RE: THE ONGOING CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY IN PALESTINE
The following is a statement from the Imams representing the Charlotte Metropolitan Muslim community.
What is happening now in Palestine under Israeli Apartheid occupation is not a matter of two sides somehow equally “clashing”. It is more of the ongoing criminal occupation and ethnic cleansing that has been going on since the establishment of the state of Israel in Palestine in 1948. Anyone who looks at UN resolutions against nations will find Israel stands alone far above any other as the world’s top state criminal with the world almost unanimously agreeing on each one. Unfortunately, they are not held accountable because of the US veto. Human Rights Watch is perhaps the most influential organization in Washington to influence policy. Just last month they published a scathing 200 page report highlighting the crimes of Israeli Apartheid.
The source of the current turmoil is the mass evictions of Palestinians from their homes in the town of Shaikh Jarrah in order to give said homes to Jewish settlers. Al-Aqsa mosque is one of the 3 most sacred places on Earth for Muslims. The Israeli police stormed the mosque attacking worshippers in the middle of Ramadan in order suppress peaceful Palestinian protests and set a strong statement ahead of the planned Jewish nationalist Jerusalem day Israeli flag waving parade.
It is an affront to the ethics of journalism that so often we hear of the Palestinian response as the origin of the problem considering that from day one Israel was formed in Palestine based on massacres, forced exile, and the theft of land culminating in the establishment of an apartheid state.
As Americans, we join our Jewish brothers and sisters among orthodox and reform communities in educating our elected representatives about the Zionist lobby that falsely claims to equate Judaism and Zionism while supporting Democracy in the Middle East. This massive lie has supported policies which are counter-intuitive to democratic values with billions of American tax payer’s income. This is perhaps the single most hypocritical policy of American governance and it must stop now.
Imam Khalil Akbar (Masjid Ash-Shaheed)
Imam Bassam Obeid (ICC)
Imam John Ederer (MCC)
Imam Atif Chaudhry (ISGC)
Imam Abdurehman Khan (MEC)
For any questions please contact Khalid Hijazi from the Palestinian American Community of Charlotte at 704-408-3041.
