I had trouble uploading this youtube to the blog, so please click on the link below to view it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNjggLhQo6w
Prophet Muhammad, upon him peace and blessings, said we should fast on the 9th and 10th of the month of Muharam of the Islamic calendar (which falls on January 6th and 7th in 2009) in celebration of the Israelites' release and freedom from the Pharaoh's tyrannical rule. This is also the time that Prophet Muhammad's grandson Imam Hussein was martyred for standing up against the tyrannical Yazid.

It was taught in our Islamic tradition that "Whoever takes a life except for one who takes a life or for grave trangression, it is as if he killed all of mankind, and whoever saves an innocent life, he saves all of mankind." So Islam clearly teaches that targeting of civilians (including using rockets and suicide bombings) not only harms the cause of the Palestinians - it's immoral.

Having made this clear, it is important to add that standing up to tyranny is a REQUIREMENT in Islam. There is an Arab proverb that says, "What made you, O Pharoah?" Pharoah replied: "I didn't find anyone to tell me stop." Silence and sycophancy are the building blocks of tyranny. Moses, upon him peace was asked to speak to Pharoah. Imam Hussein spoke up against the tyranny of Yazid. And people of conscience all over the world, including Jews, must speak up against the tyranny of the Israeli government. Tell them stop, not in my name, not with my money, not with my support.

I have family with home demolition orders, family that were killed by Israeli missiles, family that were in the Ibrahimi Mosque and survived the massacre by Baruch Goldstein. I have family who are suffering settler brutality, curefews, land confiscation, ID confication, soldier brutality, etc., This is not a moral fight for me, but one that hits home. At times, it is hard to call family. How do I comfort them? What do I say to my nephew, Abdel Wadood who became a doctor and tells me it is useless, as he cannot travel with all the checkpoints and those that he helps cannot afford to pay. What do I tell my sister-in-law, Eman who is battling with Israeli courts home demolition orders? What about my other sister-in-law, Zahera whose family land was confiscated to build a bypass road to connect illegal Israeli settlements to Israel proper? How do I tell their stories to a people that cannot relate to this inhumane experience and oppression? How do they fight and defend themselves, their property, and their basic human rights? These practices are illegal and not open to negotiation. Why do we accept them? Who will hold Israel accountable to the law? what words and in what tone do my family need to speak in - for you to understand occupation and dispossession is wrong? At times, I get so angry and all I can do is yell irrationally. At times, I don't know how to control the turmoil of emotions of pain and suffering brewing within. I tell myself I have to be calm to be heard, but I fall many times trying to be calm and tell their story. How do I remain calm while telling a story of a people that have been denied justice and their experiences invalidated for decades to a people that cannot relate and yet are the main financial support?

I want you to seek to understand the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at its roots. There is a simple document by Jews for Justice on the Origin of the Conflict. See: http://www.cactus48.com/truth.html

"As the periodic bloodshed continues in the Middle East, the search for an equitable solution must come to grips with the root cause of the conflict. The conventional wisdom is that, even if both sides are at fault, the Palestinians are irrational 'terrorists' who have no point of view worth listening to. Our position, however, is that the Palestinians have a real grievance: their homeland for over a thousand years was taken, without their consent and mostly by force, during the creation of the state of Israel. And all subsequent crimes - on both sides - inevitably follow from this original injustice."

After 17 years of peace negotiations and most Palestinians recognizing Israel's right to exist on 78% of Palestine - Israel responded by gradually continuing its expansionist policies, using the peace process to buy time and—in the words of Israel's former Deputy Minister of Defense, Matan Vilnai — pursuing a "shoah" or holocaust to punish Palestinians for resisting its policies. The peace negotiations never brought any of these to an end. There were always hoops for Palestinians to jump through to earn their basic human rights, while Israel continued with its policies as usual.

Some will argue, "But Israel left Gaza." Yeah, it did. But not in good faith. It did not leave Gaza and end the occupation allowing Gaza to function like any state does. It turned Gaza into an open air prison and besieged it -- punishing 1.5 million Palestinians with starvation and denying them their very human rights we take for granted.

Please read...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/johann-hari/the-true-story-behind-thi_b_153825.html
"The Israeli government did indeed withdraw from the Gaza Strip in 2005 - in order to be able to intensify control of the West Bank. Ariel Sharon's senior advisor Dov Weisglass was unequivocal about this, explaining: 'The disengagement [from Gaza] is actually formaldehyde. It supplies the amount of formaldehyde that's necessary so that there will not be a political process with the Palestinians… Effectively, this whole package that is called the Palestinian state has been removed from our agenda indefinitely.'"

To the Israeli government and its supporters, I have this message for you.

You claim you are bombing the Gaza Strip to stop terrorists and in self-defense. On the day Prophet Moses was born, upon him peace - it was prophecied to Pharoah, one that will be an enemy to him will be born. So in self-defense, Pharoah passed a law which showed as much mercy and compassion to your ancestors as you are showing to the Palestinians today. Overlooking his oppression of the Israelites and their enslavement in the land, he rationalized like you it was a reasonable self-defense to kill every other male newborn. Like you, Pharoah claimed his enemy was in the midst of civilians so he had no choice. Like you, he cried security for himself only and showed no concern or compassion toward the security of those he oppressed. That is the road of tyranny.
Please read
Israel's 'victories' in Gaza come at a steep price
by Sara Roy
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0102/p09s01-coop.html
"As Jews celebrated the last night of Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights commemorating our resurgence as a people, I asked myself: How am I to celebrate my Jewishness while Palestinians are being killed?

The religious scholar Marc Ellis challenges us further by asking whether the Jewish covenant with God is present or absent in the face of Jewish oppression of Palestinians? Is the Jewish ethical tradition still available to us? Is the promise of holiness – so central to our existence – now beyond our ability to reclaim?
...
And what will happen to Jews as a people whether we live in Israel or not? Why have we been unable to accept the fundamental humanity of Palestinians and include them within our moral boundaries? Rather, we reject any human connection with the people we are oppressing. Ultimately, our goal is to tribalize pain, narrowing the scope."
To the President, Senators and members of Congress, I end with this message to you.
Two thousand years ago Jesus, upon him peace, came to teach us a lesson. The lesson was that the divine law is not meant for the strong to violate nine-tenths of the law and to condemn without any mercy or compassion the weak that violate one-tenth of the law. The divine law has a spirit. It is mercy and compassion. It maybe the weak who are violating the law, can argue before God, that we resorted to these means not to disobey you, but to survive - for society did not allow us to survive without them. Jesus, upon him peace did not negate the Mosaic Law of stoning the prostitute, but he breathed into its spirit.

"Let those who are sinless throw the first stone."

In that spirit, I would argue the prostitute of two thousand years ago is the terrorist of today. This does not mean we accept terrorism as Jesus, upon him peace did not accept prostitution. But it means we cannot nurture the environment that breeds them and then bombard them with missiles or stone them to death, overlooking our own grave sins. No one comes from their mother's womb saying they want to be a prostitute or terrorist when they grow up.

Be people of conscience. Speak up against tyranny like Moses and Jesus, upon them be peace.