As Israeli forces attack and invade Al Aqsa mosque on the holiest nights of the holy month, I will repeat what I have previously said about Palestine. Israel and its extreme supporters appear to be able to do anything to the Palestinian people and few in the world would care or act.  The occupied Palestinian territories and its people are supposed to be under United Nations protection as mandated territory and refugees.  Yet they have never been protected since 1948 from Israeli aggression and theft of property and land.  The people of Gaza have been under blockade for over a decade, in what has been described as an open prison.

The attack by Israeli forces and Jewish coloniser “settlers” on Al Aqsa mosque,  is not the first. How many times has it happened before since 1948? How many times have Palestinians been expelled from their own homes and Jewish coloniser “settlers” have stolen their properties from them since then? How many illegal “settlements” have been built? How many atrocities and crimes against humanity have occurred?

Muslim responses tend to be emotional and temporary. References to history, to rulers in the Muslim world, to the Quran and hadith, and Israeli crimes against humanity, have little impact. Pleas for justice fall on deaf ears. In the current global politics, the cries of the weak and powerless go unheard.

The truth is Muslim concern is temporary, reactive, and emotional. In a few weeks it will be forgotten, until the next incident and outpouring of emotions.

What each Muslim needs to ask is, how many man hours of effort did I put into defending Palestine and Al Aqsa in the last year. How many man hours did I put into organising and creating a political movement in defence of Palestine ? If the number of man hours of effort is less than that which most Christian and Jewish Zionists put into supporting and defending Israel, then there will little change to the current situation of Al Aqsa or the Palestinian people. Why should Allah (swt) grant Muslim’s success for little effort ?

Jewish Zionists although secular make their claim to Palestine and its land based on religion and history. God allegedly promised this land to them. Christian Zionists make their case for Jews and Israel based on the Bible, i.e., religion. Their efforts for the cause are organised, continuous, with religious zeal, and stretch over a century. 

They have created a support  base all over the world.  They take this cause seriously because for them it is a matter of religion as well as conviction.

Muslims and Palestinians on the other hand are held to be the religious fanatics, even though they are the only ones justifying the Palestine cause based on Palestinian rights, Israeli crimes against humanity, and international law.  

Palestine and Al Aqsa is as much a religious cause for Muslims as it is for Jews and Christians.  It is Muslim holy land too, and contains the third holiest mosque, the first Kibla of the Muslims.  It is the land of  our Prophets as well.  It is our commitment to it which appears less.  We have failed to create an organised local and global political movement in defence of  the Muslim holy land of Palestine and its sacred sites.  

The truth here in the UK,  appears to be that most Muslims put in more time fighting for, mobilising votes, and defending the Labour Party, than they do for Palestine.  We have attached our support for Palestine to the Labour Party and Left (which has committed to Zionism from its early history), instead of creating an independent Muslim led political movement for Palestine.

That is the challenge that we need to rise up to.   

Jahangir Mohammed

Co-Founder & Director | Ayaan Institute