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A supply of inspiration and hope – Center East Monitor

Martyrs occupy a particular place within the hearts and minds of Palestinians. Within the Palestinian Declaration of Independence, written by Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish and proclaimed by Yasser Arafat on 15 November 1988, an oath was taken of unrelenting battle earlier than and in honour of the sacrifice of 1000’s of Palestinian martyrs who fell within the battle. It’s a supply of inspiration and hope for these struggling to finish the occupation and set up Palestinian sovereignty and independence.

Martyrdom is likely one of the vital ideas of Islam and considerations not solely the sacrifice and the give up of 1’s life but additionally the good thing about the collective, the Islamic Ummah (Nation). In keeping with Islam, martyrs (Shahid in Arabic) are those that endure persecution and die on the battlefield, dealing with the enemy for a simply and bonafide trigger – the one who dies to save lots of others, the harmless victims and the non-Muslim who dies combating for a simply trigger or for his nation.

On this context, the martyr is, above all, a Mujahideen or fida’yyin, a Palestinian resistance fighter; a Muslim fighter prepared to sacrifice his life for a trigger primarily based on justice and the combat in opposition to oppression. Within the Qur’an, the holy e book of Muslims, it’s stated: “And don’t imagine that those that have succumbed for the sake of Allah [God] are lifeless; quite the opposite, they stay gracefully by the facet of their Lord (3:169).”

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Martyrdom additionally denotes the train of Jihad, an Arabic phrase which means “to attempt”, “battle”, “effort” to attain one thing – on this case, striving for justice or in opposition to injustice. The hassle for the defence and safety of the Islamic Ummah signifies that each Muslim has an obligation to combat on behalf of his brother in religion and defend the group in opposition to international threats and inner arbitrariness.

Over the centuries, the Palestinian folks have given 1000’s of martyrs to their reason for liberation, which dates again to battles in opposition to Crusaders, Romans, Persians, Ottomans, the British and, within the final 73 years, Zionist Jews coming from Europe to implement a colonial undertaking of Jewish supremacy in Palestine.

In 2002, a gaggle of greater than 70 Palestinian intellectuals, together with Mahmoud Darwish, Rima Tarazi, Georges Ibrahim, Jamal Salsa, Izzat Ghazzawi and Mazen Saadeh, launched a manifesto in opposition to one more Israeli army operation that yr. In one of many passages, they cite the cruel actuality during which: “The residing are disadvantaged of the fundamental proper to life, and martyrs are denied graves to relaxation in peace. Above all, nevertheless, what we see now could be the expression of the will of a individuals who don’t have any alternative however to withstand.”

When Christians first conquered Jerusalem in 1099, there was a bloodbath during which a whole bunch of non-Christians (infidels) had been martyred. When Salah Advert-Din Yusuf Ibn Ayyub (Saladin) reconquered Jerusalem in 1187, a bloodbath in opposition to non-Muslims was feared. But Saladin, on the peak of his army energy, confirmed the identical respect and compassion for the Christian inhabitants that Caliph Umar had devoted 5 centuries earlier, permitting them to gather his deceased and provides them correct therapy.

We lately recall the martyrdom of the historic chief of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), Yasser Arafat, who surrendered his soul to the Creator on the morning of 11 November 2004, on the Percy Navy Hospital in Paris. Arafat struggled for 13 limitless days with a illness that, it was later realized, had been attributable to Israel’s poisoning by Polonium-210, in keeping with research by medical experts from Switzerland, Russia and France. After studying the results of the analyses, his spouse Suha Arafat declared that it revealed: “An actual crime, a political homicide. It’s scientifically confirmed that he didn’t die a pure dying.”

PLO delegation – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]

Arafat known as himself a Palestinian soldier who would use his weapon to defend not solely himself, but additionally all Palestinian youngsters, ladies and men, and the existence of Palestine. He as soon as requested in an interview with Reuters: “Is there anybody in Palestine who would not dream of martyrdom?” Israel refused to permit Arafat to be buried on the grounds of Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, the place he was born. His stays are within the memorial constructed subsequent to the place Mukata’a, his workplace in Ramallah, used to perform.

Different martyrs are revered by Palestinians, resembling Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, one of many founders of the Islamic Resistance Motion Hamas, who survived two assassination makes an attempt. The primary, in 2002, happened within the district of Sabra, in Gaza Metropolis. The second, in September 2003, was when a bomb was dropped on a constructing the place a number of Hamas leaders had been assembly.

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Sheikh Yassin was identified for his excessive morals, sturdy will, dedication, knowledge in managing Islamic organisations, deep perception into points referring to the Palestinian trigger, and steadfast angle not to surrender an inch of Palestine, whatever the penalties. He was martyred in a targetted attack by Mossad in Gaza on 22 March 2004, when a helicopter fired a missile that hit him whereas travelling in his wheelchair by town’s streets, additionally killing 9 different Palestinian martyrs.

On 22 July, 2002, Israeli warplanes dropped a one-tonne bomb that absolutely destroyed the constructing the place Salah Shehade lived, killing 18 Palestinians, together with Shehade, his spouse and certainly one of their 14-year-old daughters, in addition to safety guards and different youngsters. Shehade is the founding father of the primary army department of Hamas known as Al-Mujahidoon Al-Filistiniyoon (the Palestinian Mujahideen). It was later reworked into the Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, the most important and best-equipped group working in Gaza at present, whose identify refers to Cleric Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam, a Muslim preacher born in Syria in 1882.

Everlasting glory to the reminiscence of women and men, of all races and non secular beliefs, who’re martyrs within the battle in opposition to injustice and dared to combat for the liberty, sovereignty and self-determination of their folks. The blood of martyrs will proceed to gasoline the battle for Palestinian freedom in opposition to Israeli colonial occupation.

The views expressed on this article belong to the creator and don’t essentially replicate the editorial coverage of Center East Monitor.

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