Misconceptions about the Palestine-Israel matter

Ever since the occupation of Palestinian land by Israeli Jews, and the proclamation of Israel as an independent state in May 1948, fabrications, misconceptions, blurred and twisted facts about the matter, have been a prominent part of history. These factors have always been one of the greatest weapons of the oppressors against justice and freedom of Palestinians, and they exist in the current time as well, in an even more powerful and intense form! We’re living in an era of modernization and technology, so these misconceptions spread even faster in the present time while hiding the facts from the whole world. It has become very difficult to separate the facts from the myths and fabrications these days! The only way to prevent the repression and burial of truth under the myths is to have awareness and also to generate that awareness among others.

Talking about the oppression, and occupation of Palestinians by Israel, it has always been a target of misinformation and fabrication. Israel and its ally nations have always tried their best to hide Israeli barbarianism from the world and to give it the name of a *war/conflict* between two groups on a piece of land. These myths need to be addressed and cleared up so that everyone can have a clearer view of the situation and can stand up and speak for the rights of Palestinians.

Here, we will have a look at some of the most prominent misconceptions about the Palestine-Israel matter.

• It is a war/conflict between two nations on a piece of land:

The global media is naming it as a war between Palestine and Israel on the possession of the land of Jerusalem, Gaza, and the West Bank of Palestine. This is not only causing the oppression on Palestinians to be hidden, but also justifying the attacks of Israel on Gaza, the massacre of innocent Palestinians, and the barbaric treatment of Israeli forces even with children and women. The situation has caused a huge number of the world population to believe that Israel and Palestine are fighting each other, with equal military assets and force. Whereas, Palestine doesn’t even have its army or any other military assets to fight Israelis, who on the other hand have countless ammunition, forces, and even nuclear weapons If we look back at the history of Israel, we find it clear that they only aimed at occupying the whole land of Palestine, through their settler colonial and Zionist schemes. They wanted to drive the Palestinians out of their very own land and establish a pure Jewish state there, to justify their claims of the possession of the Palestinian land. Israelis have always unfairly used the Balfour declaration, the relationship of Jewish religion with Jerusalem, and the defensiveness of Arabs for Palestine, to claim their ownership of Palestine.
David ben gurion, Israel’s first Prime Minister himself said that if they want 100% Hebrew redemption, then they must have 100% Hebrew settlement, 100% Hebrew farms and 100% Hebrew port.
The above-mentioned statement is the biggest proof of the pure settler colonial and cruel intentions of Israelis towards Palestinians. Moreover, it is noteworthy that their racial ideology not only targets a specific religion, but all Palestinians. So, it’s not about a conflict between two nations on a piece of land, but the brutal attempts of Israel to occupy Palestine, through the bloodshed of innocent Palestinians. The truth is, that Israel is forcefully occupying Palestine, by evicting the locals out of their homes and displacing them. They are oppressing Palestinians in every possible way and violating even their basic human rights, by continuous land attacks and airstrikes on innocent Palestinians.

• Israel is *defending* itself:

Nowadays, we see a lot of people on global mass media, and social media, terming the violence of Israel as self-defense against the Palestinian attacks. This misconception is completely diminishing the picture of innocent Palestinians as the victims of Israeli oppression and is instead, portraying the violent Israelis as the self-defensive group. The truth is that Palestinians have always been helpless against Israelis and have always been subject to Israel’s brutality for decades. The death toll in Gaza, alone in the past 8 days has reached 213, including 61 children, 36 women, and 1442 injuries as well. We can clearly see that Israel isn’t defending itself but attacking Palestinians just to occupy the whole land, at any cost.

