority frequently state that they are opposed to such measures. Therefore, it is not Jewish society as a whole that is criticized in the following sections of this book.
The subject of criticism is superstitious traditions that seek to supposedly legitimize violence and ruthlessness by misinterpreting the Bible and a radical world view that regards other people as second class and considers it perfectly normal to inflict oppression and injustice on them on the basis of those traditions. In other words, it is radical, atheist Zionism, a social Darwinist and occupying ideology. Zionism emerged in the 19th century as an ideology that espoused a homeland for the Jews who were then without one. As time passed, however, Zionism underwent a process of degeneration, as happens with many ideologies, and that legitimate demand turned into a radical and irreligious conception that resorted to violence and terror in practice and formed alliances with extremist forces.
There are two varieties of Zionism today. The first of these is the Zionist conception of the devout Jewish people, who wish to live in peace and security in Israel alongside Muslims, seeking peace and wishing to worship in the lands of their forefathers and engage in business. Muslims are not opposed to Zionism in that sense. For devout Jews to live in peace and security in the lands holy to them, to remember Allah and worship in their synagogues, to occupy themselves with science and business, in short, to live and settle freely in those lands, is not something to alarm any Muslim. Indeed, it is a good thing that Muslims would rejoice at. Throughout the course of history it has always been Muslims who have enabled the Jews to survive the hardships and sufferings they have experienced, and who have sheltered and protected them.
The Zionist belief held by a devout Jew and, as described above, based on the Torah does not conflict with Islam. It is revealed in the Qur’an that Allah has settled the Children of Israel in that region:
Remember when Moses said to his people, “My people! Remember Allah’s blessing to you when He appointed prophets among you and appointed kings for you, and gave you what He had not given to anyone else in all the worlds! My people! Enter the Holy Land which Allah has ordained for you. Do not turn back in your tracks and so become transformed into losers.” (Surat al-Ma’ida: 20-21)Jews therefore have the right to live freely in these lands, but that right also applies to Muslims, and of course Christians, who have also lived in them for hundreds of years and believe in the sacred character of the region. These blessed lands are sufficiently broad, lovely and fertile for all faiths and communities to live together in peace. The right to life of one does not disqualify others from enjoying the same right.
To summarize, it is the “irreligious, Godless Zionism” that we condemn and regard as a threat to all mankind. These atheist Zionists, who do not defend the existence and oneness of Allah, but, on the contrary, encourage a Darwinist, materialist perspective and thus engage in irreligious propaganda, are also a threat to devout Jews and devout Christians. Atheistic Zionism is today engaged in a struggle against peace, security and moral virtue, and constantly produces strife and confusion and the shedding of blood. Muslims and devout Jews and Christians must join forces to oppose this Godless Zionism and encourage belief in Allah.
Relations between sincere and devout Jews and Muslims must exist within a framework of affection, respect and compassion. That is because this is the moral values and behavior that Allah reveals to Muslims in the Noble Qur’an and that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) shows us through his own life.
The People of the Book in the Qur’an
In the Qur’an, Allah presents Jews and Christians as the People of the Book, as well as explaining to Muslims in detail how their attitude towards them should be. The People of the Book are aware of the lawful and the forbidden, and base their moral practices on Divine inspiration from Allah. According to the morality preached in the Qur’an, and the practices of our Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), it is required that Muslims treat believing Jews and Christians with love, care, compassion, and respect. The call of Muslims to Jews and Christians is revealed thus in the Qur’an:“We believe in what has been sent down to us and what was sent down to you. Our God and your God are One and we submit to Him.” (Surat al-‘Ankabut: 46)This call makes it very clear what Muslims’ point of view towards the People of the Book is: We live according to the moral principles professed in our holy books by respecting the limits set by Allah, by loving and respecting the messengers sent by our Lord, and by having faith in one Allah. Which is why we are beholden to treat each other with care, understanding, respect, and love.
We All Love and Respect the Same Prophets
Muslims have faith in all of the prophets which have been sent. They believe in the books sent to prophets in the past. This is explained in one verse of the Qur’an as follows:
Say, “We believe in Allah and what has been sent down to us and what was sent down to Abraham, Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the tribes, and what Moses and Jesus and all the prophets were given by their Lord. We do not differentiate between any of them. We are Muslims submitted to Him.” (Surah Al ‘Imran: 84)The Prophets Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Joseph, Aaron, David, Solomon, John, Jesus, and Moses (peace be upon them all) are as important to Muslims as they are to Jews and Christians.
The respect of Jews for the Prophet Moses (pbuh), who is also a Prophet of ours, and their close bonds with him over thousands of years are very important to sincere Muslims. The great love of Christians for the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) and their heartfelt attachment to him is of similar importance to Muslims. Of course those who feel love and respect for the Prophets Jacob, Isaac, Ishmael, Abraham, Lot, Ayyub, Moses, Jesus and John (peace be upon them all) are people for whom naturally Muslims will feel love and affection, and approach with understanding and compassion. Anything opposing this is not possible.
Allah reveals the moral values of those of the People of the Book who genuinely believe as follows in the Qur’an:
They are not all the same. There is a community among the People of the Book who are upright. They recite Allah’s signs throughout the night, and they prostrate. They believe in Allah and the Last Day, enjoin the right and forbid the wrong, and compete in doing good. They are among the righteous. (Surah Al ‘Imran: 113-114)The duty of devout Muslims is to embrace people who live by such moral virtues with affection and compassion, and to show them love and understanding. To reiterate, therefore, the Muslim attitude toward the Jews is based on the moral values revealed in the Qur’an and implemented by our Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). The revelation of the errors of irreligious, Godless Zionism or various superstitious traditions incompatible with the morality of true faith and the criticism of mistaken practices do not alter that fact.
Not All Masons Should Be Held Responsible for Atheistic Masonic Activities
In the same way that is a violation of good conscience to hold the entire society responsible for the actions of those in the society with poor moral values, so the blame for the actions of atheist freemasons cannot be laid at the door of all masons. There are people within freemasonry who believe in the One Allah, who oppose the oppression implemented by and known to stem from senior masons in certain lodges, and who seek peace and good among all people. These people are trying to turn freemasonry from being an organization that stirs up disorder and acts against religious moral values to being one that strives to spread moral virtue. This work is exceedingly important and essential. And this situation should not be ignored as the negative activities of freemasonry are identified and criticized.
As one reads the following pages of the book, it must not be forgotten that it is atheist freemasonry that is being criticized. All these criticisms are aimed at the atheist aspect of freemasonry, ideas opposed to religious moral values and the oppression that this aspect causes. And the aim behind this criticism, as well as to enable people to see where the danger really comes from, is to spur freemasons, who are unaware of this aspect or who wish to change it, into intellectual action. A readjustment from within freemasonry and a movement for change along the lines of religious moral values will be highly effective and beneficial. Atheist freemasonry has been carrying out sinister activities all over the world for hundreds of years and has striven to bring about the global dominion of irreligion. However, the century we are living in is one when the corruption in question from atheist freemasonry over the centuries will finally come to an end and be vanquished. In this century, when Allah illuminates the world with His light, and by His leave, and with help from devout masons who believe in Him, freemasonry will turn into an organization that seeks to serve the spread of religious moral values.
A CALL TO THE ISRAELIS
During the time while this book was being written, the Middle East was once again the scene of conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians. The Israeli army have been ruthlessly bombing civilian settlements, shooting children, and trying to make the already tormented Occupied Territories more uninhabitable. Some Palestinian radicals, on the other hand, are attacking Israeli civilian targets and spreading violence with their terrible suicide bombings aimed at innocent women and children.
As Muslims, our heartfelt wish is for the anger and hatred on both sides to die down, for the bloodshed to stop, and for peace to come to both lands. We oppose both the Israeli killing of innocent Palestinians and the radical Palestinians bombing of innocent Israelis.
In our view, the most important condition for this ongoing conflict to end and for real peace to be established is for both sides to acquire and then implement a genuine and honest understanding of their respective beliefs. The conflict between these two peoples has assumed the form of a “religious war” between Jews and Muslims, though, in fact there is absolutely no reason for there to be such a war. Both Jews and Muslims believe in God, love and respect many of the same prophets, and possess the same moral principles. They are not enemies; rather, they are allies in a world in which atheism and the hatred of religion are widespread.
Based on this fundamental principle, we call on the Israelis (and all Jews) to realize the following facts:
1) Muslims and Jews believe in one God, the Creator of the universe and all things therein. We are all God’s servants, and to Him shall we all return. So why hate each other? The holy books we believe in are superficially different but in essence the same, for they come from the same God. Therefore we all abide by them. So why should we fight one another?
2) Instead of living along with Muslims, would the observant Jews prefer to live along with atheists or pagans? The Torah is full of passages describing the terrible cruelties inflicted upon the Jews by pagans. The terrible genocide and cruelty inflicted upon them by atheists and unbelievers (e.g., the Nazis, anti-Semitic racists, or such communist regimes as Stalin’s Russia) are clear for all to see. These atheist or pagan forces hated the Jews, and thus oppressed them, because they believed in God. Are not Jews and Muslims on the same side against these atheist, communist, or racist forces that hate them both?
3) Muslims and Jews love and respect many of the same prophets. The Prophets Ibrahim (Abraham), Ishaq (Isaac), Yusuf (Joseph), Musa (Moses), or Dawud (David), peace be upon them all, are at least as important for Muslims as they are for Jews. The lands where these holy figures lived and served God are at least as holy for Muslims as they are for Jews. So why drown these lands in blood and tears?
4) The fundamental values of Jews are also sacred to us Muslims. The word “Israel” is the name of Prophet Ya’qub (Jacob), peace be upon him, who is praised in the Qur’an and remembered with great respect by Muslims. The Magen David (Star of David), a symbol associated with King David is a holy symbol for us too. According to Qur’an 22:40, Muslims must protect synagogues because they are places of worship. So why should members of the two religions not live together in peace?
 Jews and Muslims believe in the same God. Israeli soldiers who are true believers must not forget that God has forbidden the killing of innocent people and the use of violence and cruelty, and has ordered us to be tolerant, understanding, and peaceful. |
 Palestine is home to many Jewish, Christian, and Muslim holy places. All true believers must see that love, mercy, and peace take the place of blood, tears, and animosity in this region. |
We are told: “Justice, justice, you shall pursue” (Deuteronomy 16:20). Why is the word justice said twice? Because, according to our tradition, one is to pursue a just cause by just means. In defending ourselves, we must always hold on to the prophetic vision of decency and humanity. The survival of the Jewish people will be determined not only by its physical acumen, but also, by its moral steadfastness.1
If the Israelis continue to treat the Palestinians as they do now, they may be unable to account for that to God. Similarly, those Palestinians who kill innocent Israelis may also be unable to account for those murders. Is it not a duty in the eyes of God to put an end to the fighting, which is dragging both sides deeper into unending violence?
