Quds, Birthplace of Divine Religions (9)

Welcome to the 9th and last part of Quds, Birthplace of Divine Religions. Bayt ul-Muqaddas (al-Quds) is the place of emergence of great divine Prophets. This city has undergone myriads of ups and downs throughout history. The name of al-Aqsa Mosque has been mentioned in the noble Qur'an in the first ayah of surah Isra where the account of Me'raj (the ascension to the heaven) of the Prophet of Islam is mentioned from Masjid al-Haram (Sacred Mosque in Mecca) to al-Aqsa Mosque.

Welcome to the 9^th and last part of Quds, Birthplace of Divine Religions. Bayt ul-Muqaddas (al-Quds) is the place of emergence of great divine Prophets. This city has undergone myriads of ups and downs throughout history. The name of al-Aqsa Mosque has been mentioned in the noble Qur'an in the first ayah of surah Isra where the account of Me'raj (the ascension to the heaven) of the Prophet of Islam is mentioned from Masjid al-Haram (Sacred Mosque in Mecca) to al-Aqsa Mosque. The ayah reads: “Immaculate is He who carried His servant on a journey by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque whose environs We have blessed, that We might show him some of Our signs. Indeed He is the All-hearing, the All-seeing.”

Al-Aqsa Mosque was the Qibla (focal point of prayer) of Muslims for over 14 years after the divine mission of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). 17 months after the migration of the noble Prophet from Mecca to Medina, the Qibla of Muslims shifted from al-Aqsa Mosque in al-Quds to the Ka’ba at Masjid al-Haram in Mecca. But al-Aqsa remained as one of the holy sites and the first Qibla of Muslims. Since then, except the 90-year period during the Crusades, the city of al-Quds which is called Jerusalem in the west) has been at the hand of Muslims. However, the Zionists occupied this land and, by distorting the historical facts and with the support of the US president Donald Trump, they want to make al-Quds the capital of the fake Israeli regime. If you remember, it was said that although Zionists thought that with the support of western regimes and occupation of Palestine and al-Quds, they would be able to legitimize the fake Israeli regime; this expectation remained a dream.

With the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, a new spirit was breathed into the anti-Zionist moves in the occupied territories. Imam Khomeini (God's mercy upon him), by declaring the last Friday of the blessed month of Ramadan as the International Quds Day, turned Palestine into the first issue of the Islamic world. A decade after the victory of the Islamic Revolution, the first Palestinian Intifada in 1987 was a crushing blow to the Zionists and disrupted their dreams. The noteworthy point is that Palestinian children and teenagers initiated the Intifada. In fact, a new form of combat with the Zionist regime began. The Palestinian guerrilla warfare with the Zionists was transformed into a massive popular struggle in which Palestinian teenagers hurled stones towards the Israeli soldiers. The first Intifada lasted for 4 years and continued with the slogan of ending the dire situation of encampments, racial discrimination and suppression of the people. The second Intifada also lasted for more than 4 years. In this Intifada, Palestinians gained access to rockets for the first time and in response to repeated assaults of the Zionist regime they fired rockets to the cities near Gaza including Ashdod and Asqalan (Ashkelon). This Intifada inflicted a heavy blow to the Zionist regime and forced it to retreat from Gaza Strip and South Lebanon. The Intifada of Palestinian people still continues. The Zionist forces always expect anti-Zionist moves by the Palestinian combatants and they will never experience tranquility.  

Trump’s act in recognizing al-Quds as the capital of the Zionist regime has brought together not only Islamic countries but also various Palestinian groups in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. The compromise current in the Palestinian Authority has realized that the US cannot be a just mediator in compromise negotiations. Even the compromising countries such as Egypt and Jordan couldn't remain silent towards Trump’s act in recognizing al-Aqsa as the capital of the Zionist regime. At an OIC emergency conference in Istanbul, despite political differences among some of the member states, these countries condemned Trump’s act in a joint statement and declared that the decision will make no change in the situation of al-Quds.

Egypt’s presentation of draft resolution to the UN Security Council for condemning Trump’s act further showed the isolation of the US and the Zionist regime in the world. Even the US European allies took position on Trump’s decision to recognize al-Quds as the capital of the Zionist regime, and agreed with the draft resolution to condemn this move. After the draft was vetoed by the US in the UN Security Council, it showed more isolation of the US in the world once it was raised at the General Assembly. The vote in the UN General Assembly in condemning Trump's decision came after the US's UN envoy, Nikki Haley, threatened to cut off financial assistance to the countries that voted in favor of this draft resolution. Despite these threats, a majority of the world countries including some European allies of the US voted in favor of it. The vote of 128 countries out of the 200 UN member states against recognition of al-Quds as the capital of the fabricated regime of Israel reflects the level of illegality of the policies and actions of the Zionist regime and illegitimacy of this entity.

The Zionist regime declared its foundation in 1948. Now, 70 years after that ominous year means that three generations of Palestinians have experienced the illegal existence of the Zionist regime and the atrocities committed by this criminal entity. After three generations, the number of votes against Israeli policies among the countries is about 130; that is the Israelis have failed to get the agreement of even half the world.

The regime's position has also become very fragile among its supporters. Even the Zionist regime’s close ally Britain condemned Trump’s decision. The motive of this condemnation is not so important here. What matters are the consequences of the Europeans’ negative position towards the US President's decision. This, while the Zionist regime used to be the red line of the west in the face of Islamic countries, and it was not possible to openly condemn Israel in the controversies between Tel Aviv and Islamic countries. European countries could have remained silent, but they explicitly called the decision as "crisis", "dangerous" and "unacceptable".

Earlier, there were a lot of news about the depth of hatred of European circles towards the Israeli regime. Specifically, some polls showed that 60%-80% of European university students hate Israel. This hatred shows that the racist, anti-human and criminal nature of the fake Israeli regime has been revealed to the public in the world. Occupation of Palestine and the situation of 11 million Palestinians displaced or residing in the Palestinian territories cannot be ignored, contrary to the Zionist demands. Therefore, there are whispers in Europe for the recognition of the independent Palestinian state. At last, the calls of innocent Palestinian people are bearing fruit and the world is waking up to see the realities on the ground and support the oppressed people of Palestine.

FK/RM/MG