• Palestine and Palestinians never actually existed:

We all have seen Israel and its supporters claim that Palestine never actually existed, and Palestinians were merely a bunch of Arabs living on the land. Illan Pappe, who himself is an expatriate Israeli historian and activist, demonstrates that Palestine had its own unique Arabic-Palestinian dialect, traditions, and folklore that is quite evident from history. So, just as the other Arab nations, the Arabic origin of Palestinians doesn’t invalidate/negate their own identity/existence as Palestinians. Also, theoretically and justly, Palestine includes the West Bank (an area that sits between the present Israel and Jordan), including East Jerusalem (Sheikh Jarrah) and the Gaza strip (which has its borders with Israel and Egypt). These territories have been forcefully occupied by Israel. So, we know that Palestine belongs to Palestinians.

• This is a war between Israel and Hamas:

One of the major misconceptions about the matter is that it is a war between Hamas and Israel only! This is not only causing the removal of Palestinian organizations and other liberation movements from the surfaced picture but is also utilizing a passive voice for Palestinian victims, hiding up the historical contexts and facts. Prominent Palestinian journalists have described how the forceful eviction of Palestinians from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah, follows the patterns of settler colonialism of the Jews in Israel. The ongoing situation in Sheikh Jarrah is part of the years-long scheme of Israeli settlers to occupy Jerusalem by evicting Palestinians from their own land because Sheikh Jarrah has great relevance to Jerusalem. Israel continues to take control of Palestine by practicing the worst kind of violence on Palestinians. So, it is evident that this is not a war between Israel and Hamas, but the occupation plan of Israel, and Hamas is only making possible efforts to defend Palestine.

• Zionism is Judaism:

Another misconception regarding the matter is that all Jews are in favor of the Israeli state, and Zionism and Judaism are the same. History shows prominent Jews who have been vocal against the violence of Israel, such as Felicia Langer, who was a Holocaust survivor. She always defended the Palestinian detainees and criticized the Israeli government and military forces, through her books. Many Jewish groups like some of the ultra-orthodox groups have always rejected Zionism very clearly. Zionism is a colonial ideology endeavored towards the total wipeout of Palestinians from their homeland. Zionists not only target Muslims, Christians, but also those Jews having Arab roots. A prominent Zionist thinker, Ahad Ha’am once said:

“The Jewish settlers treat the Arabs with hostility and cruelty, trespass unjustly, beat them shamelessly for no sufficient reason and even take pride in doing so”

Even today, we’re witnessing the above-mentioned statement being implemented practically, and the same treatment being done with Palestinians!

• The portrayal of the Dome of the Rock as Al-Aqsa Mosque by the media:

We see that whenever something is mentioned on the mass media, regarding the ongoing situation at Al-Aqsa mosque, they show the picture of the Dome of the Rock (Qubbat as Sukhra), instead of Al-Aqsa mosque. This has caused many Muslims to believe that the golden dome is the Al-Aqsa Mosque. This is a planned controversy of the Israeli supporters to keep the Muslims unaware if they do any damage to the Al-Aqsa mosque. As many people have been misinformed, so the Muslims won’t even know if their 3^rd Holiest site, their Qibla e Awwal is being damaged (God forbid).

Amidst all these misconceptions and fabricated stories being spread among people to hide the oppression on Palestinians and the heinous acts of Israel, we as Muslims, should generate awareness in the world regarding this matter. We should prevent the repression of truth by sharing the facts everywhere possible. It is our duty as Muslims, to protect the Holy land of Palestine, which currently can be facilitated by creating awareness in the world, by standing up and speaking up for the rights and freedom of Palestinians, and by preventing the spread of these misconceptions and myths! We must stay informed and aware so that we can cultivate awareness among others too. Palestinians have been subject to Israeli oppression for the last 80 years, which has left them completely traumatized. It’s high time that we wake up and stand firm in the support of our Palestinian brethren, and make all possible efforts to help them, in all possible ways.

May Allah SWT grant freedom to Palestine soon, Ameen!

نَصْرٌ مِّنَ اللَّـهِ وَفَتْحٌ قَرِيبٌ  (Surah as-Saff 61: 13)