Al Aqsa and Palestine issue
The significance of Al Aqsa and Jerusalem in Muslim world:
> It is the third holiest mosque of Islam after Masjid Al Haram and Masjid Al Nabwi.
> A prayer in Al-Aqsa Sanctuary is worth 500 times more reward than anywhere else.
> Al Aqsa and Al Haram are the only two mosques mentioned specifically by name in the Qur'an.
> Jerusalem was the first Qibla (direction of prayer) before the Kaaba.
> Al Aqsa is the mosque where Prophet ﷺ led all the other Prophets in prayer during his night journey.
Succinct description of history and aftermath:
Trump administration announced that America no longer considered Israeli settlements in the West Bank to be in violation of international law.
It was a 180-degree turn in how US’ foreign policy has usually viewed the 70-year conflict between Israel and Palestine. While it had earlier concluded that Israeli settlements in West Bank were “illegitimate”.
The were many precursors about the formation of Jewish state but Balfour Declaration was a turning point. It was a public pledge by Britain in 1917 declaring its aim to establish “a national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine.
United Nations proposed an Arab-Jewish partition of Palestine — between Palestine and the new state of Israel. This partition plan mandated 53 per cent of the land to the Jewish-majority state (Israel) and 47 per cent to the Palestinian-majority state (Palestine). By the end of the war in 1949, Israel had taken up 78 per cent of the historical Palestine.
West Bank and Gaza Strip are home to a large number of Palestinian populations which are under Israeli occupation since Arab-Israel , six day war of 1967. The consistent conflict resulted in two Intifada (uprising) against the Israeli occupation.
Why the creation of Israel was problematic?
The creation of Israel was a violent process that entailed the forced expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homeland to establish a Jewish-majority state, as per the aspirations of the Zionist movement. The Nakba, or “catastrophe”, referring to the ethnic cleansing of Palestine was the near-total destruction of Palestinian society in 1948. Around 530 villages were ravaged and more the 750k people displaced.
In words of Edward Said, “made by a European power … about a non-European territory … in a flat disregard of both the presence and wishes of the native majority resident in that territory”.
The partition plan was a disaster created by Britain and United Nations. It stripped the native Palestinians which were more than 90% before the occupation, of their nativism. However,the traditional Jews strict adherence to halakha (Jewish law) and traditions, opposes Zionism and calls for the peaceful dismantling of the state of Israel.
Below are some useful articles for further reading :
Balfour Declaration :
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.aljazeera.com/amp/features/2018/11/2/more-than-a-century-on-the-balfour-declaration-explained
Nakba and Annexation of Palestine:
https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2017/05/23/the-nakba-did-not-start-or-end-in-1948/
Gaza strip:
https://www.britannica.com/place/Gaza-Strip
Western wall:
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Western-Wall
Virtues of Masjid Al Aqsa:
https://www.visitmasjidalaqsa.com/hadith-on-masjid-al-aqsa/
Palestinian Intifada:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/9/28/palestinian-intifada-20-years-later-israeli-occupation-continues
Human Rights report on Israeli occupation:
https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2020/country-chapters/israel/palestine#
Amnesty international report:
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