AFTERWORD

The facts that we have examined here reveal that Israel's basic goal is to besiege the Palestinians in every possible way and to make their lives unbearable so that they will abandon their struggle for their land and go somewhere else. Israeli leaders such as Ben Gurion, Begin, Shamir, Netanyahu, Barak, and Sharon have all followed the same ideology: aggressive and invasive Zionism. The greatest obstacle to realizing the Zionist dream is the Palestinian people.

The drive to realize this dream has resulted in a great genocide that has been ongoing in Palestine for half a century and has sentenced a people to destruction. They have lost everything: their homes, gardens, and land. And a new nation-state, one whose ideology is based upon terror and anarchy, was built upon their former land. Where Palestinian homes and farms once existed, there are now Israeli factories, buildings, hotels, and shopping malls. But the Israeli state has not stopped there, for as history shows, it still refuses to leave the Palestinians in peace on the lands to which they have been exiled.

The Palestinians, unable to meet even their basic and essential needs, are subjected to constant torture and inhumane treatment. Besieged economically, they are given no opportunity to stand on their own two feet. In areas where fishing is the main source of income, fishing has been forbidden; in areas where fruit exports are the main source of employment, exports are restricted. As a result, Palestinians have no choice but to work as half-slaves for minimum wage in Israeli factories.

Young people with no weapons but rocks and slingshots meet with live gunfire in response to their rocks. Most of the injured are shot in the head, chest, and back. Moreover, Israeli soldiers follow a ruthless policy of destruction toward the entire civilian population. For example, a father returning home with a loaf of bread is shot for no reason in front of his children and pregnant wife. Women working in the fields are fired upon by helicopters, but no reason is ever offered. Children returning from school are fired on by Israeli tanks and lose their lives as a result. Most of the people die from their injuries, because Israeli soldiers either will not allow an ambulance to reach the injured person or to reach the hospital.

It is the responsibility of all people of conscience to ensure that both Israeli and Palestinian children can look forward to a life full of peace and hope.

News of casualties comes continually from Palestine. While you read these lines, another Palestinian child might be getting shot; more innocent women, children, and elderly may be losing their lives. In such a situation, no true Muslim can merely stand and watch all that is happening and ask: "What can I possibly do?" No person of conscience can possibly justify remaining insensitive to such a terrible human tragedy. Indeed, every Muslim must make an effort to say "stop!" to this cruelty within the context of his or her own environment.

Not only in Palestine, but throughout the world, the greatest service that can be offered to help oppressed Muslims is to oppose the belligerent, racist, fascist, and social Darwinistic ideologies that underpin this cruelty and brutality.

While Muslims all over the world are kept "under fire" by the oppression and torture of anti-Islamic forces, those who are not have certain responsibilities: to bring the voice of these oppressed Muslims to the world, expose the oppressive centers of power, attack the ideological roots of these forces, continue to strengthen and spread Islam, and neutralize all anti-Islamic propaganda through an intellectual struggle. Every Muslim who is killed, wounded, and tyrannized in Palestine should remind us of these duties once again. When Muslims fulfill these duties, all anti-Islamic ideologies and systems will completely collapse, for in accordance with God's word: "Say: 'Truth has come and falsehood has vanished. Falsehood is always bound to vanish'" (Qur'an, 17:81). As justice prevails, the disappearance of false systems is inevitable.

In order to ensure a bright future for Israeli and Palestinian children, they must be raised in a peaceful and secure environment, and kept far from clashes and conflict. All children are entitled to a beautiful and bright future.