and action

sa area are hospitable and welcoming and when it comes to asking them what you can do for them, there are three things:

(a) keep visiting and never stop visiting;

(b) keep them in your dua; and

(c) for the Ummah to repair itself. Palestinians keep saying that Masjid Al-Aqsa is “the thermometer of the Ummah”.

People, Not Numbers

Ramia points out that one of our biggest failings is that we view the Palestinian people as numbers and data when we should be viewing them as human beings.

We need to start putting a face and a name to our brothers and sisters who are murdered each and every year.

In the May 2021 carnage which saw 256 Palestinians killed including 66 children, seven members of one family died in the bombings, including a bride waiting for Eid to be married.

If we don’t feel for REAL people like these, it shows that we are becoming desensitised.

As for the locals, the innocence of every child in Palestine is stripped away from them by the Occupiers because of what they see on a daily basis in terms of devastation.

Children as young as 10 are being faced with the real possibility of raising a family of orphan children whose parents have been killed, which is almost beyond our comprehension.

The children of Gaza have never seen anything of what we consider as normal in their entire lives.

What needs to happen

“Obviously, what would be a great start would be for the Palestinian people to be able to live with the same level of rights as any Israeli person… and of course, the right to return home,” Ramia acknowledged.

“For us in Australia, we need to be proactive….donating money and protesting is great but as I’ve already mentioned, there are many other ways we can also help.”

“And remember this: we are all going to be questioned on the Day of Judgement about exactly what we did to help.

“The answer will come from our hearts and lip service won’t protect us anymore.”

Positive Steps

The decision by the Albanese government in October 2022 to strip references to West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital is a step in the right direction.

Hopefully, this is just the first step of many from a government which is showing that it does have a heart.

Our major religious organisations also need to be more vocal in their support of Palestine and appeal to the government as the Sydney-based Lebanese Muslim Association is doing.

On 7 April, within 48 hours of the most recent shocking raids on Al-Aqsa, the LMA issued a public statement not only standing with Palestine but also calling on the Australian government to take a stand by denouncing Israel, its leaders and its army, in the hope that the rest of the world will follow.