Assalam Alaikum … in Auschwitz

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ISLAMIC values are fixed and do not accept duplication, because this religion is based on values of tolerance and brotherhood, as per the noble verse in the Holy Quran in which Almighty Allah says, “O People, We have created you all male and female and have made you nations and tribes so that you would recognize each other. The most honorable among you in the sight of Allah is the most pious of you. Allah is All-knowing and All-aware.” (Q19:13).

In the light of the aforementioned verse, a high delegation from the Muslim World League, headed by its Secretary-General Muhammad Al-Issa, visited the Auschwitz camp in Poland where a memorial was held for the victims of the Nazi Holocaust during which nearly six million Jews were killed.

This visit highlighted the tolerance of the true religion, and also emphasized the fact that Islam is a religion of dialogue. This is completely contrary to the distorted image drawn by extremists and partisan political factions in the minds of the world.

This is like after the 1948 declaration to partition Palestine. The issue had turned into political trade with worn out slogans such as those raised by Egypt’s late president Gamal Abdel Nasser who said, “We will throw the Jews into the sea back to where they came from.”

The Palestinian leaders cheered to such a slogan and were fascinated by him, but they later discovered that it was just a “cliché” to be used to lead a coup against King Farouk. Later on, the Palestinian issue became the tool to exploit when it comes to overthrowing the Arab regimes.

At that point, the Arabs, instead of preoccupying themselves in absorbing the shock and working on liberating the Palestinians from the occupation grip, sought to feed the newly-born entity with life, either by pressuring their Jewish citizens, harassing them, accusing them of being spies, and opening the doors of immigration for them, or by raising slogans of annihilation at a time when the world was still nursing itself from the effects of Nazism including the world war in which 70 million people had perished.

There is no doubt that Muslim and Arab extremists, especially the “Brotherhood” and chauvinistic factions, benefited from Palestine’s just cause for marketing themselves and reaping supportive masses until the entire Arab world called for throwing Jews into the sea.

In reality, such slogans boosted Israel’s protection from major powers, and attracted financial and military support for it. Most important of all, it fortified Israel’s political position in the international organizations.

None of the Arabs dared to oppose such slogans, even when Gamal Abdel Nasser found himself cornered by international political realism, in what was known at the time as “Rogers Plan”. He had no option apart from accepting it, but in return he mobilized the Palestinian factions until the defeat of 1967 war which revealed the weakness of the Arab military power that was nothing more than a tool to suppress its own people.

All of this began to change with the end of the October 1973 war, and the historic achievement of President Anwar Sadat, who broke the barrier of Arab fear and made one of the most important visits to Jerusalem, which was followed by the signing of the “Camp David” agreement.

This was the outcome of Sadat’s realization of the fact that peace was the only means by which the tragedy of the Palestinian people could be brought to an end, and Israel could be confined within the borders. However, the Arabs at that time rendered Sadat as a traitor, apart from few countries that were not taken away by such zealous but unrealistic slogans.

Unfortunately, the Arabs did not realize, until later, their inability to remove Israel from existence. This country has now become a strong state, which is protected by the international community. On the other hand, the Arabs are still calling for Israel’s obliteration and the elimination of Jews.

While Israel has been busy developing its scientific centers and laboratories for its industries, and cementing its feet in the world, the Arabs were getting weaker and fragmented.

After the coup against the Shah, the neo-authority in Iran adopted the “liberation of Jerusalem” as its slogan, and worked to exploit the gullible and weak souls in carrying out its expansion plan under that slogan. Given that it did not fire a single bullet at the Israeli enemy, it was stirring sectarian strife and internal wars in the Arab world.

This fact was evident in the minds of the Qatari decision-maker in the 1990s when Doha took a courageous step in establishing relations with Israel, followed by the Sultanate of Oman. They demonstrated the fact that peace in the Middle East requires such kind of powerful steps, especially since all Arab initiatives for reconciliation were sinking into dealings and the game of personal interests.

In the meantime, the Arabs began to wake up from the delusions of eliminating Israel, and realized that hostility towards the Jews is the product of extremist factions, and has nothing to do with the true religion.

Today, when the Secretary-General of the Muslim World League stands at Auschwitz camp and says, “In Poland, we affirm our extreme criminalization of these brutal atrocities, whoever the culprits or the victims. Islam is a religion of justice with fixed values that do not hold double standards,” he is being on point in terms of the true Islamic message.

He speaks on behalf of all Muslims – both Sunnis and Shiites, while those who trade with the Palestinian issue absurdly say, “Qasim Soleimani is the martyr of Jerusalem.” They are neither Palestinians nor Arabs, and they do not want the Palestinian tragedy to end.

By Ahmed Al-Jarallah

Editor-in-Chief, the Arab Times

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