Has the occupation succeeded in distracting the Ummah from Al-Aqsa by starving Gaza?
Starvation in Gaza is a tool to
kill the Palestinian people, while the Judaization of
Al-Aqsa aims to destroy the spirit of the Palestinian people and their will to
survive and resist. Both are two faces of the same crime, targeting the
eradication of an entire population—a genocide in Palestine.
Gaza… the spearhead in defending Jerusalem.
Gaza has stood as the sister
of Jerusalem for a decade of uprisings defending Al-Aqsa Mosque and its identity, as well as
protecting the residents of Jerusalem and their presence on their land against
a campaign of expulsion and mass displacement. In this context, the uprising
sparked by the martyrdom of the young Muhammad Abu Khdeir in July 2014
escalated into a war on the Gaza front. Later, the three Jerusalem uprisings in
Sheikh Jarrah, Bab al-Amoud, and Al-Aqsa Mosque culminated in the “Sword of
Jerusalem” battle in 2021, fought by Gaza and its resistance. The I’tikaf
battle in April 2023, involving Jerusalemites and defenders from the West Bank
and the occupied interior of 1948 alongside Gaza’s resistance, represented a
popular uprising closest to an “Al-Aqsa Flood.”
Genocide has been the
occupier’s response to Gaza’s attempt to reshape the balance of power in favor
of the resistance for Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa. Gaza sought to move from defending
Al-Aqsa and preventing its erasure to taking the offensive. The occupier’s
response has been to try to eliminate those attempting to reverse the equation.
Failing to erase the resistance itself, it has turned to attempting to erase
the society that produces and nurtures it, deluding itself that genocide is the
ultimate answer to a challenge capable of shifting the balance, scorching
consciousness, deterring any future resistance, and creating historical space
to Judaize Al-Aqsa and pave the way for establishing the “Temple” on its site and across its full area.
A war of liquidation on multiple fronts.
It is not surprising that
Itamar Ben-Gvir, who incites the prevention of any aid trucks from entering
Gaza, is the same person leading incursions into Al-Aqsa and raiding the
solitary confinement cell of prisoner and activist Marwan Barghouti to display
his threats. For the Zionists today, this is a single, cohesive war of
liquidation fought on multiple fronts: aiming to establish the “Temple” in
place of Al-Aqsa, transform Arab Jerusalem into “Hebrew Jerusalem,” destroy the
spirit of the Palestinian people, terrorize prisoners, brutalize them in jails
to crush their will, use starvation in Gaza to kill its sons and daughters,
carry out displacement in the West Bank to erase their presence and seize their
land, and strike at any will that might resist in Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen.
They also seek to suppress resistance and silence voices worldwide, as Zionism
pursues the imposition of occupation and dominance by force, erasing rights and
any will to achieve victory wherever it exists.
What we lack, in response, is
for our Arab and Islamic Ummah to take the initiative to engage in this battle
with cohesion. Our Ummah and its active forces must realize that the fight to
defend Al-Aqsa has become a battle for existence, as the war against it
symbolizes the attempt to erase their presence and will. There is no escape
from engaging in this battle today at Al-Aqsa, its unifying symbol, and joining
Gaza, which has stood as the spearhead of the Ummah, breaking the siege and
resisting the campaign of starvation and extermination.
What we lack is for fronts
defending Al-Aqsa to join Gaza, recognizing that defending it is an Arab and
Islamic duty. Gaza should not be left alone to bear the full cost or fight the
entire battle. This struggle cannot be considered solely a Palestinian matter,
where the Ummah only offers support at best, while parts of its official system
form alliances with Zionism to carry out the mission and crush any will of
resistance.
Starvation as a tool to isolate Al-Aqsa.
It cannot be said today that
the starvation in Gaza distracts from what is happening at Al-Aqsa, because
this starvation is part of a comprehensive genocide aimed at isolating Al-Aqsa,
stripping it of all means to defend itself, uphold its Islamic identity, and
prevent the erasure of its heritage. In fact, the battle to Judaize Al-Aqsa has run parallel
throughout the war to the genocide in Gaza, with each forming a pillar of the
comprehensive liquidation war the occupier is waging today against Palestine,
its people, its resistance, and its surrounding regions—near and far—so that it
may emerge as the sole power controlling our land.
Breaking the war of
starvation against Gaza and achieving victory for Al-Aqsa and its identity in
the face of the imposed and bitter reality of Judaization are today’s top
priorities in confronting the war of liquidation and genocide. These priorities
demand a shift in the balance of power and the engagement of the Ummah in the
battle to defend its existence and its sacred sites, recognizing that fighting
this battle is the only path to its revival and the restoration of its
self-determination.
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