Standing with the Palestinians
Palestinian Muslim worshippers chant slogans supporting the Islamist movement Hamas following Friday prayers in Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque compound, the third holiest site of Islam, on May 14, 2021. (Photo by ahmad gharabli / AFP)
HAVING lasted 70 years, there’s every chance Israel will continue with its institutionalised violence against Palestinians, yet the United States continues to look the other way.
Even some of the most powerful countries in the Organisation of Islamic Conference are remaining silent as Israel continues to drop bombs on Palestine.
They’re simply too afraid to earn the wrath of the US. There is no Arab unity, really.
US President Joe Biden has said that Israel has the right to defend itself when “you have thousands of rockets flying into your territory, ” clearly ignoring that hostilities began following Israel security forces storming the compound of the Al-Aqsa mosque, which left many injured.
The security forces fired stun grenades and used tear gas in clashes with Palestinians.
News bytes reveal it was also the Israelis who sent an air strike which felled a 13-storey tower block in the Gaza Strip.
It was only then that the Palestinians retaliated by firing 130 missiles at Tel Aviv. Now, that’s the right to defend themselves, too, Mr President.
I’ve taken a personal interest in the plight of Palestinians since my pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 2005, which opened my eyes to what’s been happening there.
There’s an unfortunate religious misconception. Malaysians view Palestinians as Muslims. Yes, predominantly, but there are also many Christians.
Here’s another curve ball – most of the Biblical sites are in Palestine-controlled areas, including Jericho and Nazareth.
They depend on religious tourism for a living, which makes them receptive to Christians and informed of the Bible, so naturally, they welcome Christian pilgrims.
It’s normal for Palestinian leaders to attend church services on Christmas to display unity and solidarity.
My guides were a Muslim driver, Ahmad Badawi, and an Arab Christian, Jeries Farra. The latter spoke excellent Bahasa Indonesia as he often had to chaperone Indonesian pilgrims, the largest number of visitors from South-East Asia to Jerusalem. Obviously, Farra also knows the Bible well, quoting verses in Bahasa Indonesia even.
For the Malaysians, the trip was a lesson because it allowed us to draw a clearer distinction between Judaism-practising Jews and Christians.
Despite certain similarities, Jews don’t accept Jesus Christ as the Messiah. In fact, ultra-Orthodox Jews openly dismiss Christ, and they often brazenly mock Christian pilgrims, as my group and I experienced.
At the Jordan-Israeli border, young gun-toting Israeli soldiers made us wait for hours and laughed at us when we prayed for safety and easy entry into Jerusalem.
As a Christian, I hope my fellow Christians do not get carried away with believing that Jews are God’s chosen people.
My contingent became emotional when Farra spoke about the Israeli occupation of Palestinian Territories as he shared his personal experiences. When I was there, the wall separating the West Bank and Israel was being built. But what we saw broke our hearts.
As I had written previously, at checkpoints on our journey, I saw how many Palestinians, including those with babies, were sometimes made to wait for hours under the scorching sun while their documents were inspected.
Most of the time, they were openly humiliated. Hence, the simple process of re-entering their hometowns could become a six-hour ordeal, affecting their productivity, and hampering their movement.
The minority Christians also share the same anger as the Muslims because the issue isn’t about religion, but land and resources. Christians from Palestine suffer the same injustices as their Muslim brethren.
Palestinian Christians have seen their land robbed from them and they get the same treatment as their Muslim brothers when they enter Israeli-occupied areas.
And Jews are not Christians, and not all Israelis or Jews are Zionists – many are secular Jews who don’t practise Judaism and detest the way their country is run.
The danger here is that many Malaysians lump all Israelis under the category of the “hated orang Yahudi”, like how some evangelical Christians typecast all Israelis as God-fearing and righteous “God’s chosen people.” But welcome to the 21st century, where the situation isn’t that straightforward.
Rev Mitzi Raheb, a Lutheran pastor in Bethlehem, said, “The Bible originated in Palestine, not in the Bible Belt, but people in the Bible Belt read the Bible in a way that really makes our lives difficult.”
