Page 14 - North Star 2024

2 Source: Truthout 3 Source: Reuters
The sheer power of this image cannot be overstated. If this were a work of fiction-- which, believe me, every Gazan there wishes it was-- the symbolism would be criticized as too heavy handed. These people, whose homes had been eviscerated and families torn apart and entire cultural identities trampled upon, remain steadfast in prayer next to the remnants of their communities. Their houses of worship, bombed to dust, still provide the shade and comfort in which they practice their faith. The airstrikes had, aer all, missed their true target. They had flattened homes and schools, but the Palestinian spirit lived on.
"The whole land is the land of God, so we can pray anywhere,” said Abu Jehad, a lawyer who had been forced to flee his home due to the occupation. “The occupation can't deprive us of that.”
Even outside Gaza, the Muslims of the region congregated for prayer in an active display of resistance and protest. In Jerusalem, about 100,000 Muslims arrived at the Al-Aqsa mosque for prayer. On a usual year, only about half this number would have shown up at this mosque, which is the third holiest site in Islam. But this was no usual year. In an act of defiance against violent threats and military occupation, worshippers gathered to show their spirit and togetherness, according to Mamoun Abasi, a Palestine Red Crescent Society spokesman. Police forces of the occupying government attacked the worshippers with tear gas, stun grenades, and rubber bullets, injuring more than 600, but the prayers continued.
Apart from prayer itself, the people of Gaza have refused to cast aside the cultural customs