Quds: a Story of Faith and Resistance
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
EDITOR’S NOTE QUDS: A STORY OF FAITH AND RESISTANCE ment with the help of their ties with the present and Peace is just not the absence of violence but presence of justice past Israel governments have been successful in such too - Martin Luther King efforts.This, when added to the reality that majority of Palestinians cannot reach the site because of the move- In May 2017 UNESCO, the sociocultural body of the United ment restrictions imposed by Israel in the West Bank Nations passed a resolution reaffirming that East Jerusalem and Gaza, gives the hardcore image of the Israeli prop- was occupied and illegal practices by Israel were threatening aganda. historical and cultural sites. This was with reference to the cable car project by the Israeli government which provides On the other side, for the Palestinians, it is much more more access to the East Jerusalem, where Masjid Al Aqsa and than a Muslim issue. For them, it is rather an issue of Temple Mount, places of immense religious importance to faith and dignity of Palestinians. This can be seen in Muslims and Jews respectively is situated which is now man- the protests against the recent restrictions at Masjid Al aged by Jordan authorities. Aqsa.Christians joined Muslims on the protests and took part in the namaz outside the Israeli restrictions. The resolution when assumes importance when taking into The recent protests, experts in the West Asian studies considerations the recent developments in the region. The could be seen as the rise of a third Intifada. Some are Israeli administration is trying to restrict the entry of Pal- of the opinion that it has already begun. Be it or not, estinians into the masjid citing unsustaining justifications Palestinians are writing a unique history of faith and and conditions. On the other hand, it continuously trying to resistance unequal in the annals of the past. provide unlimited entry to Israelis with extreme nationalist ideologies who believe in and strive for the demolition of the Afsal Rahman C A masjid, the third most divine structure for Muslims around the globe after Makkah and Madina.This can be seen as a part of the master plan for a step by step Judaisation of the region.The Israeli administration has imposed budgetary pressures to impose restrictions on the Palestinians entering the site.The Temple Mount and Land of Israel Faithful Move- Chief Editor Jaseem PP Annual Subscription: Rs. 160.00 I Habeeb Haris on behalf of Student Islamic Organisation of India A P Zone. Printer Each Copy : Rs. 15.00 Publisher & Editor Mohd Salimullah Khan. Printed at Bharat Ofset 2034/35 Qa- Assistant Editor sim Jan Street, Delhi-110006, Published from D-300 (Old 230) Abul Fazal Enclave, DD/Cheque In the favour of Afsal Rahman CA Jamia Nagar, Okhla New Delhi-110 025. The opinions expressed in the columns of THE COMPAN ION, New Delhi-25 THE COMPANION contain positions and viewpoints that are not necessarily those Manager of editorial board or the Students Islamic Organisation of India. These are ofered D-300 Abul Fazal Enclave, Bilal Khan as a means for SIO to stimulate dialogue and discussion in our continuing mission Jamia Nagar Okhla New Delhi-25 of being a student and youth organisation. Layout Design Tel : 011-26949817. Fax 26946285 Ibnas Ahmed M Mobile : +91 8447622919 Total number of pages is 36 with cover pages. Email : [email protected] Cover Design The contents under this magazine are licensed under CC-BY-NC-SA (unless stated otherwise) which means you’re free to copy and share them (but not to sell them) Thwaha AP The Companion | September 2017 03a This issue Vol 39/ Issue 04/ September / 2017 / Rs: 15/- ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ The Question of Palestine and significance of solidarity at present PAGE 08 / COVER STORY / Hishamul Wahab ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ PAGE 05 / COVER STORY PAGE 11 / COVER STORY The Palestine Problem- ................................................................................................................................................................................. Gender Justice In Anti BDS Legislations and Islam : Debunking Right to Boycot Myths & Stereotypes - C Ahmed Fayiz - Meenaz Bhanu PAGE 16 / REVIEW PAGE 18 / VIEW FINDER The Dirty Picture Snaps : - Amita Bhadhuri Althaf K.V PAGE 20 / INDIA UNCOVERED PAGE 25 / OPINION Baduria-Bashirhat: The The absence of Ambed- Normalisation of Majori- kar in Gandhi novels and tari more - Sarbani Bandhopadhyay - Marva Kader PAGE 28 / OPEN SPACE PAGE 29 / CAREER