It’s disappointing that the Western media has typecast Palestinians as militants, radicals and terrorists – terms judiciously used by many news organisations.
Unfortunately, most of the world believes them because they’re supposed to be credible sources of news.
So, even when genocide is practised in eradicating Palestinians and driving them out of their land, none of these media agencies uses appropriately sensitive words like “genocide” and “forced labour” like it uses against China on the Uighur issue.
Palestinians from the West Bank cross daily into Israeli’s Green side via a barrier wall erected by the latter, in what it claims to be a protection against terrorism.
It’s the ultimate humiliation for thousands of these workers as they line up patiently to be checked and body searched before being allowed into the Israeli side for work.
In 2003, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution finding the barrier to be a violation of international law and demanded its removal by a vote of 144-4 with 12 abstentions. But Israel snubbed the world.
Last week, the US blocked the UN Security Council from issuing a statement regarding the dramatically escalating violence in Israel and Palestine.
It was reported that the nixed statement followed a second council briefing from the UN’s Special Envoy for Israeli-Palestinian Peace, Tor Wennesland.It “expressed deep concern about the latest situation in Gaza, and called for an immediate cessation of hostilities, ” and further “expressed concern about the tensions and violence in East Jerusalem, especially in and around the holy sites.”
“Council members demanded immediate cessation of all acts of violence, provocation, incitement and destruction. They called for respect for international law, including international humanitarian law and the protection of civilians, ” it said.
Diplomats speaking on condition of anonymity, said the US blocked the statement because it said it wouldn’t “help de-escalate” the violence, and added Washington wouldn’t officially address the spiralling violence.
The clashes between Palestinians and Israelis will peter out simply because the latter has all the power and might. However, this turmoil is an undying flame.
Even some of the most powerful countries in the Organisation of Islamic Conference are remaining silent as Israel continues to drop bombs on Palestine.
They’re simply too afraid to earn the wrath of the US. There is no Arab unity, really.
US President Joe Biden has said that Israel has the right to defend itself when “you have thousands of rockets flying into your territory, ” clearly ignoring that hostilities began following Israel security forces storming the compound of the Al-Aqsa mosque, which left many injured.
The security forces fired stun grenades and used tear gas in clashes with Palestinians.
News bytes reveal it was also the Israelis who sent an air strike which felled a 13-storey tower block in the Gaza Strip.
It was only then that the Palestinians retaliated by firing 130 missiles at Tel Aviv. Now, that’s the right to defend themselves, too, Mr President.
I’ve taken a personal interest in the plight of Palestinians since my pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 2005, which opened my eyes to what’s been happening there.
There’s an unfortunate religious misconception. Malaysians view Palestinians as Muslims. Yes, predominantly, but there are also many Christians.
Here’s another curve ball – most of the Biblical sites are in Palestine-controlled areas, including Jericho and Nazareth.
They depend on religious tourism for a living, which makes them receptive to Christians and informed of the Bible, so naturally, they welcome Christian pilgrims.
It’s normal for Palestinian leaders to attend church services on Christmas to display unity and solidarity.
My guides were a Muslim driver, Ahmad Badawi, and an Arab Christian, Jeries Farra. The latter spoke excellent Bahasa Indonesia as he often had to chaperone Indonesian pilgrims, the largest number of visitors from South-East Asia to Jerusalem. Obviously, Farra also knows the Bible well, quoting verses in Bahasa Indonesia even.
For the Malaysians, the trip was a lesson because it allowed us to draw a clearer distinction between Judaism-practising Jews and Christians.
Despite certain similarities, Jews don’t accept Jesus Christ as the Messiah. In fact, ultra-Orthodox Jews openly dismiss Christ, and they often brazenly mock Christian pilgrims, as my group and I experienced.
At the Jordan-Israeli border, young gun-toting Israeli soldiers made us wait for hours and laughed at us when we prayed for safety and easy entry into Jerusalem.
As a Christian, I hope my fellow Christians do not get carried away with believing that Jews are God’s chosen people.
My contingent became emotional when Farra spoke about the Israeli occupation of Palestinian Territories as he shared his personal experiences. When I was there, the wall separating the West Bank and Israel was being built. But what we saw broke our hearts.