We invite all Jews to consider these facts. God commands us Muslims to invite Jews and Christians to a “common formula”:
Say: “O People of the Book! Let us rally to a common formula to be binding upon both us and you: That we worship none but God; that we associate no partners with Him; and that we erect not, from among ourselves, Lords and patrons other than God.” (Qu’ran, 3:64)
This is our call to the Jews, a People of the Book: As people who believe in God and obey His commands, let us come together in a common formula of “faith.” Let us love God, the Lord and Creator of all of us. Let us abide by His commands. Let us pray to God to lead us further on the path of righteousness. Let us bring love, compassion, and peace to each other and the world, not hostility, bloodshed, and anguish.
That is where the solution to the Palestinian tragedy and other conflicts in the world lies. The deaths and suffering of so many innocent people remind us every day what an urgent task this is.
 Palestinian Muslims, sincere Jews, and Christians all want peace and security to replace this seemingly unending conflict. All of them are praying together for this. |
 Jerusalem, a place holy to the three monotheistic religions, should be a city in which people can worship together in peace. |
1) Israel must immediately withdraw from all the territories it occupied during the 1967 war and end the resulting occupation. That is an obligation under international law, various U.N. Security Council resolutions, and mere justice itself. All of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip must be recognized as belonging to an independent State of Palestine.
2) East Jerusalem, the site of significant places of worship belonging to three divinely revealed religions, must be administered by the Palestine authority. However, it must have a special status and be turned into a city of peace that all Jews, Christians, and Muslims can visit comfortably, in peace and well-being, and where they can worship in their own sanctuaries.
When these conditions are fulfilled, both Israelis and Palestines will have recognized each other’s right to live, shared the land of Palestine, and solved the contentious question of Jerusalem’s status in a way that satisfies the adherents of these three religions.
In the upcoming pages of the book, we will deal with and analyze the history of the Palestinian issue based upon our view outlined above. Our hope is that the constant hostility of the last 50 years or so, as well as the resulting prejudice, killing, and slaughter, will come to an end; that the Palestinian people can secure a homeland that can provide them with the peace, security, and well-being they deserve; and that Israel will abandon its policy of aggression and occupation, which wrongs its own people as well as the Palestinians, so that it will be able to live in peace with its neighbours within its legal pre-1967 borders.
1-Rabbis for Human Rights www.rhr.israel.net/statement.shtml
JEWS AGAINST ISRAELI TERRORISM
This book does not oppose and criticize Judaism or Jews, but rather
the racist Zionist ideology and its defenders. All the tragedy that has
happened – and continues to happen – in Palestine is traceable to the
application of the Zionist ideology by its leaders. It is Zionism that
causes the Israeli army to fire rockets on children playing in
schoolyards; sprays bullets on women harvesting their gardens’ crops;
and makes torture, violence, and skirmishes daily parts of Palestinian
life.
Throughout the world today, quite a few intellectuals, politicians,
and historians oppose Zionism. Various Christian and Jewish thinkers and
authors condemn it and the Israeli governments’ Zionist policies, as do
various academics in Israeli universities such as the late Israel
Shahak or Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi, who criticize Israeli violence
directed against Palestinians and who maintain that peace can be
acheived only when Israel forsakes its Zionist ideology. Noam Chomsky,
himself a Jew, has written many books and articles that are highly
critical of Zionism and the policies of those countries that support it.
A group of Jewish academics, the self-proclaimed “new historians,” has been exposing the “sacred lies” embedded in official Israeli policy, and the truths associated with them, since the early 1980s. Its members, namely, Benny Morris, Ilan Pappe, Avi Shlaim, Tom Segev, Baruch Kimmerling, Simha Flappan, and Joel Miqdal, are provoking strong reactions from Jews with Zionist leanings. They deal with the following “sacred lies”: Arabs are racially inferior to Jews, Israel is a small country trying to survive in a region surrounded by enemies, all Palestinians are terrorists who want to destroy Israel, and these crazy terrorists deserve every kind of retaliation. Tom Segev, for example, one of the most prominent of these “new historians,” has this to say of Israel’s “official” history: “Until very recently, we did not have real history in this country; we had mythology.”2 This just criticism, once offered only by Muslim academics and scholars, is now being expressed more loudly by many Jewish and Christian academics who are attempting to evaluate history in an unbiased manner.
These people, having witnessed the horrors of the Zionist ideology, see it as yet another of the colonialist ideologies founded in nineteenth-century racism. They give no credence to the myth that Israel is “a small and lonely country, surrounded by enemies who want to destroy it.” To the contrary: Israel, through its actions, has proven to be a violent country that follows a policy of oppression and aggression.
Gideon Levy, a writer for Israel’s Ha’aretz newspaper, defends the decipherement of the “sacred lies” in his review of Professor Benny Morris’ book Correcting a Mistake: Jews and Arabs in Palestine/Israel, 1936-1956. After reading the details of the Zionist terror described in the book, and substantiated through eyewitness testimony and secret recordings, Levy wrote:
Oh, we were so good (and did so many bad
things). We were so right (and caused so many injustices). We were so
beautiful (and our actions resulted in so much ugliness). And oh, we
were so innocent and spread so many lies – lies and half-truths that we
told ourselves and the rest of the world. We, who were born afterward,
weren’t told the whole truth; they only taught us the good parts, of
which there were many. But, after all, there were also dark chapters
which we heard nothing about.3
Israel Shahak, a Polish-born Jewish chemistry professor who spent 40 years in Israel and passed away in 2001, criticizes Israel’s Zionist anti-human rights policies. In his book Jewish History, Jewish Religion, and the Weight of Three Thousand Years, Shahak describes the extent to which Zionism constitutes a threat to humanity:
In my view, Israel as a Jewish state constitutes a danger not only to itself and its inhabitants, but to all Jews and to all other peoples and states in the Middle East and beyond.4
Ilan Pappe, who says of himself “I am the most hated Israeli in Israel,” is a famous Jewish academic who shares the views of the new historians. When asked in an interview why Israelis fail to notice the cruelty done to Palestinians, the answer he gives is quite thought-provoking:
It is the fruits of a very long process of indoctrination starting in the kindergarten, accompanying all Jewish boys and girls throughout their life. You don’t uproot easily such an attitude which was planted there by a very powerful indoctrination machine, giving a racist perception of the other, who is described as primitive, almost non-existing, hostile — he is hostile, but the explanation given is that he was born primitive, Islamic, anti-Semite, not that someone has taken his land.5
But these thinkers, strategists, and writers have more in common than just their opposition to Zionism. The most important common denominator between them is that each has been accused of anti-Semitism. Anyone who has used historical facts and documents about events occuring in Palestine and then written an article or book criticizing Zionism has been accused of being anti-Semitic. The latest example is the British television channel BBC. The crew members who were preparing a documentary about the 1982 massacres in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps, as well as the station directors who broadcast it, were accused of anti-Semitism by the Israeli government.
This, actually, is a technique used by Zionists and pro-Zionists for slandering and neutralizing those who criticize Zionism. Zionists have even devised a term to slander such Jews: “self-hating Jew.” This term also is used to describe Jews who criticize Israel, aiming to present them as traitors suffering from some psychological dilemma. Zionists who make such claims, no doubt, seek to sabotage the work of their opponents.
In fact, such race-based accusations, especially when leveled at Muslims, are groundless and illogical, for no Muslim, due to his or her beliefs, can defend any racist thought or viewpoint. Indeed, this is borne out by history. The Islamic world has never seen anything like the medieval European practices of the Inquisition, which grew out of religious fanaticism, and the more recent outbreaks of anti-Semitism (born of racist beliefs) in the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, and Nazi Germany. The clash between Jews and Muslims in the Middle East, which continues until this day, is the result of some Jews’ adherence to Zionism’s racist and anti-religious ideology, not of the actions of Muslims.
Israeli Soldiers Refusing To Serve in Occupied Territory
Following the 1967 war, Yeshayahu Leibowitz, one of Israel’s leading intellectuals, warned that Israel must withdraw from the Occupied Territories in order to stop the bloodshed. He wrote that the only way to avert destruction from the Israelis might be for 500 soldiers stationed in the Occupied Territories to have the courage to say “we don’t want to serve here” and to withdraw.6
In the days when the al-Aqsa Intifada (starting from September 2000) and the Israeli retaliation were growing more and more violent, a group of Israeli soldiers acted upon his proposal. In mid-January 2002, approximately 25 soldiers signed an open letter to the Israeli press reporting that they were refusing to serve in the Occupied Territories. This refusal was not without precedent, for during the 1982 invasion of Lebanon, a smaller group of soldiers had refused to serve in the Israeli army, saying that they did not want to be part of the genocide being perpetrated against Lebanese civilians. The actions of these soldiers, later called Yesh Gvul (There is a Limit), culminated with their imprisonment. Those soldiers who made their public statement in January 2002 did not face any punitive sanctions yet, and as of February 2002, their numbers had reached 250. Moreover, this time they received a great deal of support from peace groups, non-governmental organizations, religious leaders, and ordinary Israelis and Palestinians.
In their statement, the soldiers contend that the Israeli army has acted brutally and mercilessly toward the Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, that what is happening there violates human dignity, and that, furthermore, it has nothing to do with defending Israel. They continue: “We shall not continue to fight beyond the 1967 borders in order to dominate, expel, starve, and humiliate an entire people.” In his statement to an Israeli newspaper, a signatory named Shuki Sadeh explains how he witnessed Israeli soldiers open fire on Palestinian children. He explains how he felt at the time: “What angered me at the time was that our soldiers said: ‘Well, that’s another Arab who has disappeared.’ “
Ariel Shatil, an artillery master sergeant recalled that while it is claimed that the Palestinians shoot first and Israelis just respond, in reality, “We would start shooting and they would fire back.” In a brochure that they prepared to warn their colleagues who continued to serve in the region, the soldiers stated:
When you take part in extrajudicial killings (“liquidation,” in the army’s terms), when you take part in demolishing residential homes, when you open fire at unarmed civilian population or residential homes, when you uproot orchards, when you interdict food supplies or medical treatment, you are taking part in actions defined in international conventions (such as the 4th Geneva Convention) and in Israeli law as war crimes.7
A soldier named Asaf Oron, who took a long time to decide not to serve, reports that he witnessed extremely brutal practices while serving in the region. He explains what he experienced and what he sees as the solution:
Already on the bus ride to the Gaza strip, the soldiers were competing with each other: whose “heroic” tales of murderous beatings during the Intifada were better (in case you missed this point: the beatings were literally murderous: beating to death)…
As time went by, as the level of insanity, hatred, and incitement kept rising, as the generals were turning the Israeli Defense Forces into a terror organization… And then I discovered that I was not alone … we all believe in God… We believe that there is no room for the tribal code, that the tribal code simply camouflages idolatry, an idolatry of a type we should not cooperate with. Those who let such a form of idol worship take over will end up as burnt offerings themselves.8
An Excerpt from the Soldiers’ Open Letter
We, combat officers and soldiers who have served the State of Israel for long weeks every year, in spite of the dear cost to our personal lives, have been on reserve duty all over the Occupied Territories, and were issued commands and directives that had nothing to do with the security of our country, and that had the sole purpose of perpetuating our control over the Palestinian people. We, whose eyes have seen the bloody toll this Occupation exacts from both sides.
