By: Staff Writer: Ottawa Muslim Network
May 13, 2002
 |
End The Occupation! No Land No Peace! These are the slogans shouted by thousands who gathered on Mother's day on Parliament Hill to voice their support for Palestinians and to oppose the continued Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands. May 15, 2002 marks the 54th anniversary of the occupation of Palestine and the crowd in front of the Peace Tower were reminded of the unrelenting struggle of generations of Palestinians. People of conscience, young and old, Palestinians, Aboriginals, Latin Americans, Muslims, Jews, Christians, they all stood together to show their support for the Palestinian people and to call on the Canadian government to end its silence on the human rights violations by Israel and to push for a full Israeli withdrawal from the occupied territories.
The rally was initiated by the Muslim Community Council of Ottawa (MCCO) and supported by various NGO's and Community groups in Ontario and Quebec. Members of the Muslim community in Kingston, Montreal, and Toronto arrived in large numbers to join in solidarity with the Muslim community of Ottawa. Over the last two months, Palestinians and supporters from various peace groups and community organizations have been holding regular rallies in Ottawa to show that the Palestinian issue and the conflict in the Palestinian territories are important enough for Canadians and the Canadian government to do more to bring an end to the brutal Israeli occupation. The MCCO spokesperson reiterated the rally's objective to bring awareness to Canadians of the suffering that Palestinians have endured.
 Mother's Day rally for Palestinian Mothers |
|
|
Mothers and children cheered with approval as 21 year old
Ms. Al-Hajj from Montreal reminded the crowd of the struggle of the mothers of
Palestinians on this mother's day. She said " I fear that the
Palestinian mothers will not have the mother's day that Canadian and Israeli
mothers will have... just to share 'I love you'. A Palestinian mother
will be weeping over the graves of her children and husband."
Among the speakers from mosques and Muslim organizations from various cities
was Imam Gamal Sulaiman. Imam Sulaiman stated that we have to remind the
whole world especially Canada, that the problem has been that the Palestinians
have been routed from their homes and that they have been suffering under
oppression ever since the creation of the State of Israel. In reference
to the Jews present at the rally, the Imam said "I am glad to see today next
to me Rabbis and respectable people from the Jewish community. It's
all honorable, all peace loving people, who do not accept the dehumanization
of others."
The Imam remarked that Jews lived among the Muslims and the Arabs for centuries and nobody walked upon them and tarnished their dignity; we acknowledge their contribution to our civilization and we admire their scholarship during certain period of our history. Imam Sulaiman said "we are ready to join hands in mutual respect and mutual hope for peace, we can live together as we have in the past, peacefully". The Imam concluded his speech with a message to George W. Bush: " As long as you are the leader of the American people and are encouraging Sharon towards more bloodshed, you are not going to win the sympathy or respect or love of any decent person".
 Imam Gamal Sulaiman and Rabbis |
Present at the rally were representatives of Neturei Karta International - Jews United Against Zionism. They were greeted with a loud applause when they extended their support for the Palestinian cause and the Palestinian people. Rabbi Yisroel spoke on behalf of Neturei Karta International (NKI) when he said " we the the Jewish people have lived together through the ages with the Muslim people in harmony and brotherhood. In fact we are tremendously thankful for the Muslim community throughout the world for being so hospitable to the Jewish people". He reached out to the Palestinian people by saying "Our hearts are broken, we are pained and we are in sorrow about two things: first, what has been done to the Palestinian people; and second, it has been done in the name of our Jewish people".
 Rabbi Yisroel addresses the rally |
Rabbi Yisroel passed on his message that Judaism and Zionism are diametrically opposite and that Zionism does not represent Judaism. Furthermore, that Judaism does not have a conflict with the Muslim people. Neturei Karta Intenational has published its position on the Palestinian issue: It supports Palestinian sovereignty over all of the Holy Land and views the Palestinians as victims of the Zionist movement; that Palestinians have a right to their homeland, right to financial restitution for property loss and damages inflicted upon them over the past decades. NKI's position on the Islamic world is that Jews are called upon to deal ethically and honestly with all men and as such calls on all Jews to rectify this situation by seeking peace, reconciliation and dialogue with the Palestinian people and all Islamic nations.
Referring to the Zionists, Rabbi Yisroel said "they did
not want to recognize the people of the land of Palestine - they say its a
land without a people and a people without a land, and that is a lie".
 Bablo Leal |
Bablo Leal spoke on behalf of the Latin Americans from
countries such as Columbia, Guatemala, Chile, and El-Salvador; people who have
experienced first hand oppression and massacres. Mr. Leal addressed the
crowd as follows: "we want you to know as Latin Americans, we understand the
pain that the Palestinian people are suffering. We want you to know that
you are not alone - our peoples have resisted the infamy of torture,
disappearances, and massacres, all of which remain unpunished. You are not
alone because we are familiar with the corrupt hand of the State of Israel. It
is for this reason that we see the reality of the Palestinian people reflected
in our own history. It is for these reasons that we say with all
conviction that the Palestinian resistance that exists in the streets, the
hospitals, the mosques, the churches, in the homes of Ramallah, Nablus, Jenin
and Bethlehem, is legitimate resistance and it is not terrorism".
The crowd erupted with loud applause when Leal continued to say that a nation
without land has only lives to fight with.
The Muslim leaders from Montreal, Kingston and Toronto encouraged the crowd to continue supporting the Palestinian cause as it is a just cause. Khatija Haffajee, from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) CANADA, echoed the sentiments of those in attendance when she referred to September 11 and the resulting U.S. Administration policy on terrorism. She said "since September 11, the very word terrorism and terrorists have silenced national foreign policy of the U.S. We are mesmerized by the rhetoric of this 'war of terror'". Haffajee called for political action and for individuals to take an active part in educating the general Canadian public on the Palestinian issue.
 Khatija Haffajee |
Khatija Haffajee invited the crowd to focus on two issues: occupation and oppression. The issue is about land that has been forcibly occupied and therefore it is about human rights, justice and fairness, and about peaceful co-existence. She said that the oppressors must be stopped and the oppressed helped - the Palestinian cause is freedom from occupation.
Haffajee, a South African who resides in Ottawa, visited Jerusalem, Hebron, and Bethlehem five years ago and witnessed the oppression of Palestinians first hand. She said that her visit was a "reliving of apartheid in South Africa". It reminded her of her visits to the townships of South Africa. Although not Palestinian, she was at the rally because, in her words, "as a Muslim we have to speak out against oppression, we have to speak out against the suffering of others, and we have to demand justice".
She challenged the crowd to think about why they are at the rally. She said "we are here to show our solidarity for our brothers and sisters in Palestine. We are here to show that we have not forgotten others suffering and we are here to remind ourselves that this has continued for the last 54 years".
This rally so far has been the most successful in Ottawa for the Palestinian cause, in both numbers and support from a wide cross section of organizations and individuals. For the growing Muslim population in the Nation's Capital, the Palestinian issue more than any other, has been a unifying factor to the more that 60 different nationalities in the Muslim community.
One of the verses from a poem recited by Khatija Haffajee at the rally was "If one has to shed tears, eyes will go dry".