As I had written previously, at checkpoints on our journey, I saw how many Palestinians, including those with babies, were sometimes made to wait for hours under the scorching sun while their documents were inspected.
Most of the time, they were openly humiliated. Hence, the simple process of re-entering their hometowns could become a six-hour ordeal, affecting their productivity, and hampering their movement.
The minority Christians also share the same anger as the Muslims because the issue isn’t about religion, but land and resources. Christians from Palestine suffer the same injustices as their Muslim brethren.
Palestinian Christians have seen their land robbed from them and they get the same treatment as their Muslim brothers when they enter Israeli-occupied areas.
And Jews are not Christians, and not all Israelis or Jews are Zionists – many are secular Jews who don’t practise Judaism and detest the way their country is run.
The danger here is that many Malaysians lump all Israelis under the category of the “hated orang Yahudi”, like how some evangelical Christians typecast all Israelis as God-fearing and righteous “God’s chosen people.” But welcome to the 21st century, where the situation isn’t that straightforward.
Rev Mitzi Raheb, a Lutheran pastor in Bethlehem, said, “The Bible originated in Palestine, not in the Bible Belt, but people in the Bible Belt read the Bible in a way that really makes our lives difficult.”
It’s disappointing that the Western media has typecast Palestinians as militants, radicals and terrorists – terms judiciously used by many news organisations.
Unfortunately, most of the world believes them because they’re supposed to be credible sources of news.
So, even when genocide is practised in eradicating Palestinians and driving them out of their land, none of these media agencies uses appropriately sensitive words like “genocide” and “forced labour” like it uses against China on the Uighur issue.
Palestinians from the West Bank cross daily into Israeli’s Green side via a barrier wall erected by the latter, in what it claims to be a protection against terrorism.
It’s the ultimate humiliation for thousands of these workers as they line up patiently to be checked and body searched before being allowed into the Israeli side for work.
In 2003, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution finding the barrier to be a violation of international law and demanded its removal by a vote of 144-4 with 12 abstentions. But Israel snubbed the world.
Last week, the US blocked the UN Security Council from issuing a statement regarding the dramatically escalating violence in Israel and Palestine.
It was reported that the nixed statement followed a second council briefing from the UN’s Special Envoy for Israeli-Palestinian Peace, Tor Wennesland.It “expressed deep concern about the latest situation in Gaza, and called for an immediate cessation of hostilities, ” and further “expressed concern about the tensions and violence in East Jerusalem, especially in and around the holy sites.”
“Council members demanded immediate cessation of all acts of violence, provocation, incitement and destruction. They called for respect for international law, including international humanitarian law and the protection of civilians, ” it said.
Diplomats speaking on condition of anonymity, said the US blocked the statement because it said it wouldn’t “help de-escalate” the violence, and added Washington wouldn’t officially address the spiralling violence.
The clashes between Palestinians and Israelis will peter out simply because the latter has all the power and might. However, this turmoil is an undying flame.
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kt notes:
Ironically, or thanks to the stupidity and ignorance of but-all-powerful American Christian Right, the (Judaism-practicing) Israeli State earns the Christian US support (military-intelligence aid as well as financial-economic and political aid) because of a Jewish heretic some 2,000 years ago. Yes, it was Yehoshua ben Yosef (otherwise known as Jesus, son of Joseph and Mary), the hated Judean heretic, condemned by the Sanhedrin to death, that's saving the Israeli arse today time over time again. I blogged this fact in:
If you do not wish to read the above post, brief extract of it follows for your perusal convenience:
Leaving aside some of the mentioned and biased nonsense above, the first (preposterous) sentence "Israel’s international “birth certificate” was validated by the promise of the Bible" is the clue to all the problems the Palestinians are having or have been having since 1947, and why/how Israel has been behaving so arrogantly and badly with seeming impunity.
It's the Judeo-Christian religion that allows Israel to behave like an international hooligan and killed people as they like, not just in war but in peacetime assassinations.
