Page 11 - North Star 2024

Religion has become an inextricable part of this hellish conflict. It has been weaponized, used wrongly to spread hate and propaganda and justify bloodshed. It has been targeted, with houses of worship desecrated and reduced to rubble– sometimes with worshipers still inside. It has been erased, with the existence of Palestinian Christians and non-Muslims frequently (and deliberately) ignored to paint all of Gaza as a monolithic, homogenous nest of Islamist fanatics. But it has also served as a beacon of hope. Muslim countries across the world have led the charge in advocating for their ummah in Palestine. Christians, Jews, and non-Muslims of all backgrounds have invoked their religion to support Gazans and rally their communities, speaking to the true oneness of all humans regardless of faith. Palestinians in Gaza have continued praying, worshiping, and celebrating, expressing their faith as a form of unshakeable resistance against the violence that surrounds them.
As the Palestinian soul continues to endure in the face of massacre, famine, and brutalization, it has become a moral responsibility – and truly the least one can do – to explore and appreciate the spiritual fortitude we are witnessing in Gaza.
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Islam has always been an intractable element of the Palestinian movement for self determination. Ever since the mid-20th century, some of the loudest voices for this campaign have belonged to Muslim leaders, writers, and thinkers. Even in the Western world, activism for Palestine has been largely pushed forward by Muslim icons such as Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X, who enmeshed the Palestinian cause with their Islamic values as well as the Black civil rights movement of the 60s and 70s. This intersectionality, which was based on shared goals of social democracy and anti-colonialism, is what brought other Black leaders such as Angela Davis, Toni Morrison, and James Baldwin into the movement for Palestine. The Institute of Arab American Affairs, started in 1944, also helped bring this cause to the forefront of the national consciousness through the efforts of Muslim diplomats and representatives.
Palestine is a historically and culturally Islamic land, having been shaped by its people’s Muslim identity for centuries. Gaza’s population is 99% Muslim, and religion has played a pivotal role in the region’s politics, governance, and ways of life. The Palestinian liberation and nationalist movements have long invoked Islamic principles, rallying its people around a central religious identity that has long been attacked, misrepresented, and outright suppressed by occupying forces.