We, who sensed how the commands issued to us in the Territories, destroy all the values we had absorbed while growing up in this country.
We, who understand now that the price of Occupation is the loss of IDF’s human character and the corruption of the entire Israeli society.
We, who know that the Territories are not Israel, and that all settlements are bound to be evacuated in the end.
We hereby declare that we shall not continue to fight this War of the Settlements.
We shall not continue to fight beyond the 1967 borders in order to dominate, expel, starve and humiliate an entire people.
We hereby declare that we shall continue serving in the Israel Defense Forces in any mission that serves Israel’s defense.
The missions of occupation and oppression do not serve this purpose – and we shall take no part in them.
The Islamic View of the Jews
Every Muslim feels a natural and legitimate response to the Zionist
practice of terror upon Palestinians. However, it is necessary here, as
in all matters, to stand for justice and act without prejudice. Every
Muslim is obligated to prevent the cruel or unjust treatment of innocent
Jews, even as he or she opposes Zionist Jews.
Anti-Semitism, like all forms of racism, is contrary to the morals of Islam. Muslims should oppose every type of genocide, torture, and cruelty, and do not discriminate on the basis of religion, race, or ethnicity. Muslims should not approve of the slightest unjust attack against Jews, nor against any other race, but rather condemn it. The Qur’an condemns those who sow discord, treat others cruelly, and murder innocent people. Thus, legitimate opposition to Zionism must never take the form of blanket enmity toward Jews.
At the same time, other examples of racism (i.e., toward black
Africans) are also deviations resulting from superstition and various
ideologies outside the divinely revealed religions. Such deviations
defend varieties of thought and social models that contrast starkly with
the morals of the Qur’an. At the root of anti-Semitism are feelings of
hatred, violence, and mercilessness. The Qur’an, on the other hand,
teaches humility, love of others, compassion, and mercy. It commands
Muslims to be just, and, if necessary, forgiving, even to their enemies:
“O you who believe! Show integrity for the sake of God, bearing witness
with justice. Do not let hatred for a people incite you into not being
just. Be just. That is closer to faith. Heed God (alone). God is aware
of what you do.” (Qur’an, 5: 8) Moreover, “if someone kills another
person – unless it is in retaliation for someone else or for causing
corruption in the earth – it is as if he had murdered all mankind”
(Qur’an, 5:32).
For this reason, the murder of even one innocent person is a crime that cannot be understated.
The reason for different races and peoples on Earth is not to cause strife or war, but rather to display variety, which is the beauty of God’s creation and a cultural bounty. People’s physical differences are of no importance to God, and all Muslims know very well that the only superiority is that of godliness. God states this truth in the following verse:
Mankind! We created you from a male and female, and made you into peoples and tribes so that you might come to know each other. The noblest among you in God’s sight is the one of you who best performs his duty. God is All-Knowing, All-Aware. (Qur’an, 49:13)
Just as the Qur’an does not distinguish among races and ethnicities, people of different faiths are encouraged to live in peace and harmony within the same community. Another basic Qur’anic teaching is that people should not be sentenced as a group because they belong to a certain race, people, or religion. There are good and bad people within each community;this is a fact which the Qur’an points out. For example, after explaining that part of the People of the Book is rebellious toward God and religion, God mentions the following exception in the Qur’an:
They are not all the same. There is a community among the People of the Book who are upright. They recite God’s Signs throughout the night, and they prostrate. They believe in God and the Last Day, enjoin the right and forbid the wrong, and compete in doing good. They are among the righteous. You will not be denied the reward for any good thing you do. God is aware of the heedful. (Qur’an, 3:113-115)
As a result, given that Muslims fear God and consider the criteria of the Qur’an, they cannot harbor hostility toward the Jews on religious grounds. For this reason, our examination of the clash between the Israelis and the Palestinians is undertaken with this point in mind. It is not directed against Jews and Judaism, but against the Zionist ideology that has steered some of their leaders to form and maintain a racist, violent government.
2- Jonathan Mahler, “Uprooting the Past – Israel’s New Historians Take a Hard Look at Their Nation’s Past,” http://www.linguafranca.com/9708/mahler.9708.html.
3- Gideon Levy, Book Review, “Correcting a Mistake – Jews and Arabs in Palestine/Israel, 1936-1956 by Benny Morris,” Ha’aretz, November 3, 2000.
4- Israel Shahak, Jewish History, Jewish Religion and the Weight of Three Thousand Years, (AMEU: 1994), p. 5.
5- Baudouin Loos, “An Interview of Ilan Pappe,” November 29 1999, http://msanews.mynet.net/Scholars/Loos/pappe.html, emphasis added
6- Neve Gordon, “An Antiwar Movement Grows in Israel,” The Nation, February 25, 2002.
7- Neve Gordon, “An Antiwar Movement Grows in Israel,” The Nation, February 25, 2002.
8- Asaf Oron, “Personal Testimony of an Israeli Refusenik,” Z Magazine, http://lists.econ.utah.edu/pipermail/rad-green/2002-February/ 003007.html. emphasis added
 Author
Israel Shahak approaches Jewish history from a different point of view
in his classic work Jewish History, Jewish Religion, and the Weight of
Three Thousand Years. |
A group of Jewish academics, the self-proclaimed “new historians,” has been exposing the “sacred lies” embedded in official Israeli policy, and the truths associated with them, since the early 1980s. Its members, namely, Benny Morris, Ilan Pappe, Avi Shlaim, Tom Segev, Baruch Kimmerling, Simha Flappan, and Joel Miqdal, are provoking strong reactions from Jews with Zionist leanings. They deal with the following “sacred lies”: Arabs are racially inferior to Jews, Israel is a small country trying to survive in a region surrounded by enemies, all Palestinians are terrorists who want to destroy Israel, and these crazy terrorists deserve every kind of retaliation. Tom Segev, for example, one of the most prominent of these “new historians,” has this to say of Israel’s “official” history: “Until very recently, we did not have real history in this country; we had mythology.”2 This just criticism, once offered only by Muslim academics and scholars, is now being expressed more loudly by many Jewish and Christian academics who are attempting to evaluate history in an unbiased manner.
These people, having witnessed the horrors of the Zionist ideology, see it as yet another of the colonialist ideologies founded in nineteenth-century racism. They give no credence to the myth that Israel is “a small and lonely country, surrounded by enemies who want to destroy it.” To the contrary: Israel, through its actions, has proven to be a violent country that follows a policy of oppression and aggression.
Gideon Levy, a writer for Israel’s Ha’aretz newspaper, defends the decipherement of the “sacred lies” in his review of Professor Benny Morris’ book Correcting a Mistake: Jews and Arabs in Palestine/Israel, 1936-1956. After reading the details of the Zionist terror described in the book, and substantiated through eyewitness testimony and secret recordings, Levy wrote:
 A majority of Israeli children begin learning Zionist ideology at a very young age. The ideology’s racist interpretations have a very negative effect upon them. |
Israel Shahak, a Polish-born Jewish chemistry professor who spent 40 years in Israel and passed away in 2001, criticizes Israel’s Zionist anti-human rights policies. In his book Jewish History, Jewish Religion, and the Weight of Three Thousand Years, Shahak describes the extent to which Zionism constitutes a threat to humanity:
In my view, Israel as a Jewish state constitutes a danger not only to itself and its inhabitants, but to all Jews and to all other peoples and states in the Middle East and beyond.4
Ilan Pappe, who says of himself “I am the most hated Israeli in Israel,” is a famous Jewish academic who shares the views of the new historians. When asked in an interview why Israelis fail to notice the cruelty done to Palestinians, the answer he gives is quite thought-provoking:
It is the fruits of a very long process of indoctrination starting in the kindergarten, accompanying all Jewish boys and girls throughout their life. You don’t uproot easily such an attitude which was planted there by a very powerful indoctrination machine, giving a racist perception of the other, who is described as primitive, almost non-existing, hostile — he is hostile, but the explanation given is that he was born primitive, Islamic, anti-Semite, not that someone has taken his land.5
But these thinkers, strategists, and writers have more in common than just their opposition to Zionism. The most important common denominator between them is that each has been accused of anti-Semitism. Anyone who has used historical facts and documents about events occuring in Palestine and then written an article or book criticizing Zionism has been accused of being anti-Semitic. The latest example is the British television channel BBC. The crew members who were preparing a documentary about the 1982 massacres in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps, as well as the station directors who broadcast it, were accused of anti-Semitism by the Israeli government.
This, actually, is a technique used by Zionists and pro-Zionists for slandering and neutralizing those who criticize Zionism. Zionists have even devised a term to slander such Jews: “self-hating Jew.” This term also is used to describe Jews who criticize Israel, aiming to present them as traitors suffering from some psychological dilemma. Zionists who make such claims, no doubt, seek to sabotage the work of their opponents.
In fact, such race-based accusations, especially when leveled at Muslims, are groundless and illogical, for no Muslim, due to his or her beliefs, can defend any racist thought or viewpoint. Indeed, this is borne out by history. The Islamic world has never seen anything like the medieval European practices of the Inquisition, which grew out of religious fanaticism, and the more recent outbreaks of anti-Semitism (born of racist beliefs) in the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, and Nazi Germany. The clash between Jews and Muslims in the Middle East, which continues until this day, is the result of some Jews’ adherence to Zionism’s racist and anti-religious ideology, not of the actions of Muslims.
Israeli Soldiers Refusing To Serve in Occupied Territory
Following the 1967 war, Yeshayahu Leibowitz, one of Israel’s leading intellectuals, warned that Israel must withdraw from the Occupied Territories in order to stop the bloodshed. He wrote that the only way to avert destruction from the Israelis might be for 500 soldiers stationed in the Occupied Territories to have the courage to say “we don’t want to serve here” and to withdraw.6
In the days when the al-Aqsa Intifada (starting from September 2000) and the Israeli retaliation were growing more and more violent, a group of Israeli soldiers acted upon his proposal. In mid-January 2002, approximately 25 soldiers signed an open letter to the Israeli press reporting that they were refusing to serve in the Occupied Territories. This refusal was not without precedent, for during the 1982 invasion of Lebanon, a smaller group of soldiers had refused to serve in the Israeli army, saying that they did not want to be part of the genocide being perpetrated against Lebanese civilians. The actions of these soldiers, later called Yesh Gvul (There is a Limit), culminated with their imprisonment. Those soldiers who made their public statement in January 2002 did not face any punitive sanctions yet, and as of February 2002, their numbers had reached 250. Moreover, this time they received a great deal of support from peace groups, non-governmental organizations, religious leaders, and ordinary Israelis and Palestinians.