The fundamental Christian nations, especially the USA, joined by more European nations today no doubt because of Arabs' dastardly bad behaviour in Europe, have been supporting Israel no matter what, because to do otherwise would be to militate against Christian belief, that Jesus will ONLY return when Israelites have occupy the 'Holy Land'.
The Christian's "Second Coming of the Lord" is only possible if Christians ensures Israelites remain in Israel. Though there is no Israelite today, their descendants the Israelis represent an acceptable biblical substitute. Today, US Presidents could/can only be assured of US Christian Right's votes if they have been seen to be supportive of Israel, the land of the Israelites (or their descendants, the Israelis).
On one occasion, when the US economy was bad, the US Administration pared down the budgets of every US department BUT it dared not reduce but rather increase the aid for Israel, for fear of Israel Christian Right supporters getting angry with the US Administration for 'neglecting' the Israelite keepers of the 'Holy Land' who will ensure the Second Coming of the Lord.
Only two nations in the world dare to attack US naval ships with impunity, loose cannon North Korea in the USS Pueblo affair (23 January 1968) and Israel in its air and sea torpedo attacks on USS Liberty on 08 June 1967.
y cant palestinian learn from uighur?
ReplyDeleteBcoz there r muslin & there r muslim.
DeleteBesides out there in that fart filled well, demoNcratic katak r very selective. They like the Uyghur muslin but despite the Palestine muslim.
Simple answer!
Hamas fired rockets into Israel first in the latest round of violence, before the Israeli air strikes.
ReplyDeleteAlso omitted that the targeted 13-storey building housed Hamas offices.
pro Israeli kok-tokker
DeleteHow could Malaysia allow itself to be used as training ground for Hamas Rocket Expert?
ReplyDeleteMalaysia can be proud of hosting/training Palestinian lecturer and Hamas supporter Dr Fadi, an “Expert in Rockets” according to Zahir Comedy and who was assassinated in KL three years ago….an expert who received an award by Jibby himself…..so Malaysia may have had a hand in those hundreds of rockets fired into Israel……how proud we must be.
https://says.com/my/news/4-facts-about-the-palestinian-lecturer-who-was-shot-dead-in-kl
We are often confused about Hamas and equate them to Palestine. Hamas does not represent Palestine as a whole. There is another faction, Fatah, which is aligned with current President Mahmoud Abbas. There is intense rivalry within Palestine for political control, Fatah in the West Bank and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Almost like a civil war, and this current “war” with Israel is being used as excuse to delay Parliament and Presidential elections which is already overdue. The world kena TIPU by the rival factions. And meanwhile Malaysia allows itself to be the training ground for Hamas.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.fdd.org/analysis/2018/05/04/how-malaysia-became-a-training-ground-for-hamas/
Hamas is the poisonous fruit of Israel for Israel to reap. Israel planted Hamas to kill Yasser Arafat's Fatah. Padan muka its poisonous fruit meant for Yasser Arafat is now biting it, wakakaka
DeleteThese headline readers r just either blurred know-nothing dickheads or just selective manipulators of the f*cked kind.
DeleteIn depth researches for a chronic issue r none existence. Especially when their sources r just western demoNcratic hippo!
Bullshit fabrication from Ktemoc.
DeleteThere's absolutely no evidence that Hamas was planted by Israel.
Dei, fabrication is your speciality lah, wakakaka. From teh WP:
DeleteTo a certain degree, the Islamist organization whose militant wing has rained rockets on Israel the past few weeks has the Jewish state to thank for its existence. Hamas launched in 1988 in Gaza at the time of the first intifada, or uprising, with a charter now infamous for its anti-Semitism and its refusal to accept the existence of the Israeli state. But for more than a decade prior, Israeli authorities actively enabled its rise.
At the time, Israel's main enemy was the late Yasser Arafat's Fatah party, which formed the heart of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). Fatah was secular and cast in the mold of other revolutionary, leftist guerrilla movements waging insurgencies elsewhere in the world during the Cold War. The PLO carried out assassinations and kidnappings and, although recognized by neighboring Arab states, was considered a terrorist organization by Israel; PLO operatives in the occupied territories faced brutal repression at the hands of the Israeli security state.
