🇵🇸Talking to kids about Palestine (Part 2)

A simple explanation of the Israeli occupation of Palestine (for kids).

(I first wrote this as a post on Instagram a few years ago during the attempted expulsion of the Al Kurd family from their home in Sheikh Jarrah in Jerusalem. As we witness the genocide occurring in Gaza in 2023, this post is as relevant now as it was then. I have updated it to include info about Oct 7th and the subsequent genocide).

HISTORY OF PALESTINE

Palestine is a land that is very important to many different people. 

Muslims, Jews and Christians all have a historical connection with Palestine and Jerusalem. 

Palestine has been the home of most of the prophets (a.s - peace be upon them) and was the home of Prophet Ibrahim (a.s) (Abraham) too. It was the land to which the people of Moosa (a.s) (Moses) fled and it was the seat of the Prophet Dawud (a.s) (David) and his son the Prophet Sulayman (a.s) (Solomon) - who are revered by Jewish People . 

Maryam a.s. (Mary) also lived there and it was in Palestine that Jibraeel (a.s) (the Archangel Gabriel) visited her to blow into her the soul of Isa (a.s) (Jesus) and where Isa (a.s)/Jesus - who Christians follow - was born.  

The land is special to Muslims because of all these prophets and also because the Prophet Muhammed (SAW) had a connection with it too (for more on this see Part 1 of Talking to Kids about Palestine).

Over the last few centuries, different groups (Jews, Christians,Muslims) have ruled over Palestine at different times. The last rulers were the Ottomans. 

When the Ottoman Empire broke apart just over a hundred years ago at the end of World War 1, Palestine governed itself and Muslims, Christians and Jews lived there peacefully.

Britain considered Palestine to be a "mandate" of Britain - a mandate is a territory that would be temporarily governed and then become independent. 

Then there was a war in Europe (World War II) where Jews were being attacked and killed. They fled from Europe and at the end of the war and the British and French governments decided that they would "give" the land of Palestine to the Jews who had to leave Europe.  Before then there was a movement called "Zionism" which wanted to claim a Jewish Homeland for Jews in the land of Palestine.  The Zionist Jews were happy because they had wanted Palestine as a homeland and felt they had a right to it because of their religious connection to the land. 

But the problem was that the British, the French or the UN didn't own the land of Palestine. They considered it a mandate but it wasn't theirs to give away, it belonged to the people who lived in Palestine. Despite this, the land was given to the Zionists who declared the state of Israel - a Jewish state.

When they formed the state of Israel, the Zionists violently forced many Palestinians out of their homes and killed many Palestinians as well. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forced out of Palestine and forced to take refuge in other countries. This incident is called the nakba.

The Palestinians were given small areas of scattered land which was to remain "Palestine" (Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which included Al Aqsa Mosque) . They were given less land than was given to the Zionist Jews. 

Palestinians were now not allowed to move around freely in their own land without permission from the invaders. 

They were not allowed to participate in the government. 

Over time, more and more of their land has been stolen or taken control of by the Israelis. Even the land that is supposed to be controlled only by them. 

The Zionists set up a legal system which made Palestinians inferior citizens and Israelis superior citizens. 

The Palestinians live under an oppressive system called APARTHEID. 

With the help of countries like Britain and the USA, Israel established a strong army and they use soldiers and guns and bombs to subdue the Palestinians. Israel also locks up Palestinians, including many children, in prison for no reason and treats them very badly. 

When the Palestinians try to defend themselves or their land they are labelled as terrorists. 

The United Nations has passed many resolutions which say that Israel is breaking international law but Israel ignores the United Nations, and some countries, among them the USA, Britain and France, keep protecting Israel.

The Palestinians try to defend their homes, their land and their people and because of this the Israeli occupiers have attacked them and the Al Aqsa Masjid, including people who were only praying peacefully inside it. Israeli soldiers often attack Al Aqsa during the holy month of Ramadan when there are many people praying there. 

There have been certain Palestinian groups that have formed over the years, to try to defend the Palestinians and resist the oppression that is done to them. The Israelis consider these groups to be terrorists because they claim these groups attack Israel. Palestinians consider these groups to be freedom fighters because they are defending Palestinian land, resisting occupation and fighting for their freedom. 

WHAT IS HAPPENING NOW IN 2023

On 7 October 2023, one of these Palestinian resistance groups managed to break into an Israeli settlement (an illegal settlement that was built on Palestinian land, trying to steal more Palestinian land).

This group claims it intended to attack military targets and take hostages so that Israel would release the thousands of Palestinians that Israel has kidnapped and keeps in jails unlawfully. But when the Israeli soldiers arrived, they opened up fire and dropped bombs and a number of Israeli civilians were killed as well. The total amount of deaths on 7 October in this illegal settlement was around 1200, including soldiers and civilians (non-soldiers). 

Israel first lied about the number of deaths that occurred on 7 October, and they also lied about things that happened, like babies being killed. Later we have learnt that these things are not true. When a government lies about things to get people on it's side, we call it propaganda. The Israeli government releases propaganda regularly to try to make people think that Israel is the victim. 

Israel used the event on  7 October as an excuse to attack Palestinians in Gaza by claiming they have a right to "defend" themselves (when, legally, under International Law, they do not have this right). Israel claims that it wants to find "terrorists" but instead they are dropping hundreds of bombs on innocent people, mostly children. At least 20 000 Palestinians have been killed, most of them young children.  Israel is trying to either kill the Palestinians in Gaza or make them leave Gaza. Their leaders have made statements about "emptying out Gaza" and "flattening Gaza". 

Many experts say that, judging by their actions and also by the statements of their leaders, what Israel is doing is "genocide " - genocide is when someone tries to completely kill or eradicate an entire people or culture. 

Despite what Israel is doing, they have not managed to eradicate the Palestinian resistance. The Palestinians have firm faith in Allah (God) and they turn to Him and praise Him even when their families are killed and they are forced to flee their homes.

We know from what the Prophet SAW has said, that one day, Palestine will be free - in fact, Isa a.s. (Jesus) will come to free Palestine himself! 

In the meantime, we should keep our faith as strong as the Palestinians and help them in whatever way we can. There are some things we can do to help them.

WHAT WE CAN DO TO HELP PALESTINIANS:

1) Make dua for them as much as we can;

2) Work on being the best Muslims we can, so that Allah SWT accepts our duas;

3) Boycotting (not buy from) companies that are Israeli or companies that support Israel (this may mean that we have to make sacrifices but inshallah God will reward us even better than what we sacrifice);

4) Educate people about Palestine, and raise our voices and tell people what is happening there;

5) Visit Al Aqsa to show our support to the Palestinians.