Selective stigma Menstru- From an Experience of ation and Parturition learning to studying only - Shamna Sherin for exams - Sidra Maheen 04 The Companion | September 2017 COVER STORY THE PALESTINE PROBLEM- ANTI BDS LEGISLATIONS AND RIGHT TO BOYCOT C Ahmed Fayiz The writer is an LLM student at Department of Law, University of Calicut third year since Israel’s most devastating military offensive against the coastal enclave. In the span of 51 days in sum- mer 2014, Israel killed nearly 2,200 Palestinians including Since 14 July 2017, the world’s gaze turned towards Jerusa- 534 children. Though unprecedented in degree, the 2014 of- lem again as news spread that three Palestinians from Umm fensive was Israel’s third onslaught in six and a half years; Il Fahem opened fire on Israeli police officers in the Masjid the fourteenth since unilateral withdrawal in 2005; and the Al Aqsa compound. The attack was unique- the assailants twenty-second since announcing withdrawal in April 2004. are citizens of the State, able to travel without the onerous Counter insurgency warfare together with a comprehen- obstruction of checkpoints, ID cards, and walls, and hailed sive land blockade and naval siege has become the norm, by Israel as the indistinct Arab and non-Jewish counterparts rather than the exception, of Israeli policy towards Gaza’s 2.1 in the “only democracy in the Middle East.” Additionally, in million Palestinians. There is nothing normal about Israeli contrast to other Palestinian attempts to attack Israeli mili- policy, which ensures that Palestinians can survive but not tary and law enforcement personnel, evident since October thrive. Moreover, even under its meticulous calculations, 2015, the young men used home-made guns. The incident including a 2000 calorie/day diet, survival is coming under made plainly clear the tenuous and active nature of Israel’s risk as the UN reports that the Gaza Strip will be unlivable settler-colonial frontier well beyond the Green Line’s false by 2020. partition. Rather than challenging these conditions, the internation- Reports say that Israel has killed four Palestinians and in- al community is normalizing them. As a partner in the Gaza jured over 500 Since 14 July 2017 .This has not attracted inter- Reconstruction Mechanism (GRM) the United Nations has national attention any more than the condition of structural not only accepted Israel’s imposition of conditions on goods violence wrought by apartheid and settler-colonialism has. that can enter the coastal enclave, it has also absolved Israel Worse, Palestinians have literally had to smuggle corpses of responsibility for the devastation caused by war and siege. out of morgues to prevent them from being confiscated by Anti-BDS Legislation in the United States Israel for use as political barter. Israel’s apartheid regime dehumanizes Palestinians and diminishes the value of their As the Gaza Strip teeters on the edges of an unprecedent- lives in both life and death. ed humanitarian crisis and as Israel embarks on indelibly transforming the status quo in Jerusalem, lawmakers in the The humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to dominate United States are contemplating making the non-violent headlines as if it were the result of a natural disaster and not protest against Israel a felony. the outcome of political collusion. Last week marked the The Companion | September 2017 05a According to Glenn Greenwald and al governmental organization against ti-BDS Legislation in court Ryan Grim writing for The Intercept ex- Israel.” In the UK, On 22nd of last month Gov- plain, Even if a corporation was not respond- ernment suffered a major setback in …a group of 43 senators — 29 Repub- ing directly to a call from an internation- court by Palestine campaigners over licans and 14 Democrats — wants to al governmental organization to boycott boycott, divestment and sanctions. The implement a law that would make it a Israel or even settlement products, it embattled minority Tory government suf- felony for Americans to support the in- could still run afoul of this bill if its ac- fered a new blow as parts of its guidance ternational boycott against Israel, which tions are perceived to “have the effect of governing investment by Local Govern- was launched in protest of that country’s furthering or supporting” this boycott. ment Pension Schemes (LGPS) were decades-old occupation of Palestine. struck down as unlawful. Administrative The two primary sponsors of the bill Court judge Sir Ross Cranston granted The legislation is a stated policy goal of are Democrat Ben Cardin of Maryland the judicial review on