DOHA,
May 12, 2006 (IslamOnline.net) – Muslim scholars wrapped up a
two-day conference in Doha on Thursday, May 11, saying it is a duty on
all Muslims to help the Palestinians, hard hit by aid freeze by the
West since the Hamas-led government came to power.
"Muslim
peoples everywhere must help the Palestinians by all means,"
according to the final communiqué of the Doha conference held in
support of the Palestinian people.
"Muslims
must offer all means of financial assistance to their fellow ones in
Palestine to help them overcome their financial crunch and render
plans to mitigate their sufferings a success."
The
Palestinians have been facing serious shortages of food and medicine
since the US and the EU suspended direct aid to the Hamas-led
government.
Israel
has further stopped transferring customs duties worth around $50
million a month and previously collected for the Palestinian
Authority.
The
two-day conference opened in the Qatari capital Doha on Wednesday, May
10, at an initiative from prominent Muslim scholar Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi,
President of the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS).
It
was attended by a cohort of Muslim scholars including renowned Saudi
scholar Sheikh Salman Al-Odah and Harith al-Dari, chairman of Iraq's
Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS).
A
number of Palestinian leaders also attended including Hamas's Khaled
Meshaal.
Banks
Role
 |
|
Qaradawi said it was permissible for Muslims to pay the Zakah money to the Palestinians to help them in their current crisis.
|
The
communiqué urged the Arab banks to help transfer funds and donations
to the Palestinians.
"Banks
must stand up to their duties and avoid being used by the enemies and
fail the Palestinian people," it said.
During
their opening session, Muslim scholars threatened to rally world
Muslims to boycott countries and banks blocking aid to the starving
Palestinian people.
Several
banks have refused to transfer millions of dollars donated by Arabs
and Muslims or some governments to the Palestinian Authority fearing
American sanctions.
The
Arab Bank, which holds some 30,000 accounts of PA workers, refrained
from accepting such transfer after the US threatened to deem this as
assistance to Hamas.
Strikes
The
statement further urged Muslim peoples to stage rallies and strikes to
pressure their governments to support the Palestinians.
"These
rallies will be used to pressure governments falling short of
supporting the Palestinians to live up to their responsibilities and
stop all attempts to normalize with the Zionist entity."
It
also warned that failure of the "reform process in Palestine
would push the Muslim peoples to resort to violence to introduce
reforms".
The
statement also called on the Palestinian presidency to cooperate with
the Hamas-led government as it was freely elected by the Palestinian
people.
Qatari
Campaign
Sheikh
Qaradawi unveiled during the closing session a grassroots aid campaign
that will be launched in Qatar within days.
The
prominent scholar also said that it was permissible for Muslims to pay
the Zakah money to the Palestinians to help them in their current
crisis.
Zakah
is obligatory amounts of money that rich Muslims pay to the poor
Many
donation campaigns have been organized in many Arab and Muslim
countries to help the Palestinians in their current distress.
The
Arab Doctors Union launched on May 5 in Cairo an ambitious campaign
throughout the Arab world to raise one billion euros for the
Palestinians.
The
UN agency for Palestinian refugees warned on Friday, May 5, that a
humanitarian crisis was now "on our doorstep" in the Gaza
Strip due to the aid freeze.