Meanwhile, the activities of Islamists affiliated with Egypt's banned Muslim Brotherhood were allowed in the open in Gaza — a radical departure from when the Strip was administered by the secular-nationalist Egyptian government of Gamal Abdel Nasser. Egypt lost control of Gaza to Israel after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, which saw Israel also seize the West Bank. In 1966, Nasser had executed Sayyid Qutb, one of the Brotherhood's leading intellectuals. The Israelis saw Qutb's adherents in the Palestinian territories, including the wheelchair-bound Sheik Ahmed Yassin, as a useful counterweight to Arafat's PLO.
"When I look back at the chain of events I think we made a mistake," one Israeli official who had worked in Gaza in the 1980s said in a 2009 interview with the Wall Street Journal's Andrew Higgins. "But at the time nobody thought about the possible results."
Higgins's article is worth reading in full. He goes on to outline the type of assistance the Israelis initially gave Yassin, whom the PLO at one time deemed a "collaborator," and Gaza's other Islamists:
Israel's military-led administration in Gaza looked favorably on the paraplegic cleric, who set up a wide network of schools, clinics, a library and kindergartens. Sheikh Yassin formed the Islamist group Mujama al-Islamiya, which was officially recognized by Israel as a charity and then, in 1979, as an association. Israel also endorsed the establishment of the Islamic University of Gaza, which it now regards as a hotbed of militancy. The university was one of the first targets hit by Israeli warplanes in the [2008-9 Operation Cast Lead].
Yassin's Mujama would become Hamas, which, it can be argued, was Israel's Taliban: an Islamist group whose antecedents had been laid down by the West in a battle against a leftist enemy. Israel jailed Yassin in 1984 on a 12-year sentence after the discovery of hidden arms caches, but he was released a year later. The Israelis must have been more worried about other enemies.
Eventually, the tables turned. After the 1993 Oslo accords, Israel's formal recognition of the PLO and the start of what we now know as the peace process, Hamas was the Israelis' bete noire. Hamas refused to accept Israel or renounce violence and became perhaps the leading institution of Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation, which, far beyond religious ideology, is the main reason for its continued popularity among Palestinians.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2014/07/30/how-israel-helped-create-hamas/
Let Israel reaps the poisonous fruit it had sowed - padan muka
Delete“Symphatizers” for defunct LTTE Freedom Fighters kena arrested and investigated. But we all must dermatologist and support Hamas and Palestine. Didn’t the Singhalese do the same to the Tamils what the Israelis supposedly did to the Palestinians? Ie RAMPAS their homeland? Circular Logic.
ReplyDeleteSinghalese (not Tamils) are the bumiputeras of Sri Lanka
DeleteAnd similarly Jews are bumis of Jerusalem. 1,000 BC, before Christianity or Islam came about.
DeleteChristians have no issue with Jerusalem being in Jewish control. Why can't Muslims accept the same. Why must rebut rebut over their THIRD most important site when they already have Kaaba, Mecca, Medinah etc. Christians are happy with Vatican etc. Jews only have Jerusalem, give to them lah, after all same God with the capital G.
DeleteTo these aneh, Sri Lanka might as well be part of the greater India!
DeleteThe Jews are the most Bumiputera of the people of the Judea.
DeleteBoth the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and Al-Aqsa Mosque were built on top of the destruction of the Temple of Solomon.
The Jews were the definitive people of Judea , before they were conquered by the Romans, who eventually became Christians, and subsequently the conquering
Arabs.
Now the Jews are back, and its going to take more than a few thousand Iranian-supplied rockets to drive them out.
wrong, according to the Bible, King David conquered the city from the Jebusites the real bumis. The Israelites were pendatangs, wakakaka
DeleteWakakakakaka…
DeleteGood one!
These know-nothing mfers r truly shamelessly parading their art of fart!
Jews refer to Torah, not Bible. And if the Jebusites show up today and make their claim for Jerusalem, ayam sure the Jews will listen. So where are they?
DeleteBible based on Torah
DeleteWhy cant Israel a model democracy in Meddle East show some compassion to the poor Palestinians . Palestinians are fellow human beings as well , their human rights , they deserved the right to a decent living .
ReplyDelete