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Answer
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Name
Myra
- United States
Profession
student
Question
There have been increasing reports that the international community is "on the side of the Palestinians." Is that true? And if so how does it differ from the last Intifadah when the international community was also "on the side of the Palestinians", but failed to come to a resolution?
Answer
I think there are clear signs that the world public opinion is becoming more enlightened about the plight of the Palestinians. The Zionist Propaganda, which in the near past managed to disinform the western world, has been dis-empowered by the exposure of Israeli atrocities before the entire world. I think the Palestinians and their supporters have grown more aware of the importance of addressing the world public opinion through the use of modern technology especially the Internet and satellite TV. It is possible to communicate to a much larger audience the truth that had in the past been obscured by one-sided coverage of events in the region. It is also noticeable that more men and women working in the western media are today willing to speak up and challenge the Zionist line of stories. We should be thankful to all such individuals and should work more so as to lobby more journalists and politicians in defense of the just cause of the Palestinians.
Name
Sara
- United States
Profession
Question
The Arab countries have finally this week agreed to have the emergency meeting that Arafat has been calling for, for weeks. Likewise the UN Security Council has also agreed to hold an emergency meeting regarding Arafat's pleas for an international observer force to be deployed to the area.
1. Do you think the observers will ever get to the Occupied Territories and
2. Will the force truly be objective or do you think the US will play a bigger role in deciding which observers get to go and
3. What will be accomplished?
Answer
We already know enough to make us disbelieve in the usefulness of such “observers”. Although the original Palestinian demand was for the deployment of international observers the Palestinian Authority has succumbed to both U.S. and Israeli authorities and has demoted the role of observers to such as the role of the CIA in the occupied territories. Few Palestinian trust the CIA as for that matter the American government, they are seen as a partner to Israel rather than an arbitrator. I think that the Arab meetings are unlikely to help improve things on the ground because this is not what the Palestinians really need. What the Palestinians do need is for the Arab governments to express support and solidarity and to help elevate the pressure of occupation by threatening both Israel and the United States with action.
Name
Mariam
- United States
Profession
Business woman
Question
Do you think that a new Oslo Accord is on the horizon...perhaps leading to more years of instability and really no resolution or do you think this will finally be the Palestinian's war of independence? I cannot image a new Intifadah having to break out every few years before a peace will finally be regarded as absolutely necessary.
Answer
Many Palestinians believe that Oslo is dead. But that doesn’t necessarily mean a reversal of every single step taken so far since 1993. But the Palestinians also believe that this struggle of theirs is a very long-term struggle. The current uprising has not been the first nor will it be the last. For a decisive victory on the side of the Palestinians will be only attainable when the balance of power is in their favor. Until then they will continue to respond to oppression and persecution with whatever expression of anger and protest they are capable of. But what is very interesting about this uprising is that it has more than ever before shown us how vulnerable Israel is. If the only thing the Palestinians learn out of this uprising that sometime in the future they will be able to liberate their homeland that would be an excellent accomplishment.
Name
Duke
-
Profession
Question
Do you believe that because of recent events that there will be an all out war and if so do you think that the Palestinians/Arabs have any chance of winning that war?
Answer
I don’t think that there will be an all out war in the short term, not even in the medium term simple because the Arab countries that neighbor Palestine are not interested in a war. The Palestinians are basically on their own. There are only two ways in which such a war would break out. The first way is when the Arab political conditions change, that is to say when Arab governments decide to step in to help the Palestinians by means of opening the borders or by means of sanctions and their supporters. The other way in which war could break out is if the Israelis decide for certain reasons to extend the current tension beyond Palestine. We heard a few weeks ago that a senior Israeli official said that Israel would attack the high dam in Aswan in Egypt. In my opinion Israeli, politicians are becoming increasingly erratic and irrational and it is not unlikely that they may consider an attack on Egypt some time in the future.
Name
Amina
- United States
Profession
Student
Question
As-Salaamu Alaikum,
What is the perspective of the average Palestinian civilian in regards to the world community's response to the tragedies occurring in the occupied territories, particularly the response of Muslims globally?
What more can we do on a daily basis that will have the greatest influence on the unfolding of events in Palestine? Particularly American Muslims; how can we best seek to have this whole affair more accurately portrayed in the eyes of non-Muslims, and to diminish the strong Israeli political influence here in the U.S.?