In their statement, the soldiers contend that the Israeli army has acted brutally and mercilessly toward the Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, that what is happening there violates human dignity, and that, furthermore, it has nothing to do with defending Israel. They continue: “We shall not continue to fight beyond the 1967 borders in order to dominate, expel, starve, and humiliate an entire people.” In his statement to an Israeli newspaper, a signatory named Shuki Sadeh explains how he witnessed Israeli soldiers open fire on Palestinian children. He explains how he felt at the time: “What angered me at the time was that our soldiers said: ‘Well, that’s another Arab who has disappeared.’ “
Ariel Shatil, an artillery master sergeant recalled that while it is claimed that the Palestinians shoot first and Israelis just respond, in reality, “We would start shooting and they would fire back.” In a brochure that they prepared to warn their colleagues who continued to serve in the region, the soldiers stated:
When you take part in extrajudicial killings (“liquidation,” in the army’s terms), when you take part in demolishing residential homes, when you open fire at unarmed civilian population or residential homes, when you uproot orchards, when you interdict food supplies or medical treatment, you are taking part in actions defined in international conventions (such as the 4th Geneva Convention) and in Israeli law as war crimes.7
A soldier named Asaf Oron, who took a long time to decide not to serve, reports that he witnessed extremely brutal practices while serving in the region. He explains what he experienced and what he sees as the solution:
Already on the bus ride to the Gaza strip, the soldiers were competing with each other: whose “heroic” tales of murderous beatings during the Intifada were better (in case you missed this point: the beatings were literally murderous: beating to death)…
As time went by, as the level of insanity, hatred, and incitement kept rising, as the generals were turning the Israeli Defense Forces into a terror organization… And then I discovered that I was not alone … we all believe in God… We believe that there is no room for the tribal code, that the tribal code simply camouflages idolatry, an idolatry of a type we should not cooperate with. Those who let such a form of idol worship take over will end up as burnt offerings themselves.8
An Excerpt from the Soldiers’ Open Letter
We, combat officers and soldiers who have served the State of Israel for long weeks every year, in spite of the dear cost to our personal lives, have been on reserve duty all over the Occupied Territories, and were issued commands and directives that had nothing to do with the security of our country, and that had the sole purpose of perpetuating our control over the Palestinian people. We, whose eyes have seen the bloody toll this Occupation exacts from both sides.
We, who sensed how the commands issued to us in the Territories, destroy all the values we had absorbed while growing up in this country.
We, who understand now that the price of Occupation is the loss of IDF’s human character and the corruption of the entire Israeli society.
We, who know that the Territories are not Israel, and that all settlements are bound to be evacuated in the end.
We hereby declare that we shall not continue to fight this War of the Settlements.
We shall not continue to fight beyond the 1967 borders in order to dominate, expel, starve and humiliate an entire people.
We hereby declare that we shall continue serving in the Israel Defense Forces in any mission that serves Israel’s defense.
The missions of occupation and oppression do not serve this purpose – and we shall take no part in them.
|
Britain’s Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks’ Views on Israel
One very strong criticism from within the Jewish community against
Israeli policies has come from Prof. Jonathan Sacks, Britain’s Chief
Rabbi. In aninterview, published in The Guardian on August 27, 2002,
Sacks sternly criticized Israel, arguing that the country was adopting a
stance “incompatible” with the deepest ideals of Judaism, and that the
current conflict with the Palestinians was “corrupting” Israeli society.Sacks, who became the chief rabbi of Britain’s Orthodox Jews in 1991, and who has been the leader of a Jewish community of 280,000 in the country, is known as a loyal supporter of Israel and a veteran who has worked for the establishment of peace in the region. “I regard the current situation as nothing less than tragic. It is forcing Israel into postures that are incompatible in the long run with our deepest ideals” said Sacks. He added that “there are things that happen on a daily basis which make me feel very uncomfortable as a Jew.” He went on to say that he was “profoundly shocked” at the reports of Israeli soldiers smiling while posing for photographs with the corpses of slain Palestinians.a The chief Rabbi’s denouncement of Israeli savagery in the name of Judaism reminds us an important fact: It is not permitted for either a true Muslim or a true Jew to shed innocent blood. All divine religions forbid violence, war, and unjust murder, and command peace and the helping to those in need. Jonathan Sacks also noted that Israelis, who have lived centuries in dispersion, should very well understand the plight of Palestinians: You cannot ignore a command that is repeated 36 times in the Mosaic books: ‘You were exiled in order to know what it feels like to be an exile.’ I regard that as one of the core projects of a state that is true to Judaic principle. b In the same interview, Sacks also answered the questions about a secret meeting he held in 2000 with Abdullah Javadi-Amoli, one of the highest-ranking clerics of Iran, during a conference of religious leaders, and noted, interestingly: We established within minutes a common language, because we take certain things very seriously: we take faith seriously, we take texts seriously. It’s a particular language that believers share. c The chief rabbi Sacks’ words are an example of the peaceful dialogue that must be established between Muslims and Jews (and, of course, Christians). All three faiths have enjoined justice, honesty, the rescue of the oppressed, and peace and love. The adherents of all the three faiths believe in God, love the same prophets; there should be no hostility between them. a Jonathan Freedland, “Israel Set On Tragic Path, Says Chief Rabbi”, The Guardian, August27, 2002 b Jonathan Freedland, “Israel Set On Tragic Path, Says Chief Rabbi”, The Guardian, August27, 2002 c Jonathan Freedland, “Israel Set On Tragic Path, Says Chief Rabbi”, The Guardian, August27, 2002 |
 (Top) RADIKAL-Turkish Daily, 18.2.02 PEACE REVOLT IN THE ARMY The revolt among Israeli soldiers refusing to go to the Occupied Territories is growing. The country’s best-known military family has joined the ranks of those saying, “The occupation is debasing us.” The refusal of some Israeli soldiers to serve in the Occupied Territories resonated in the Western media. Many newspapers and magazines reported upon their protest. While The Nation approached this issue under the headline “An Antiwar Movement Grows in Israel,” the Houston Chronicle used one of the soldiers’ own words to lead its piece: “Israeli soldier: My moral objection to occupation.” On the web site that the soldiers have started to bring their voices to the world, they encourage sincere Jews to avoid violence and animosity, because these have been forbidden by God. (http://www.seruv.org.il/YahadutEng.asp) |
 (Left) AKIT – Turkish Daily, 23.5.01 EVEN JEWS OPPOSE THE OCCUPATION The campaign in Israel against Jewish settlements has slowly begun growing in influence. The latest polls have revealed that 61% of the public support the halting of settlement construction. The figure was 55% in the previous poll. The illegal settlements established on Palestinian land have been protested not only by Muslims, but by Christians and Jews as well. The demonstrations shown above, as well as others, were dispersed violently by Israeli forces.  The Israeli government’s practices are being criticized not only by Palestinian Muslims, but also by peace-loving Jews all over the world, who arrange frequent protests.
|
 |
Anti-Semitism, like all forms of racism, is contrary to the morals of Islam. Muslims should oppose every type of genocide, torture, and cruelty, and do not discriminate on the basis of religion, race, or ethnicity. Muslims should not approve of the slightest unjust attack against Jews, nor against any other race, but rather condemn it. The Qur’an condemns those who sow discord, treat others cruelly, and murder innocent people. Thus, legitimate opposition to Zionism must never take the form of blanket enmity toward Jews.
 As we read in the Qur’an, God considers it a thing of beauty that humanity is composed of many peoples. However, such racist ideologies as Zionism prevent people of different races, languages, and religions from living together in peace. |
For this reason, the murder of even one innocent person is a crime that cannot be understated.
The reason for different races and peoples on Earth is not to cause strife or war, but rather to display variety, which is the beauty of God’s creation and a cultural bounty. People’s physical differences are of no importance to God, and all Muslims know very well that the only superiority is that of godliness. God states this truth in the following verse:
Mankind! We created you from a male and female, and made you into peoples and tribes so that you might come to know each other. The noblest among you in God’s sight is the one of you who best performs his duty. God is All-Knowing, All-Aware. (Qur’an, 49:13)
Just as the Qur’an does not distinguish among races and ethnicities, people of different faiths are encouraged to live in peace and harmony within the same community. Another basic Qur’anic teaching is that people should not be sentenced as a group because they belong to a certain race, people, or religion. There are good and bad people within each community;this is a fact which the Qur’an points out. For example, after explaining that part of the People of the Book is rebellious toward God and religion, God mentions the following exception in the Qur’an:
They are not all the same. There is a community among the People of the Book who are upright. They recite God’s Signs throughout the night, and they prostrate. They believe in God and the Last Day, enjoin the right and forbid the wrong, and compete in doing good. They are among the righteous. You will not be denied the reward for any good thing you do. God is aware of the heedful. (Qur’an, 3:113-115)
As a result, given that Muslims fear God and consider the criteria of the Qur’an, they cannot harbor hostility toward the Jews on religious grounds. For this reason, our examination of the clash between the Israelis and the Palestinians is undertaken with this point in mind. It is not directed against Jews and Judaism, but against the Zionist ideology that has steered some of their leaders to form and maintain a racist, violent government.
2- Jonathan Mahler, “Uprooting the Past – Israel’s New Historians Take a Hard Look at Their Nation’s Past,” http://www.linguafranca.com/9708/mahler.9708.html.
3- Gideon Levy, Book Review, “Correcting a Mistake – Jews and Arabs in Palestine/Israel, 1936-1956 by Benny Morris,” Ha’aretz, November 3, 2000.
4- Israel Shahak, Jewish History, Jewish Religion and the Weight of Three Thousand Years, (AMEU: 1994), p. 5.
5- Baudouin Loos, “An Interview of Ilan Pappe,” November 29 1999, http://msanews.mynet.net/Scholars/Loos/pappe.html, emphasis added
6- Neve Gordon, “An Antiwar Movement Grows in Israel,” The Nation, February 25, 2002.
7- Neve Gordon, “An Antiwar Movement Grows in Israel,” The Nation, February 25, 2002.
8- Asaf Oron, “Personal Testimony of an Israeli Refusenik,” Z Magazine, http://lists.econ.utah.edu/pipermail/rad-green/2002-February/ 003007.html. emphasis added
HISTORY OF THE JEWS
As indicated earlier, all Palestinian land – particularly Jerusalem –
are sacred to Jews, Christians, and Muslims. The reason for this is
that most of the prophets God sent to warn people spent part or all of
their lives on this land.
