Palestine vis-à-vis Challenges, Zero Tolerance and Focus on Unity Required

Ahmad Shaito's report Translated by Batoul Wehbe The Palestinian cause upholds a long road of revolution and pain. Its course passes through major challenges that threaten the rest of the Palestinian rights in their land and identity. This ideological cause for both Arab and Islamic nations should remain the center of concern and interests. Today, in light of international conspiracies and the Zionist intransigence and insistence on resuming settlement policy, which plagued the Palestinian land, and in the backdrop of escalating the process of Judaizing Jerusalem, Arab and Islamic world should spare no effort to preserve history. At the time Zionist expansion continues controlling about 80% of historical Palestine as well as undermining the right of return, the internal Palestinian scene suffers from divisions which remain a challenge to achieve unity. The same scene experiences the old-new Arab dispersion, abandonment and cowardice towards the Palestinian cause. However, the resistance insists on ongoing preparedness and defiance, despite these major difficulties. «Allah promised us we'll expell jews» Concerning the cause’s challenges and what roles we should shoulder, the President of Beirut Dignity Federation Sheikh Khalid Othman told Al-Manar Website that “the Palestinian cause is central to our nation. We should not be lenient towards the enemy. The Zionists are expanding settlement and it is ideological to them as they believe that the return of Christ can be achieved only by freedom from ‘filths’. They are the spearhead against Islam. But God promised us that we’ll fight the Zionists and expel them.” “Al-Quds (Jerusalem) is the first of the two Qiblas and the third of the two holy Sanctuaries. Thus, every noble Muslim should make every effort to preserve the holy sites of Al-Quds and especially Al-Aqsa, which Zionists desecrated,” Sheikh Othman said. Sheikh Othman expresses his sorrow as “we witness division among our Palestinian brothers,” and hopes that they “achieve unity in order to be the mainstay in the restoration of Palestinian rights because Arabs cannot be relied on. The current situation requires unity and the honest people of this nation will liberate the land.” On the role of the nation’s scholars and whether they are assuming their role in this sacred cause, Sheikh Othman said: “No doubt there are honest as well as laggard and conspiring scholars, hence, the nobles should play an important role especially that the cause is religious, ideological and purely Islamic. It is a conflict over existence not over borders.” The responsibility of scholars increases under the weakness of presidents and kings, Sheikh Othman indicates, “so they should consider the following: - Scholars should develop and re-install the theme of Liberating Palestine in the hearts and minds before raising it in public places - To redraw a new intellectual, cultural and Islamic map because what’s required is deviating the conflict from Arab - Israeli to Arab - Iranian, however our main struggle is with the Zionists.” Sheikh Othman stressed that “it is required to strengthen the idea of resisting the occupation in the minds of future generations” and wished that the scholars “would make this issue their polestar especially that they have platforms they can speak through.”

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