Answer
During the early days of the current uprising, the Palestinians under occupation as well as those in refugee camps across the borders in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan felt the solidarity expressed by their Muslim brothers and sisters around the world because various Arabic satellite stations showed footage of demonstrations staged in various western cities as well as in various Muslims cities. As the uprising went on, less of such demonstrations were arranged and although such cooling off of activities doesn’t mean a decline in support and solidarity. The images that no longer appeared on satellite stations were interpreted as a riff the Muslims became excused too soon. So what most likely needs to be done is to communicate to the Palestinians in some other ways that the Muslims around the world do care. As for what we can do in the west and particularly in America, I think our real battle is with the Media and with public opinion. Politicians in America from as high up as the President can get away with supporting Israeli atrocities, simply because the public is not interested. Had there been any sufficient interest, the President, senators, representatives and even journalist would think twice about what they think, say or do. With the availability of modern communication facilities, today’s Muslims in America can do a lot more than they could ten or twenty years ago. I suggest that in every corner where there are Muslims, clubs and units should be formed in order to monitor the media and respond to it and to devise strategies and actions in order to provide the correct information to the Public and decision makers. In the long term the Muslims need to seriously empower themselves politically. We have seen during the last election how important the Muslim vote was in deciding the results of the Presidential election.
Name
Pierre
- United States
Profession
activist
Question
There have been many reports outlining Israeli attacks on Palestinians. Why is it that these reports are given such little attention while any story about a Palestinian throwing a rock at an Israeli gets worldwide condemnation?
Answer
The answer is that the editors who are in charge are simply not impartial. I have personally heard stories from pro-Palestinian American journalist as to how pro-Israeli editors manipulate the news and obscure facts in order to make Israelis seem as the victims. Some of these pro-Palestinian journalists find it extremely difficult to have anything published. I believe that this is not an unchangeable situation; it can change if we build pressure on editors and we write to them and say that they are not being fair or objective. We need also assume that some of these editors simply believe that they are doing the right thing, perhaps some of them are willing to change their attitude if enlightened or advised.
Name
Souhaib
- Canada
Profession
Engineer
Question
What do you think about those scholars who said that it is not allowed to make Jihad nowadays because you do not have Khalifah and that what the Palestinians are doing is a suicide?
I really like to have your opinion on that and about the governments, which can be behind these scholars
Answer
The claim that you first need a Khalifah in order to make Jihad is so naive that it ends up serving the Zionist rather than the Muslims. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, told us clearly that whoever is killed defending his wealth or his honor, such a person is a martyr. If we don’t have a Khalifah today and we are attacked by an invading army, should we simply surrender and provide the invading force with the opportunity to take our land occupy our homes and kill our people? No right-minded human being would agree to this.
Name
salem
- United States
Profession
Question
I believe the Palestinian uprising is not just legitimate, justified, but a necessary result of all the pain, suffering, hardship, deaths, loss of land and homes, humiliation, torture, beating, scorning, mental physical and psychological abuse, slander, forgery of history and reality, loss between countries, unemployment, inability to marry, poverty, etc. But why is the world so sold on accepting the Zionist point of view? Why is the world against the Palestinians, Arab and Muslims? Why is the information presented so biased and pro Israeli? Has the world become cold, senseless, and unjust? It seems no matter what we do to present the true picture, the other picture prevails. It is so depressing to read or watch the news. Is it just futile to try to prove our side to the world or should we just take our matters in our own hand, depend on God, and just forget what the world thinks? I see many good writers writing, but the power seems to be in others hands. What can be done? Ina liAllah wa inna ilah raji'oon.
Answer
Well we have answered partly some of these questions. I think the best way to understand what is going on in Palestine is to go back a little in history to asses the roots of the Zionist roots. This is a project that is 100% global. The conflict in Palestine is not a regional conflict; the Muslims are struggling in a number of areas of the world for their freedom, justice, and rights. In all of these areas the conflict is regional, however in Palestine the project is a product of a desire of the Europeans and latter on the American to achieve two things. The first is to solve a problem that had been with them for centuries, that is the “Jewish Problem”, because they did not want the Jews. The second is to perpetuate the state of backwardness and division in the Muslim world so that Islam no longer poses a real challenge to the western world. In other words, the Jews in Palestine who make up the State of Israel are the spearhead of a new colonial project, a project that belongs to the western world. Therefore neither the Europeans nor the Americans are willing to support the Palestinians, simply because that would undermine their own project, which is Israel. I personally believe that Muslims should have such clarity of vision with regard to the nature of the Zionist project so as to appreciate the many hurdles and obstacles that they need to remove before they convince the world public opinion to stand by justice in Palestine. This explains why the Americans and the Europeans always talk about peace, but never mention justice. Peace means security and stability for Israel, irrespective of the condition in which the Palestinians may be left. Where as Justice means that the Jews who were exported from Russia, the Ukraine, Brooklyn, South Africa and other parts of the world should not be allowed to get away with living in the homes of the Millions of Palestinians who are living in subhuman conditions in the Refugee camps in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. Justice means that my mother’s house from which she and her family were removed when she was 16 years old in 1948 should be returned to me and my brothers and sisters.