According to historical studies based on archeological excavations and sacred texts, Prophet Ibrahim, his sons, and a small number of people who followed him first migrated to Palestine – known then as Canaan – in the nineteenth century bce. The Qur’anic commentaries (tafsir) indicate that Ibrahim (Abraham), peace be upon him, thought to have lived in the Palestinian area known today as Al-Khalil (Hebron), settled there with Prophet Lut (Lot). The Qur’an reports of his migration as follows:
We said: “Fire, be coolness and peace for Ibrahim!” They desired to trap him, but We made them the losers. We delivered both him and Lut to the land which We had blessed for all beings. (Qur’an, 21:69-71)
This region, described as “the land which We had blessed,” is mentioned in various Qur’anic commentaries as referring to the land of Palestine.
Before Ibrahim, peace be upon him, the Canaanite (Palestinian) people were idolaters. He convinced them to abandon their idolatry and recognize the one and only God. According to historical sources, he settled his wife Hajar and his son Isma’il (Ishmael) in Mecca and its surroundings, while another wife, Sara, and his second son Ishaq (Isaac) stayed in Canaan. Likewise, the Qur’an mentions that Prophet Ibrahim settled some of his sons in the vicinity of al-Bayt al-Haram, which, according to the Qur’anic commentaries, is located in the valley of Mecca.
Our Lord, I have settled some of my offspring by Your Sacred House in an uncultivated valley. Our Lord, let them perform prayer. Make the hearts of mankind incline towards them and provide them with fruits, so that hopefully they will be thankful. (Qur’an, 14:37)
However, Ishaq’s son Ya’qub (Jacob) emigrated to Egypt during his son Yusuf (Joseph)’s royal appointment. (Ya’qub’s sons also are remembered as the “Children of Israel.”) After Yusuf’s release from prison and appointment as the head of the Egyptian treasury, the Children of Israel lived in peace and security in Egypt.
Somehow, their condition changed over time, and Pharoah treated them with great cruelty. God made Musa (Moses) His prophet during this period, and ordered him to lead them out from Egypt. He went to Pharaoh, asked him to give up his pagan beliefs and to surrender to God, and to free the Children of Israel also called Israelites. But Pharaoh was a cruel and savage tyrant. He had enslaved the Children of Israel, working them almost to death, and then ordered the execution of male children. Continuing his cruelty, he responded hostilely towards Musa. To prevent his own followers – actually his sorcerers – from believing in Musa, he threatened to cut their alternate hands and feet.
Although Pharaoh refused permission, Musa, peace be upon him, and his
people fled Egypt, with the help of God’s miracles, in approximately
1250 bce. They settled in the Sinai Peninsula and in eastern Canaan. In
the Qur’an, Musa commands the Children of Israel to enter Canaan:
My people, enter the Holy Land, which God has ordained for you. Do not turn back in your tracks and so become transformed into losers. (Qur’an, 5:21)
After Musa, peace be upon him, the Israelites continued to live in Canaan (Palestine). Again according to historians, Dawud (David) became the Israelis’ king and created a powerful kingdom. During the reign of his son Sulayman (Solomon), Israel’s borders extended from the Nile River in the south to the Euphrates River in today’s Syria to the north. This was a magnificent period for the Israelite kingdom in many fields, particularly architecture. In Jerusalem, Sulayman had a magnificent palace and temple built. After his death, God sent many more prophets to the Children of Israel, though in most cases they did not listen to them and rebelled against God.
As a result of their degeneracy, the Israelite kingdom dissolved and
was occupied by various idolatrous peoples, and the Israelites, also
known as Jews at the time, were enslaved once again. When Palestine was
occupied by the Roman Empire, Prophet ‘Isa (Jesus), peace be upon him,
came and once again invited the Children of Israel to forsake their
pride, superstitions, and rebelliousness and to live according to God’s
religion. Very few Jews believed in him; most of the Children of Israel
denied him. And, as the Qur’an reports, they were: “Those among the
tribe of Israel who disbelieved were cursed on the tongue Dawud and that
of ‘Isa, son of Maryam.” (Qur’an, 5:78) After some time, God plagued
the Jews with the Romans, who drove all of them out of Palestine.
Our reason for this lengthy explanation is to show that the Zionists’ fundamental contention that “Palestine is the land God promised to the Jews” is not true. This topic will be examined in more detail in the chapter on Zionism.
Zionism interprets the concepts of “chosen people” and “promised land” through a racist lense. According to this claim, everyone descended from the Jews is “chosen” and owns “the promised land.” However, race has no value in the sight of God, for what is important is godliness and righteousness. In God’s eyes, the chosen ones are those who continue to follow the religion of Ibrahim, no matter what their race may be.
The Qur’an also emphasizes this fact. God announces that Ibrahim’s heirs are not the Jews who boast of being “children of Ibrahim,” but the Muslims who live according to his religion:
The people with the strongest claim to Ibrahim are those who followed him and this Prophet [Muhammad], and those who believe. God is the Protector of believers. (Qur’an, 3:68)
According to historical studies based on archeological excavations and sacred texts, Prophet Ibrahim, his sons, and a small number of people who followed him first migrated to Palestine – known then as Canaan – in the nineteenth century bce. The Qur’anic commentaries (tafsir) indicate that Ibrahim (Abraham), peace be upon him, thought to have lived in the Palestinian area known today as Al-Khalil (Hebron), settled there with Prophet Lut (Lot). The Qur’an reports of his migration as follows:
We said: “Fire, be coolness and peace for Ibrahim!” They desired to trap him, but We made them the losers. We delivered both him and Lut to the land which We had blessed for all beings. (Qur’an, 21:69-71)
This region, described as “the land which We had blessed,” is mentioned in various Qur’anic commentaries as referring to the land of Palestine.
Before Ibrahim, peace be upon him, the Canaanite (Palestinian) people were idolaters. He convinced them to abandon their idolatry and recognize the one and only God. According to historical sources, he settled his wife Hajar and his son Isma’il (Ishmael) in Mecca and its surroundings, while another wife, Sara, and his second son Ishaq (Isaac) stayed in Canaan. Likewise, the Qur’an mentions that Prophet Ibrahim settled some of his sons in the vicinity of al-Bayt al-Haram, which, according to the Qur’anic commentaries, is located in the valley of Mecca.
Our Lord, I have settled some of my offspring by Your Sacred House in an uncultivated valley. Our Lord, let them perform prayer. Make the hearts of mankind incline towards them and provide them with fruits, so that hopefully they will be thankful. (Qur’an, 14:37)
However, Ishaq’s son Ya’qub (Jacob) emigrated to Egypt during his son Yusuf (Joseph)’s royal appointment. (Ya’qub’s sons also are remembered as the “Children of Israel.”) After Yusuf’s release from prison and appointment as the head of the Egyptian treasury, the Children of Israel lived in peace and security in Egypt.
Somehow, their condition changed over time, and Pharoah treated them with great cruelty. God made Musa (Moses) His prophet during this period, and ordered him to lead them out from Egypt. He went to Pharaoh, asked him to give up his pagan beliefs and to surrender to God, and to free the Children of Israel also called Israelites. But Pharaoh was a cruel and savage tyrant. He had enslaved the Children of Israel, working them almost to death, and then ordered the execution of male children. Continuing his cruelty, he responded hostilely towards Musa. To prevent his own followers – actually his sorcerers – from believing in Musa, he threatened to cut their alternate hands and feet.
 Following the death of Prophet Yusuf (Joseph), the Children of Israel endured great cruelty at the hands of Pharaoh. |
My people, enter the Holy Land, which God has ordained for you. Do not turn back in your tracks and so become transformed into losers. (Qur’an, 5:21)
After Musa, peace be upon him, the Israelites continued to live in Canaan (Palestine). Again according to historians, Dawud (David) became the Israelis’ king and created a powerful kingdom. During the reign of his son Sulayman (Solomon), Israel’s borders extended from the Nile River in the south to the Euphrates River in today’s Syria to the north. This was a magnificent period for the Israelite kingdom in many fields, particularly architecture. In Jerusalem, Sulayman had a magnificent palace and temple built. After his death, God sent many more prophets to the Children of Israel, though in most cases they did not listen to them and rebelled against God.
|
Those who disbelieve filled their hearts with
fanatical rage – the fanatical rage of the Time of Ignorance – and God
sent down serenity to His Messenger and to the believers, and bound them
to the expression of guarding against evil which they had most right to
and were most entitled to. God has knowledge of all things.
(Qur’an, 48:26) |
Our reason for this lengthy explanation is to show that the Zionists’ fundamental contention that “Palestine is the land God promised to the Jews” is not true. This topic will be examined in more detail in the chapter on Zionism.
Zionism interprets the concepts of “chosen people” and “promised land” through a racist lense. According to this claim, everyone descended from the Jews is “chosen” and owns “the promised land.” However, race has no value in the sight of God, for what is important is godliness and righteousness. In God’s eyes, the chosen ones are those who continue to follow the religion of Ibrahim, no matter what their race may be.
The Qur’an also emphasizes this fact. God announces that Ibrahim’s heirs are not the Jews who boast of being “children of Ibrahim,” but the Muslims who live according to his religion:
The people with the strongest claim to Ibrahim are those who followed him and this Prophet [Muhammad], and those who believe. God is the Protector of believers. (Qur’an, 3:68)
THE MUSLIM OBSERVER, 9.2001
W.REPORT, JULY 96
While Jews opposed to Zionism openly defy the Israeli government, fanatical Jews take the view: “The Promised Land is for the Chosen People. For good. For keeps. Forever.” On a cover of Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, fanatical Jews are pictured carrying signs with this slogan. Due to such mistaken ideas, they behave cruelly toward their captive population of Palestinian Christians and Muslims.
W.REPORT, JULY 96
While Jews opposed to Zionism openly defy the Israeli government, fanatical Jews take the view: “The Promised Land is for the Chosen People. For good. For keeps. Forever.” On a cover of Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, fanatical Jews are pictured carrying signs with this slogan. Due to such mistaken ideas, they behave cruelly toward their captive population of Palestinian Christians and Muslims.
MUSLIM PALESTINE
Since the beginning of Islamic history, Palestine, and the city of
Jerusalem in particular, has been sacred to Muslims. In contrast to Jews
and Christians, Muslims have made their regard for the sacredness of
Palestine an opportunity to bring peace to the region. In this chapter,
we will address some historical examples of this fact.
