Peace loving people, human rights and civil liberty activists, lawmakers and academicians, irrespective of their faiths and geographical boundaries, have been making tireless strivings to break the siege of Gaza and liberate Jerusalem. These people, with milk of humanity flowing in their breasts, organised repeated caravans to reach Gaza and provide the Gazans with humanitarian aids and day-to-day life essentials. They had to stand face to face with the brutal forces of Israeli occupiers; some of them also laid their lives for this great humanitarian cause. But, as the Israeli forces would have it, they are yet to succeed in liberating Jerusalem.
To these great souls in general, the Palestine imbroglio is an issue of justice as well as human and fundamental rights of the bonafide citizens of Palestine. It is also a question of giving the Palestinians the right to return to their homeland. But to Muslims, who constitute one-fifth of humanity, the Palestine issue is a matter of faith as Al-Quds is the first Qibla towards which their forefathers used to stand for prayers for centuries together till the auspicious moment when a verse was revealed directing the Holy Messenger Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) and of course his followers to change their qibla from Al-Quds to Ka’abah. This is why the Muslims are more often than not reminded that the Palestine issue is not an issue of Arabs alone rather of the entire Muslims. It is with this faith in heart that the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas and other organisations gave a call for Al-Quds Million March to be originated from Jordan, Syria, Egypt and Lebanon on Nov 25 to once again remind the world of the rights of the Palestinians and of the brutal policies of Israel.
This call for Al Quds Million March earned wide support and sympathies from various other parts of the world. In India Jamaat-e-Islami Hind expressed its concern over Israel’s illegal occupation of Bait al-Maqdis and continuous illegal and unauthorised construction of Jewish settlements around Masjid al-Aqsa in an effort to “Judaise” Jerusalem. The Jamaat also reminded the Government of India of its continuous pro-Palestine policies and urged the powers-that-be to raise a powerful voice against the illegal occupation of Palestine and terrorist activities of Israel. In “The Jews in Palestine”, in Nov 26, 1938 issue of Harijan, Mahatma Gandhi also fervently asserted the rights of Palestinians: “Palestine belongs to the Arabs in the same sense that England belongs to the English or France to the French. It is wrong and inhuman to impose the Jews on the Arabs.” It is high time New Delhi once again raised a strong voice against the injustice done to the Palestinians.