‘Isa (Jesus), one of the prophets sent to the Jews, marks another important turning point in Jewish history. The Jews rejected him, and then were driven from Palestine and subjected to great misfortunes. His followers became to be known as Christians. However, the religion that is called Christianity today would be founded by another man, called Paul (Saul of Tarsus). He added his own personal vision of Jesus into the original teaching and formulated a new doctrine in which Jesus was not defined as a prophet and messiah – as he was – but as a divine figure. After two and a half centuries of dispute among the Christians, Paul’s teaching turned into the doctrine of Trinity. It was a distortion of the teaching of Jesus and his early followers. After this, God revealed the Qur’an to Prophet Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, so that he could teach Islam – the religion of Abraham, Moses and Jesus – to all of humanity.
Jerusalem is sacred to Muslims for two reasons: it is the first qibla that Muslims faced during their ritual prayers, and it is the site of what is considered to be one of the greatest miracles performed by the Prophet Muhammad: the mi’raj, the night journey from al-Masjid al-Haram in Mecca to al-Masjid al-Aqsa in Jerusalem, his ascent through the heavens, and his return to al-Masjid al-Haram. The Qur’an recounts this event as follows:
Glory be to Him who took His servant on a journey by night from the Masjid al-Haram to the Masjid al-Aqsa, whose surroundings We have blessed, in order to show him some of Our Signs. He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing. (Qur’an, 17:1)
In the Qur’anic accounts of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, most of the relevant verses refer to Palestine as being “blessed, holy lands.” Verse 17:1 describes the site upon which the Masjid al-Aqsa is located as the land “whose surroundings We have blessed.” In verse 21:71, which describes the exodus of Prophets Ibrahim and Lut, the same lands are referred to as “the land which We had blessed for all beings.” At the same time, Palestine as a whole is important to Muslims because so many Jewish prophets lived and fought for God, sacrificed their lives, or died and were buried there.
Thus, it is no wonder that, in the past 2,000 years, Muslims have been the only power to bring peace to Jerusalem and Palestine.
Caliph Umar Brings Peace and Justice to Palestine
After Rome expelled the Jews out of Palestine, Jerusalem and its environs became abandoned.
However, Jerusalem once again became a center of interest after the Roman Emperor Constantine accepted Christianity (312). Roman Christians built churches in Jerusalem, and transformed it into a Christian city. Palestine remained Roman (Byzantine) territory until the seventh century, when it became part of the Persian Empire for a short time. Eventually, the Byzantines reclaimed it.
The year 637 represents an important turning point in Palestine’s history, for after this it came under Muslim control. This event brought peace and harmony to Palestine, which for centuries had been the scene of wars, exile, looting and massacre. Moreover, every time it changed hands, which was rather frequent, it witnessed new brutalities. Under Muslim rule, however, its inhabitants, regardless of their beliefs, would live together in peace and harmony.
Palestine was conquered by Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second caliph. When he entered Jerusalem, the tolerance, maturity, and kindness he showed to the area’s inhabitants, regardless of their religion, marked the beginning of a beautiful new age. A leading British commentator on religion Karen Armstrong describes the capture of Jerusalem by Umar in these terms in her book Holy War:
The Caliph Omar entered Jerusalem mounted on a white camel, escorted by the magistrate of the city, the Greek Patriarch Sophronius. The Caliph asked to be taken immediately to the Temple Mount and there he knelt in prayer on the spot where his friend Mohammed had made his Night Journey. The Patriarch watched in horror: this, he thought, must be the Abomination of Desolation that the Prophet Daniel had foretold would enter the Temple; this must be Antichrist who would herald the Last Days. Next Omar asked to see the Christian shrines and, while he was in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the time for Muslim prayer came round. Courteously the Patriarch invited him to pray where he was, but Omar as courteously refused. If he knelt to pray in the church, he explained, the Muslims would want to commemorate the event by erecting a mosque there, and that would mean that they would have to demolish the Holy Sepulchre. Instead Omar went to pray at a little distance from the church, and, sure enough, directly opposite the Holy Sepulchre there is still a small mosque dedicated to the Caliph Omar.
The other great mosque of Omar was erected on the Temple Mount to mark the Muslim conquest, together with the mosque al-Aqsa which commemorates Mohammed’s Night Journey. For years, the Christians had used to the site of the ruined Jewish Temple as the city rubbish dump. The Caliph helped his Muslims to clear the garbage with his own hands and there Muslims raised their two shrines to establish Islam in the third most holy city in the Islamic world.9
In short, Muslims brought civilization to Jerusalem and all of Palestine. Instead of holding beliefs that showed no respect for other peoples’ sacred values and killing people simply because they followed a different faith, Islam’s just, tolerant, and moderate culture brought peace and harmony to the region’s Muslim, Christian, and Jewish communities. Muslims never resorted to campaigns of forced conversions, although some non-Muslims who saw that Islam was the true religion did convert of their own free will.
This peace and harmony lasted as long as Muslims ruled in the region. However, at the end of the eleventh century, an external conquering force from Europe entered the region and plundered the civilized land of Jerusalem with a barbarity and savagery that had never been seen there before. These invaders were the Crusaders.
The Crusaders’ Savagery and Saladin’s Justice
While Palestine’s Jews, Christians, and
Muslims were living together in peace, the Pope decided to organize a
crusade. Following Pope Urban II’s call on 27 November 1095 at the
Council of Clermont, more than 100,000 Europeans set out for Palestine
to “free” the Holy Land from the Muslims and find the fabled wealth of
the East. After a long and wearying journey, and much plundering and
slaughter along the way, they reached Jerusalem in 1099. The city fell
after a siege of nearly 5 weeks. When the Crusaders moved in, they
carried out a savage slaughter. All of Jerusalem’s Muslims and Jews were
put to the sword.
In the words of one historian: “They killed all the Saracens and the Turks they found … whether male of female.”10 One of the Crusaders, Raymond of Aguiles, boasted of this violence:
Wonderful sights were to be seen. Some of our men (and this was more merciful) cut off the heads of their enemies; others shot them with arrows, so that they fell from the towers; others tortured them longer by casting them into the flames. Piles of heads, hands and feet were to be seen in the streets of the city. It was necessary to pick one’s way over the bodies of men and horses. But these were small matters compared to what happened at the Temple of Solomon, a place where religious services are normally chanted … in the Temple and porch of Solomon, men rode in blood up to their knees and bridle reins.11
In 2 days, the Crusader army killed some 40,000 Muslims in the barbaric manner just described.12 The peace and harmony in Palestine, which had lasted since Umar, ended in a terrible slaughter.
The Crusaders made Jerusalem their capital and established a Latin Kingdom stretching from Palestine to Antioch. But their rule was short-lived, for Saladin gathered all of the Muslim kingdoms under his banner in a holy war and defeated the Crusaders at the battle of Hattin in 1187. After this battle, the two leaders of the Crusader army, Reynald of Chatillon and King Guy, were brought into Saladin’s presence. He executed Reynald of Chatillon, who had become infamous for the terrible savagery he had committed against Muslims, but let King Guy go, as he had not committed similar crimes. Palestine once again saw the true meaning of justice.
Three months after Hattin, and on the very same day that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) had been taken from Mecca to Jerusalem for his night journey through the heavens, Saladin entered Jerusalem and freed it from 88 years of Crusader occupation. In contrast to the Crusaders’ “liberation” of Jerusalem, Saladin did not touch one Christian in the city, thereby turning aside their fear that they would all be massacred. He merely ordered all Latin (Catholic) Christians to leave Jerusalem. The Orthodox Christians, who were not Crusaders, were allowed to stay and worship as they chose.
Karen Armstrong describes the second capture of Jerusalem in these words:
On 2 October 1187 Saladin and his army entered Jerusalem as conquerors and for the next 800 years Jerusalem would remain a Muslim city. Saladin kept his word, and conquered the city according to the highest Islamic ideals. He did not take revenge for the 1099 massacre, as the Qur’an advised (16:127), and now that hostilities had ceased he ended the killing (2:193-194). Not a single Christian was killed and there was no plunder. The ransoms were deliberately very low … Saladin was moved to tears by the plight of families who were rent asunder and he released many of them freely, as the Qur’an urged, though to the despair of his long-suffering treasurers. His brother al-Adil was so distressed by the plight of the prisoners that he asked Saladin for a thousand of them for his own use and then released them on the spot… All the Muslim leaders were scandalised to see the rich Christians escaping with their wealth, which could have been used to ransom all the prisoners… [The Patriarch] Heraclius paid his ten-dinar ransom like everybody else and was even provided with a special escort to keep his treasure safe during the journey to Tyre.13
In short, Saladin and his army treated the Christians with great mercy and justice, and showed them more compassion than their own leaders had.
After Jerusalem, the Crusaders continued their barbarity and the
Muslims their justice in other Palestinian cities. In 1194, Richard the
Lionheart, who is portrayed as a great hero in British history, had
3,000 Muslims, among them many women and children, treacherously
executed in the Castle of Acre. Although the Muslims witnessed this
savagery, they never resorted to similar methods. Rather, they abided by
God’s command: “Let not the hatred of a people (who once) obstructed
you from the Sacred Mosque lead you to transgress…” (Qur’an, 5:2) and
never used violence against innocent civilians. In addition, they never
used violence unnecessarily, not even against the defeated Crusader
armies.
Crusader savagery and Muslim justice once more revealed a historic truth: An administration built upon the principles of Islam allowed people of different faiths to live together. This fact continued to be demonstrated for 800 years after Saladin, particularly during the Ottoman period.
The Ottoman Empire’s Just and Tolerant Rule
In 1514, Sultan Selim captured Jerusalem and the surrounding area,
and some 400 years of Ottoman rule in Palestine began. As in other
Ottoman states, this period would enable Palestine to enjoy peace and
stability despite the fact that adherents of three different faiths were
living alongside each other.
The Ottoman Empire was administered by the “nation (millet) system,” the fundamental feature of which was that people of different faiths were allowed to live according to their own beliefs and legal systems. Christians and Jews, which the Qur’an calls the People of the Book, found tolerance, security, and freedom in Ottoman lands.
The most important reason for this was that, although the Ottoman Empire was an Islamic state administered by Muslims, it had no desire to force its citizens to adopt Islam. On the contrary, it sought to provide peace and security for non-Muslims and to govern them in such a way that they would be pleased with Islamic rule and justice.
Other major states at the same time had far more cruder, oppressive, and intolerant systems of government. Spain could not tolerate the existence of Muslims and Jews on Spanish soil, two communities on which it inflicted great violence. In many other European countries, Jews were oppressed just for being Jews (e.g., they were forced to live in ghettoes), and were sometimes the victims of mass slaughter (pogroms). Christians could not even get along with each another: the fighting between Protestants and Catholics during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries turned Europe into a bloody battlefield. The Thirty Years War (1618-48) was one result of this conflict. As a result of that war, central Europe became a battleground, and in Germany alone, 5 million people (one-third of the population), perished.
In contrast to these brutalities, the Ottoman Empire and other Muslim states established their rule upon the Qur’anic commands of tolerant, just and humane administration. The reason for the justice and civilization displayed by Umar, Saladin, the Ottoman sultans, and many Muslim rulers, which is accepted by the West today, was due to their faithfulness to the Qur’anic commands, some of which are as follows:
God commands you to return to their owners the things you hold on trust and, when you judge between people, to judge with justice. How excellent is what God exhorts you to do. God is All-Hearing, All-Seeing. (Qur’an, 4:58)
O you who believe, be upholders of justice, bearing witness for God alone, even against yourselves or your parents and relatives. Whether they are rich or poor, God is well able to look after them. Do not follow your own desires and deviate from the truth. If you twist or turn away, God is aware of what you do. (Qur’an, 4:135)
God does not forbid you from being good to those who have not fought
you in the religion or driven you from your homes, or from being just
toward them. God loves those who are just. (Qur’an, 60:8)
If two parties of the believers fight, make peace between them. But if one of them attacks the other unjustly, fight the attackers until they revert to God’s command. If they revert, make peace between them with justice and be even-handed. God loves those who are even-handed. (Qur’an, 49:9)
There is a phrase used in politics such that “power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” This means that everyone who acquires political power becomes somehow morally corrupted by the ensuing opportunities. This really applies to most people, because they shape their morality according to social pressure. In other words, they avoid immorality because they are afraid of society’s disapproval or punishment. Authority grants them power, however, and decreases the importance of these social pressures upon them. As a result, they become corrupt or find it ever more easy to compromise their own morality. If they possess absolute power (and thereby become dictators), they may try to satisfy their own desires in any way.
The only human examples to which the law of corruption does not apply
is people who sincerely believe in God, embrace religion out of fear
and love of Him, and live according to that religion. Given that their
morals are not defined by society, not even the most absolute form of
power can affect them. God states in a verse:
Those who, if We establish them firmly in the land, will perform prayer and pay charity tax, and command what is right and forbid what is wrong. The end result of all affairs is with God. (Qur’an, 22:41)
In the Qur’an, God presents Dawud, peace be upon him, as an example of the ideal ruler, explains how he judged with justice between those who came to ask for his judgment and how he prayed with complete submission to God. (Qur’an, 38:24)
The history of Islam, which reflects the morality that God teaches
Muslims in the Qur’an, is full of just, merciful, humble, and mature
rulers. Since Muslim rulers fear God, they cannot behave in a corrupt,
proud, or cruel manner. Of course there were Muslim rulers who became
corrupt and departed from Islamic morality, but they were exceptions to
and deviations from the norm. Thus Islam proved to be the only belief
system that has produced a just, tolerant, and compassionate form of
government for the last 1,400 years.
The land of Palestine is a testament to Islam’s fair and tolerant governance, and bears the influence of many different faiths and ideas. As reported earlier, the governments of the Prophet Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, Umar, Saladin, and the Ottoman sultans were such that even non-Muslims consented to them. This period of fair administration lasted until the twentieth century when, with the end of Muslim rule in 1917, the region was plunged into chaos, terror, bloodshed, and war.
Jerusalem, the center of three religions, experienced the longest period of stability in its history under the Ottomans, when peace, abundance, and prosperity reigned there and throughout the empire. Christians, Jews, and Muslims, and their various denominations, worshipped as they pleased, honored their own beliefs, and followed their own customs and traditions. This was possible because the Ottomans ruled with the belief that bringing order, justice, peace, prosperity, and tolerance to their lands was a sacred obligation.
Many historians and political scientists have drawn attention to this fact. One of them is Columbia University’s world-famous Middle East expert Professor Edward Said. Originally from a Christian family of Jerusalem, he continues his research at American universities, far from his homeland. In an interview with the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz, he recommended resurrecting the “Ottoman nation system” if a permanent peace is to be built in the Middle East. In his own words,
A Jewish minority can survive the way other minorities in the Arab world survived… it worked rather well under the Ottoman Empire, with its millet system. What they had then seems a lot more humane than what we have now.14
Indeed, Palestine never witnessed another “humane” administration once Ottoman rule ended. Between the two world wars, the British crushed the Arabs with their divide-and-conquer strategy and simultaneously empowered the Zionists, who would later prove antagonistic even to them. Zionism incurred the Arabs’ wrath, and, from the 1930s on, Palestine became the scene of clashes between the two groups. Zionists formed terrorist groups to fight the Palestinians, and, shortly thereafter, began attacking the British as well. Once Britain threw up its hands and abandoned its mandate over the region in 1947, the clashes turned into war and the Israeli occupation and massacres (which continue to this day) began in earnest.
In order for the region to enjoy “humane” rule once again, Jews must abandon Zionism and its goal of a “Palestine exclusively for the Jews,” and accept the idea of sharing the land with Arabs on equal terms. Arabs, for that matter, must abandon such un-Islamic goals as “driving Israel into the sea” or “putting all Jews to the sword,” and accept the idea of living together with them. According to Said, this means reviving the Ottoman system, which is the only solution that will allow the region’s people to live in peace and harmony. This system may create an environment of regional peace and security, just as it did in the past.
In the last chapter, we will examine the details of this solution. But before we do so, let’s revisit the past to examine the chaos and cruelty that engulfed Palestine after Muslim rule ended.
9- Karen Armstrong, Holy War, (MacMillan: 1988), pp. 30-31. emphasis added
10- “Gesta Francorum, or the Deeds of the Franks and the Other Pilgrims to Jerusalem,” trans. Rosalind Hill, (London: 1962), p. 91. emphasis added
11- August C. Krey, The First Crusade: The Accounts of Eye-Witnesses and Participants (Princeton & London: 1921), p. 261. emphasis added
12- Krey, The First Crusade, p. 262.
13- Armstrong, Holy War, p. 185. emphasis added.
14- An Interview with Edward Said by Ari Shavit, Ha’aretz, August 18, 2000
‘Isa (Jesus), one of the prophets sent to the Jews, marks another important turning point in Jewish history. The Jews rejected him, and then were driven from Palestine and subjected to great misfortunes. His followers became to be known as Christians. However, the religion that is called Christianity today would be founded by another man, called Paul (Saul of Tarsus). He added his own personal vision of Jesus into the original teaching and formulated a new doctrine in which Jesus was not defined as a prophet and messiah – as he was – but as a divine figure. After two and a half centuries of dispute among the Christians, Paul’s teaching turned into the doctrine of Trinity. It was a distortion of the teaching of Jesus and his early followers. After this, God revealed the Qur’an to Prophet Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, so that he could teach Islam – the religion of Abraham, Moses and Jesus – to all of humanity.
Jerusalem is sacred to Muslims for two reasons: it is the first qibla that Muslims faced during their ritual prayers, and it is the site of what is considered to be one of the greatest miracles performed by the Prophet Muhammad: the mi’raj, the night journey from al-Masjid al-Haram in Mecca to al-Masjid al-Aqsa in Jerusalem, his ascent through the heavens, and his return to al-Masjid al-Haram. The Qur’an recounts this event as follows:
Glory be to Him who took His servant on a journey by night from the Masjid al-Haram to the Masjid al-Aqsa, whose surroundings We have blessed, in order to show him some of Our Signs. He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing. (Qur’an, 17:1)
In the Qur’anic accounts of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, most of the relevant verses refer to Palestine as being “blessed, holy lands.” Verse 17:1 describes the site upon which the Masjid al-Aqsa is located as the land “whose surroundings We have blessed.” In verse 21:71, which describes the exodus of Prophets Ibrahim and Lut, the same lands are referred to as “the land which We had blessed for all beings.” At the same time, Palestine as a whole is important to Muslims because so many Jewish prophets lived and fought for God, sacrificed their lives, or died and were buried there.
Thus, it is no wonder that, in the past 2,000 years, Muslims have been the only power to bring peace to Jerusalem and Palestine.
Caliph Umar Brings Peace and Justice to Palestine
 Qubbat as-Sakhrah |
However, Jerusalem once again became a center of interest after the Roman Emperor Constantine accepted Christianity (312). Roman Christians built churches in Jerusalem, and transformed it into a Christian city. Palestine remained Roman (Byzantine) territory until the seventh century, when it became part of the Persian Empire for a short time. Eventually, the Byzantines reclaimed it.
The year 637 represents an important turning point in Palestine’s history, for after this it came under Muslim control. This event brought peace and harmony to Palestine, which for centuries had been the scene of wars, exile, looting and massacre. Moreover, every time it changed hands, which was rather frequent, it witnessed new brutalities. Under Muslim rule, however, its inhabitants, regardless of their beliefs, would live together in peace and harmony.
Palestine was conquered by Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second caliph. When he entered Jerusalem, the tolerance, maturity, and kindness he showed to the area’s inhabitants, regardless of their religion, marked the beginning of a beautiful new age. A leading British commentator on religion Karen Armstrong describes the capture of Jerusalem by Umar in these terms in her book Holy War:
The Caliph Omar entered Jerusalem mounted on a white camel, escorted by the magistrate of the city, the Greek Patriarch Sophronius. The Caliph asked to be taken immediately to the Temple Mount and there he knelt in prayer on the spot where his friend Mohammed had made his Night Journey. The Patriarch watched in horror: this, he thought, must be the Abomination of Desolation that the Prophet Daniel had foretold would enter the Temple; this must be Antichrist who would herald the Last Days. Next Omar asked to see the Christian shrines and, while he was in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the time for Muslim prayer came round. Courteously the Patriarch invited him to pray where he was, but Omar as courteously refused. If he knelt to pray in the church, he explained, the Muslims would want to commemorate the event by erecting a mosque there, and that would mean that they would have to demolish the Holy Sepulchre. Instead Omar went to pray at a little distance from the church, and, sure enough, directly opposite the Holy Sepulchre there is still a small mosque dedicated to the Caliph Omar.
The other great mosque of Omar was erected on the Temple Mount to mark the Muslim conquest, together with the mosque al-Aqsa which commemorates Mohammed’s Night Journey. For years, the Christians had used to the site of the ruined Jewish Temple as the city rubbish dump. The Caliph helped his Muslims to clear the garbage with his own hands and there Muslims raised their two shrines to establish Islam in the third most holy city in the Islamic world.9
In short, Muslims brought civilization to Jerusalem and all of Palestine. Instead of holding beliefs that showed no respect for other peoples’ sacred values and killing people simply because they followed a different faith, Islam’s just, tolerant, and moderate culture brought peace and harmony to the region’s Muslim, Christian, and Jewish communities. Muslims never resorted to campaigns of forced conversions, although some non-Muslims who saw that Islam was the true religion did convert of their own free will.
This peace and harmony lasted as long as Muslims ruled in the region. However, at the end of the eleventh century, an external conquering force from Europe entered the region and plundered the civilized land of Jerusalem with a barbarity and savagery that had never been seen there before. These invaders were the Crusaders.
The Crusaders’ Savagery and Saladin’s Justice
 The Crusaders captured Jerusalem after a five-week siege, and proceeded to loot the city’s treasures and slaughter its Jews and Muslims. |
In the words of one historian: “They killed all the Saracens and the Turks they found … whether male of female.”10 One of the Crusaders, Raymond of Aguiles, boasted of this violence:
Wonderful sights were to be seen. Some of our men (and this was more merciful) cut off the heads of their enemies; others shot them with arrows, so that they fell from the towers; others tortured them longer by casting them into the flames. Piles of heads, hands and feet were to be seen in the streets of the city. It was necessary to pick one’s way over the bodies of men and horses. But these were small matters compared to what happened at the Temple of Solomon, a place where religious services are normally chanted … in the Temple and porch of Solomon, men rode in blood up to their knees and bridle reins.11
 Saladin (Salah ud-Din al-Ayyubi), who defeated the Crusaders in the battle of Hattin, was noted in historical sources for his justice, courage, and honorable character. |
The Crusaders made Jerusalem their capital and established a Latin Kingdom stretching from Palestine to Antioch. But their rule was short-lived, for Saladin gathered all of the Muslim kingdoms under his banner in a holy war and defeated the Crusaders at the battle of Hattin in 1187. After this battle, the two leaders of the Crusader army, Reynald of Chatillon and King Guy, were brought into Saladin’s presence. He executed Reynald of Chatillon, who had become infamous for the terrible savagery he had committed against Muslims, but let King Guy go, as he had not committed similar crimes. Palestine once again saw the true meaning of justice.
Three months after Hattin, and on the very same day that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) had been taken from Mecca to Jerusalem for his night journey through the heavens, Saladin entered Jerusalem and freed it from 88 years of Crusader occupation. In contrast to the Crusaders’ “liberation” of Jerusalem, Saladin did not touch one Christian in the city, thereby turning aside their fear that they would all be massacred. He merely ordered all Latin (Catholic) Christians to leave Jerusalem. The Orthodox Christians, who were not Crusaders, were allowed to stay and worship as they chose.
Karen Armstrong describes the second capture of Jerusalem in these words:
On 2 October 1187 Saladin and his army entered Jerusalem as conquerors and for the next 800 years Jerusalem would remain a Muslim city. Saladin kept his word, and conquered the city according to the highest Islamic ideals. He did not take revenge for the 1099 massacre, as the Qur’an advised (16:127), and now that hostilities had ceased he ended the killing (2:193-194). Not a single Christian was killed and there was no plunder. The ransoms were deliberately very low … Saladin was moved to tears by the plight of families who were rent asunder and he released many of them freely, as the Qur’an urged, though to the despair of his long-suffering treasurers. His brother al-Adil was so distressed by the plight of the prisoners that he asked Saladin for a thousand of them for his own use and then released them on the spot… All the Muslim leaders were scandalised to see the rich Christians escaping with their wealth, which could have been used to ransom all the prisoners… [The Patriarch] Heraclius paid his ten-dinar ransom like everybody else and was even provided with a special escort to keep his treasure safe during the journey to Tyre.13
In short, Saladin and his army treated the Christians with great mercy and justice, and showed them more compassion than their own leaders had.
  When King Richard I of England captured the Castle of Acre, he massacred the Muslims. The painting below depicts the executions of hundreds of Muslim captives. Their corpses and severed heads piled up beneath the platform. |
Crusader savagery and Muslim justice once more revealed a historic truth: An administration built upon the principles of Islam allowed people of different faiths to live together. This fact continued to be demonstrated for 800 years after Saladin, particularly during the Ottoman period.
The Ottoman Empire’s Just and Tolerant Rule
 After Sultan Selim’s conquest of Jerusalem and its environs in 1514, a 400-year period of peace and security began on Palestinian lands. |
The Ottoman Empire was administered by the “nation (millet) system,” the fundamental feature of which was that people of different faiths were allowed to live according to their own beliefs and legal systems. Christians and Jews, which the Qur’an calls the People of the Book, found tolerance, security, and freedom in Ottoman lands.
The most important reason for this was that, although the Ottoman Empire was an Islamic state administered by Muslims, it had no desire to force its citizens to adopt Islam. On the contrary, it sought to provide peace and security for non-Muslims and to govern them in such a way that they would be pleased with Islamic rule and justice.
Other major states at the same time had far more cruder, oppressive, and intolerant systems of government. Spain could not tolerate the existence of Muslims and Jews on Spanish soil, two communities on which it inflicted great violence. In many other European countries, Jews were oppressed just for being Jews (e.g., they were forced to live in ghettoes), and were sometimes the victims of mass slaughter (pogroms). Christians could not even get along with each another: the fighting between Protestants and Catholics during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries turned Europe into a bloody battlefield. The Thirty Years War (1618-48) was one result of this conflict. As a result of that war, central Europe became a battleground, and in Germany alone, 5 million people (one-third of the population), perished.
In contrast to these brutalities, the Ottoman Empire and other Muslim states established their rule upon the Qur’anic commands of tolerant, just and humane administration. The reason for the justice and civilization displayed by Umar, Saladin, the Ottoman sultans, and many Muslim rulers, which is accepted by the West today, was due to their faithfulness to the Qur’anic commands, some of which are as follows:
God commands you to return to their owners the things you hold on trust and, when you judge between people, to judge with justice. How excellent is what God exhorts you to do. God is All-Hearing, All-Seeing. (Qur’an, 4:58)
O you who believe, be upholders of justice, bearing witness for God alone, even against yourselves or your parents and relatives. Whether they are rich or poor, God is well able to look after them. Do not follow your own desires and deviate from the truth. If you twist or turn away, God is aware of what you do. (Qur’an, 4:135)
  Studies of Palestine during the late Ottoman period reveal an advanced level of welfare, trade, and industry throughout the region. |
If two parties of the believers fight, make peace between them. But if one of them attacks the other unjustly, fight the attackers until they revert to God’s command. If they revert, make peace between them with justice and be even-handed. God loves those who are even-handed. (Qur’an, 49:9)
There is a phrase used in politics such that “power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” This means that everyone who acquires political power becomes somehow morally corrupted by the ensuing opportunities. This really applies to most people, because they shape their morality according to social pressure. In other words, they avoid immorality because they are afraid of society’s disapproval or punishment. Authority grants them power, however, and decreases the importance of these social pressures upon them. As a result, they become corrupt or find it ever more easy to compromise their own morality. If they possess absolute power (and thereby become dictators), they may try to satisfy their own desires in any way.
  The Ottomans brought peace, stability, and civilization to all the lands they conquered. One can still find fountains, bridges, inns, and mosques from the Ottoman period throughout Palestine. (Left) Herogate, 16th century (Right) Khan al-Umdan |
Those who, if We establish them firmly in the land, will perform prayer and pay charity tax, and command what is right and forbid what is wrong. The end result of all affairs is with God. (Qur’an, 22:41)
In the Qur’an, God presents Dawud, peace be upon him, as an example of the ideal ruler, explains how he judged with justice between those who came to ask for his judgment and how he prayed with complete submission to God. (Qur’an, 38:24)
 The Ottomans brought peace, order, and tolerance everywhere they went. |
The land of Palestine is a testament to Islam’s fair and tolerant governance, and bears the influence of many different faiths and ideas. As reported earlier, the governments of the Prophet Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, Umar, Saladin, and the Ottoman sultans were such that even non-Muslims consented to them. This period of fair administration lasted until the twentieth century when, with the end of Muslim rule in 1917, the region was plunged into chaos, terror, bloodshed, and war.
Jerusalem, the center of three religions, experienced the longest period of stability in its history under the Ottomans, when peace, abundance, and prosperity reigned there and throughout the empire. Christians, Jews, and Muslims, and their various denominations, worshipped as they pleased, honored their own beliefs, and followed their own customs and traditions. This was possible because the Ottomans ruled with the belief that bringing order, justice, peace, prosperity, and tolerance to their lands was a sacred obligation.
Many historians and political scientists have drawn attention to this fact. One of them is Columbia University’s world-famous Middle East expert Professor Edward Said. Originally from a Christian family of Jerusalem, he continues his research at American universities, far from his homeland. In an interview with the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz, he recommended resurrecting the “Ottoman nation system” if a permanent peace is to be built in the Middle East. In his own words,
A Jewish minority can survive the way other minorities in the Arab world survived… it worked rather well under the Ottoman Empire, with its millet system. What they had then seems a lot more humane than what we have now.14
Indeed, Palestine never witnessed another “humane” administration once Ottoman rule ended. Between the two world wars, the British crushed the Arabs with their divide-and-conquer strategy and simultaneously empowered the Zionists, who would later prove antagonistic even to them. Zionism incurred the Arabs’ wrath, and, from the 1930s on, Palestine became the scene of clashes between the two groups. Zionists formed terrorist groups to fight the Palestinians, and, shortly thereafter, began attacking the British as well. Once Britain threw up its hands and abandoned its mandate over the region in 1947, the clashes turned into war and the Israeli occupation and massacres (which continue to this day) began in earnest.
In order for the region to enjoy “humane” rule once again, Jews must abandon Zionism and its goal of a “Palestine exclusively for the Jews,” and accept the idea of sharing the land with Arabs on equal terms. Arabs, for that matter, must abandon such un-Islamic goals as “driving Israel into the sea” or “putting all Jews to the sword,” and accept the idea of living together with them. According to Said, this means reviving the Ottoman system, which is the only solution that will allow the region’s people to live in peace and harmony. This system may create an environment of regional peace and security, just as it did in the past.
In the last chapter, we will examine the details of this solution. But before we do so, let’s revisit the past to examine the chaos and cruelty that engulfed Palestine after Muslim rule ended.
 Many of today’s politicians and historians contend that the Ottoman model is an extremely important example of how the Middle East problem might be solved.
 VIOLENCE ROSE AFTER THE OTTOMANS LEFT The violent events in the last century which began when the British forced the Ottomans out of the region led to the Palestinians suffering colonization, exile and occupation. The Israeli people, on the other hand, have never been able to live in security. |
10- “Gesta Francorum, or the Deeds of the Franks and the Other Pilgrims to Jerusalem,” trans. Rosalind Hill, (London: 1962), p. 91. emphasis added
11- August C. Krey, The First Crusade: The Accounts of Eye-Witnesses and Participants (Princeton & London: 1921), p. 261. emphasis added
12- Krey, The First Crusade, p. 262.
13- Armstrong, Holy War, p. 185. emphasis added.
14- An Interview with Edward Said by Ari Shavit, Ha’aretz, August 18, 2000
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